Data / Federal rules / 2025-16158

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Prohibit Retention of Mobulid Rays in Fisheries for Atlantic Highly Migratory Species

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published this proposed rule in the Federal Register on August 22, 2025. Comments closed on September 22, 2025.

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What the agency says

NMFS is proposing changes to regulations to implement the binding International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) Recommendation 24-12 on mobulid rays of the family Mobulidae, which was adopted in 2024. Specifically, NMFS is proposing to prohibit retention of mobulid rays in fisheries for Atlantic highly migratory species (HMS), to require mobulid rays to be released unharmed in HMS fisheries, and to implement mobulid ray handling practices for vessels fishing with pelagic longline gear.

Key facts

Document number: 2025-16158
Type: Proposed rule
Action: Proposed rule; request for comments
Agency: Commerce Department; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Published: August 22, 2025
Comments due: September 22, 2025
Dates: Written comments must be received by September 22, 2025. NMFS will hold a public hearing webinar on September 18, 2025, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET. For additional details on the public hearing, see the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document
Docket: Docket No. 250813-0137
Regulation ID (RIN): 0648-BN53
Code of Federal Regulations: 50 CFR 635
Topics: Fisheries; Fishing; Fishing vessels; Foreign relations; Imports; Penalties; Reporting and recordkeeping requirements; Statistics; Treaties
Pages: 7

The document on federalregister.gov PDF

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Everything from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration · Rules on fisheries · Rules on fishing · Rules on fishing vessels · Published in August 2025

Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.