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The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has introduced new rules effective between May 1 and May 15, 2025. These rules apply to the commercial salmon fishing area between Humbug Mountain, Oregon, and the Oregon/California border, closing the fishery during this period due to low forecasts for certain salmon populations, like the Klamath River and Sacramento River fall-run Chinook. This decision aims to conserve salmon populations, allowing more flexibility in future fishing management as recommended by the Salmon Technical Team's report. Actual notice of this change was given through hotlines and U.S. Coast Guard broadcasts.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has set a 2021 limit of 2,000 metric tons of longline-caught bigeye tuna for each U.S. Pacific territory, including American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Each territory can allocate up to 1,500 metric tons to U.S. fishing vessels, but the total allocation across all territories cannot exceed 3,000 metric tons. NMFS will monitor the catches and may impose restrictions if these limits are expected to be reached, to ensure long-term sustainability of these fishery resources. Additionally, NMFS has addressed public comments concerning environmental and cultural impacts, ensuring comprehensive consideration of the potential effects on marine ecosystems and populations.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is proposing a rule to change how squids and sculpins caught in Alaskan waters are processed. Currently, they can only be processed into fishmeal, but the new rule would allow them to be processed into other products like bait or food. This is to prevent waste and give fishery businesses more flexibility. The public is invited to comment on this proposed rule until March 29, 2021.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has decided to withdraw a proposed rule intended to enforce new measures against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The rule, initially published in July 2022, aimed to update regulations according to changes from the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023. However, NMFS cites a lack of sufficient time to complete the necessary revisions and seek public input before the current administration ends. If necessary, NMFS may propose new regulations in the future using standard procedures for public notice and input.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) received a request from Mayflower Wind Energy LLC for permission to conduct surveys off the coast of Massachusetts, which may disturb a small number of marine mammals. These surveys are related to assessing underwater features for wind energy development. The NMFS proposes to issue an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) allowing for non-serious disturbance of marine mammals, especially considering measures to minimize impact, and is requesting public comments on this proposal. The surveys are scheduled to start in April 2021 and end by November 2021, with specific conditions proposed to ensure limited impact on marine mammal species, including some that are protected.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has implemented a temporary closure on directed Pacific cod fishing by catcher vessels using trawl gear in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska. This measure, effective from March 17, 2025, to June 10, 2025, aims to ensure that the 2025 total allowable catch of Pacific cod is not surpassed. The decision was made quickly to respond to recent data on Pacific cod catches, preventing delays that might have led to overfishing.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has proposed harvest specifications for the groundfish fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands for the years 2025 and 2026. This proposal outlines catch limits, apportionments, and prohibited species catch allowances necessary to manage groundfish resources sustainably, aligning with regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Public comments are invited until January 3, 2025, and these regulations include measures to protect species such as Pacific cod, halibut, and salmon, while ensuring fishing operations do not exceed scientific recommendations for conservation.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has put in place a temporary rule to limit how long people can fish for snowy grouper in the South Atlantic in 2025. This decision is to ensure that fishing does not go over the set limit, as it did in 2024. The fishing season, which usually runs from May 1 to June 30, will now end earlier on June 9, 2025. During the closure, no one is allowed to keep snowy grouper from these waters until the season reopens on May 1, 2026.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has decided to withdraw a proposed rule intended to change speed regulations for vessels to better protect the endangered North Atlantic right whales. This decision was made because the public expressed a significant interest in further engagement, shown by approximately 90,000 comments. NMFS was unable to finalize the rule due to the large volume and complexity of the feedback within the current administration. The existing speed regulations for vessels, designed to prevent collisions with whales, will remain as they are, but NMFS may consider new actions in the future to address the issue.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation for their construction activities related to the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas Project at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. This authorization allows the incidental harassment of small numbers of marine mammals, including whales and seals, during the construction activities, with measures in place to minimize impacts. The authorization requires stopping pile driving activities during the Nuiqsut whaling season and includes several mitigation efforts like mandatory observation by trained professionals to protect these animals. The NMFS concluded that these construction activities would not significantly affect the survival or recovery of endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.