Data / Federal rules / 2025-17848

Fisheries Off West Coast States; Coastal Pelagic Species Fisheries; Annual Specifications; 2025-2026 Annual Specifications and Management Measures for Pacific Sardine

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published this final rule in the Federal Register on September 16, 2025. It took effect on September 16, 2025.

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What the agency says

NMFS is implementing annual harvest specifications and management measures for the northern subpopulation of Pacific sardine (hereafter, Pacific sardine), for the fishing year from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026. This rule prohibits most directed commercial fishing for Pacific sardine off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California. Pacific sardine harvest is allowed for use only as live bait, in minor directed fisheries, as incidental catch in other fisheries, or as authorized under exempted fishing permits. The incidental harvest of Pacific sardine will be limited to 20 percent by weight of all fish per trip when caught with other stocks managed under the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP), or up to 2 metric tons (mt) per trip when caught with non-coastal pelagic species stocks. The harvest specifications for 2025-2026 include an overfishing limit (OFL) of 4,645 mt, an acceptable biological catch (ABC) of 3,957, an annual catch limit (ACL) of 2,200 mt, and an annual catch target (ACT) of 2,100 mt. This final rule is intended to conserve, manage, and rebuild the Pacific sardine stock off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California.

Key facts

Document number: 2025-17848
Type: Final rule
Action: Final rule
Agency: Commerce Department; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Published: September 16, 2025
Takes effect: September 16, 2025
Dates: Effective September 16, 2025.
Docket: Docket No. 250910-0150; RTID 0648-XE809
Code of Federal Regulations: 50 CFR 660
Pages: 4

The document on federalregister.gov PDF

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Everything from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration · Published in September 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.