Fisheries Off West Coast States; West Coast Salmon Fisheries; 2026 Specifications and Management Measures; Correction
- Published
- Sep 3, 2026
- Effective
- Sep 2, 2026
- Citation
- 91 FR 56599
- Docket
- Docket No. 260831-0002
- Agencies
- DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Final rule; correcting amendment.
Summary
The rule sets the technical specifications and management limits for ocean‑run salmon caught off Washington, Oregon, and California for the 2026 fishing season, which runs from May 16 2026 until the next set of rules takes effect on May 16 2027. It corrects an omission in the May 19 2026 final rule by adding the missing language for the recreational fishery in the Monterey subarea (Pigeon Point to the U.S./Mexico border) and clarifies how bag limits apply in the stretch from Point Arena to Pigeon Point. The correction ensures that the intended limits and seasonal dates are enforceable and that the fishery remains consistent with the Magnuson‑Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act’s goal of sustainable salmon harvests. The regulation was issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the fisheries arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce. It directly affects commercial and recreational anglers who target ocean salmon in the designated West Coast subareas, as well as related businesses, state fisheries agencies, and tribal fisheries that operate in the same waters. The corrected rule became effective on September 2 2026 (the same day the error was fixed), although the management measures themselves apply from May 16 2026 through the expected start of the 2027 measures on May 16 2027. With the correction now official, fishers must follow the clarified bag limits and seasonal boundaries for the remainder of the 2026 season, after which NMFS will issue the next set of specifications for 2027. No further public comment period is required because this action is a technical correction to an already‑finalized rule.
AI-generated summary — verify against the Federal Register text.
Official abstract
NMFS established fishery management measures for the ocean salmon fisheries off Washington, Oregon, and California for the season beginning May 16, 2026, until the effective date of the 2027 management measures, which we expect to be May 16, 2027 (the 2026 ocean salmon fishing season), under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). The final rule, published in the Federal Register on May 19, 2026, included an error in the management measures for recreational ocean salmon fisheries in the subarea from Pigeon Point to the U.S./Mexico border (Monterey). This action corrects an error by adding the text that was accidentally omitted from the May 19, 2026 rule and clarifies the applicability of bag limits and early 2027 management measures in the area from Point Arena to Pigeon Point (San Francisco).
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