NOAA Fisheries

Office of Sustainable Fisheries

For updates on Atlantic tuna quota monitoring and Atlantic tuna retention limit adjustments, you may call the Atlantic Tunas Information Line at (888) 872-8862 or (978) 281-9305, or visit www.nmfspermits.com. For further information on tunas, contact the HMS Management Division located in Gloucester, Massachusetts at (978) 281-9260.

For updates on quotas, season openings/closings and other information on Atlantic swordfish or sharks, you may call the HMS Information Line at (800) 894-5528 or the HMS Management Division located in Silver Spring, Maryland at (301) 713-2347.

ATLANTIC BILLFISH

Commercial fishermen are not allowed to fish for, take, or retain Atlantic Billfish.

ATLANTIC TUNAS

Permits
Commercial fishermen are required to hold a permit for the vessel they are operating in order to fish for or take Atlantic tunas. Information on Atlantic tunas permits can be obtained by calling (888) 872-8862 or by visiting www.nmfspermits.com. Vessels fishing for Atlantic tunas may have only one of the following permit types in addition to any other required permits:

• an HMS Charter/Headboat permit
• an Atlantic tunas General Category permit
• an Atlantic tunas Harpoon Category permit
• an Atlantic tunas Trap Category permit
• an Atlantic tunas Purse Seine Category permit (under a limited access program)
• an Atlantic tunas Longline Category permit (under a limited access program, only valid if the vessels also holds a directed or incidental Atlantic swordfish and a directed or incidental Atlantic shark permit)

Note: there are regional differences in the number of tunas that may be kept for some permit types.

Allowable Gear
When fishing for Atlantic bluefin tuna, a fisherman must use only the gear types authorized for their permit category or type. Those gear types are:

• HMS Charter/Headboat: Rod and reel (including downriggers), bandit gear, and handline
• General Category: Rod and reel (including downriggers), handline, harpoon, and bandit gear
• Harpoon Category: Harpoon
• Trap Category: Pound net and fish weir
• Purse Seine Category: Purse seine
• Longline Category: Longline

When fishing for Atlantic tunas other than bluefin (i.e., yellowfin, bigeye, skipjack and albacore tuna), fishermen may use any gear type authorized for use in the Atlantic tunas fishery, regardless of permit category.

Minimum Sizes

• Bluefin tuna: 73 inches (186 cm) curved fork length.
• Skipjack tuna: no minimum size limit for this species.
• Albacore tuna: no minimum size limit for this species.
• Bigeye tuna: 27 inches (69 cm) curved fork length.
• Yellowfin tuna: 27 inches (69 cm) curved fork length.

ATLANTIC SWORDFISH

Permits
Commercial fishermen are required to hold a permit for the vessel they are operating in order to fish for or take Atlantic swordfish. Permits in the commercial Atlantic swordfish fishery are issued under a limited access system. In order to enter the fishery, you must obtain a permit from a fisherman who is leaving the fishery. The permit types are:

• Directed Permit: Allows fishermen to target swordfish using any authorized gear. Permits are subject to upgrading restrictions. Fishermen must also hold an Atlantic tunas Longline Category permit and an Atlantic shark permit. During a directed fishery closure, permit holders are allowed to land 15 fish per trip.
• Handgear Permit: Allows fishermen to target swordfish using only handgear; longline gear may not be on board the vessel. Permits are subject to upgrading restrictions. No other permit is required. During a directed fishery closure, harpoon cannot be used but other handgear users may land 15 fish per trip.
• Incidental Permit: Allows fishermen to land swordfish incidental to the catch from other fishing activities. Incidental permits are not subject to upgrading restrictions. Fishermen must also hold an Atlantic tunas Longline Category permit and an Atlantic shark permit. The incidental limits are 30 fish per trip for most gear types. If you use squid trawl, you may keep 15 fish per trip.

Allowable Gear

• North Atlantic swordfish can only be taken with handgear or longline except that a limited number of swordfish may be taken incidentally on a vessel with squid trawl.
• South Atlantic swordfish can only be taken with longline.

Minimum Size

North and South Atlantic swordfish must be larger than 29 inches (73 cm) cleithrum to keel, 47
inches (119 cm) lower jaw fork length, or 33 lb (15 kg) dressed weight. A swordfish that is
damaged by shark bites may be retained only if the remainder of the carcass meets the minimum size.

ATLANTIC SHARKS

Permits
Commercial fishermen are required to hold a permit for the vessel they are operating in order to fish for or take Atlantic shark. Permits in the commercial Atlantic shark fishery are issued under a limited access system. In order to enter the fishery, you must obtain a permit from a fisherman who is leaving the fishery. The permit types are:

• Directed Permit: Allows fishermen to target shark using any authorized gear. Permits are subject to upgrading restrictions.
• Incidental Permit: Allows fishermen to land sharks incidental to the catch from other fishing activities. Permits are not subject to upgrading restrictions. The incidental limits are 5 large coastal sharks per trip and 16 pelagic or small coastal sharks, combined, per trip.

A commercial permit for sharks is not required if the vessel is recreational fishing and retains no more sharks than the recreational retention limit.

Allowable Gear
Commercial fishermen may take sharks with the following gear types:

• longline
• handgear
• gillnet: cannot be longer than 2.5 km, must be attached to the vessel at one end while fishing, and may be subject to additional restrictions to protect large whales.

Minimum Size
At this time, there is no commercial minimum size for Atlantic sharks.

Prohibited Species

The following sharks cannot be possessed or retained. If you catch a shark on this list, you must release it immediately into the water with minimal injury and in a manner that maximizes the survival of the shark.

Atlantic angel - Squatina dumerili
Basking - Cetorhinus maximus
Bigeye sand tiger - Odontaspis noronhai
Bigeye sixgill - Hexanchus vitulus
Bigeye thresher - Alopias superciliosus
Bignose - Carcharhinus altimus
Caribbean reef - Carcharhinus perezi
Caribbean sharpnose - Rhizoprionodon porosus
Dusky - Carcharhinus obscurus
Galapagos - Carcharhinus galapagensis
Longfin - mako Isurus paucus
Narrowtooth - Carcharhinus brachyurus
Night - Carcharhinus signatus
Sand tiger - Odontaspis taurus
Sevengill - Heptranchias perlo
Sixgill - Hexanchus griseus
Smalltail - Carcharhinus porosus
Whale - Rhincodon typus
White - Carcharodon carcharias