Data / Federal rules / 2025-12087
Deregulatory-American Fisheries Act Program Update; Simplifying the Application Process
The Maritime Administration published this proposed rule in the Federal Register on July 1, 2025. Comments closed on September 2, 2025.
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What the agency says
On May 1, 2019, MARAD published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), titled "How Best to Simplify Filing Statements of American Fisheries Act Citizenship: Policy and Regulatory Review," soliciting public comment on steps MARAD could take to simplify and modernize the process for evidencing U.S. citizenship for owners of U.S.-flag fishing industry vessels of 100 feet or greater in registered length. In response to public support for updating our regulations, MARAD is soliciting public comments on this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). Consistent with comments received, the proposed rule would simplify the annual citizenship filing procedures under the American Fisheries Act (AFA) program in order to reduce costs or administrative burdens placed on owners of fishing industry vessels. MARAD proposes (1) to simplify and streamline annual renewal filing for vessel owners whose citizenship information has not changed since their affidavit of U.S. citizenship (AFA Affidavit) filing; (2) to update acceptable methods for evidencing citizenship of publicly traded entities; and (3) to eliminate requirements to provide personally identifiable information (i.e., social security numbers and dates and places of birth for corporate officers and directors) in affidavits of AFA citizenship.
Key facts
- Document number
- 2025-12087
- Type
- Proposed rule
- Action
- Notice of proposed rulemaking, request for comments
- Agency
- Transportation Department; Maritime Administration
- Published
- July 1, 2025
- Comments due
- September 2, 2025
- Dates
- Comments should be filed on or before September 2, 2025. Late- filed comments filed will be considered to the extent practicable.
- Docket
- Docket Number MARAD-2025-0091
- Regulation ID (RIN)
- 2133-AB91
- Code of Federal Regulations
- 46 CFR 356
- Topics
- Citizenship and naturalization; Fishing vessels; Mortgages; Penalties; Reporting and recordkeeping requirements; Vessels
- Pages
- 6
Other documents from the Maritime Administration
| Document | Type | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Capital Construction Fund Revision; Correction 2026-19786 | Proposed rule | Sep 28 |
| Capital Construction Fund Revision 2026-19367 | Proposed rule | Sep 22 |
| Vessel and Shipyard Financing, Regulatory Revision 2026-17636 | Final rule | Aug 28 |
| Tanker Security Program 2026-12547 · significant | Final rule | Jun 23 |
| Seamen's Claims; Administrative Action and Litigation 2026-11313 | Final rule | Jun 5 |
| Establishing United States Citizenship for MARAD Program Participation; Simplifying the Application Process 2026-11269 | Final rule | Jun 4 |
| American Fisheries Act Program Update; Simplifying the Application Process 2026-11267 | Final rule | Jun 4 |
| Seamen's Service Awards; Amendment Replacing Gulf of Mexico With Gulf of America 2026-00753 | Final rule | Jan 15 |
Everything from the Maritime Administration · Rules on citizenship and naturalization · Rules on fishing vessels · Rules on mortgages · Published in July 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.