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• Marine Recreational Information Program Report to Congress
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MARINE RECREATIONAL FISHING IN NORTHEAST

NOAA Fisheries Service's Northeast Regional Office is responsible for conducting catch monitoring programs and implementing management measures to promote sustainable recreational fisheries in Federal waters (3 to 200 nautical miles offshore) from Maine to Virginia. We encourage all recreational fishermen to share their information and experience and help us develop and implement these programs and measures.

Northeast Region Recreational Fisheries

In Northeast federal waters cod, haddock, flounders, bluefish, black sea bass, tuna, and scup are the primary species sought by recreational fishermen. Other species such as Atlantic sea herring, Atlantic mackerel, squid, black sea bass and butterfish are also caught by anglers. While not directly targeted, recreational fishermen also frequently encounter spiny dogfish and northeast skates while fishing for other species.

NOAA Fisheries Role in Managing Marine Resouces

To promote healthy marine fisheries and local economies, NOAA Fisheries works with Federal Fishery Management Councils, created under the Magnuson Stevens Act, to manage fish, marine mammals, and sea turtles and protect their habitat. In the Northeast region, NOAA Fisheries works with two councils, the New England and Mid-Atlantic councils. NOAA Fisheries also provides funding to and coordinates with the coastal states through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to develop and implement consistent or complimentary regulations in both state and federal waters.

Specifically, NOAA Fisheries develops and implements regulations, administers grants, analyzes trade and economic conditions and related opportunities and impacts associated with fishery management activities, coordinates state/Federal cooperative activities, provides advice and recommendations to other Federal permitting agencies on marine conservation and management issues; and conducts outreach efforts to commercial and recreational fisheries community and other members of the public to explain proposed measures, and gather information and feedback about the direction of its programs.

NOAA encourages ethical angling, and is in the process of implementing a Regional Fisheries Action Plan as part of the NOAA Fisheries Action Agenda. In an effort to improve data collection on recreational fisheries, NOAA established the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP), which includes a national registry for saltwater anglers. Saltwater anglers in the northeast (Maine through Virginia) should not register through the Federal MRIP registry website. These states have new state fishing license and/or registration requirements that automatically register their license/registry holders with NOAA's national registry. The Northeast Region Coordinator for recreational fisheries issues is Paul Perra (paul.perra@noaa.gov).

Federal Recreational Fisheries Regulations for the Northeast Region (As of 11/21/11)

Federal regulations are for Federal waters only (Generally 3-200 miles off shore from Maine to Virginia) except for bluefin tuna and shortnose sturgeon which have Federal regulations that apply in both state and Federal waters. Also, party/charterboat vessels holding Federal permits may need to abide by stricter Federal regulations when fishing in state waters. Recreational anglers or divers, once entering with and/or landing their catch in state waters, must also abide by state regulations. State regulations can be obtained through individual state marine fisheries agencies. Click here for links to Atlantic coast state marine fisheries agencies.

Species	Season	Minimum Size (See Note 5)	Possession limit	Closed Area	Comments
Atlantic cod in Gulf of Maine Regulated Mesh Area	Apr 16 - Oct 31	19 in	9 fish	Closed Area: April 1 - June 30 - Cod Gulf of Maine Spawning Protection Area	Filleting at sea allowed (See Note 1)
Atlantic cod outside Gulf of Maine Regulated Mesh Area	All year	22 in	10 fish	N/A	Filleting at sea allowed (See Note 1)
American lobster	All year	Legal size vary by area (See Note 4)	6 per person on board the vessel	N/A	Allowed by diving. Fishing with pots for lobsters requires a commercial permit. Size is measured by carapace length. No possession of V-notched or egg-bearing lobsters allowed. (See Note 3)
American plaice (dab)	All year	14 in	No limit	N/A	Filleting at sea allowed (See Note 1)
Atlantic herring	All year	No limit	No limit	N/A	To harvest Atlantic herring as bait with gear other than hook and line, Federal commercial permit needed
Atlantic mackerel	All year	No limit	No limit	N/A	Recreational allocation set in management plan
Atlantic salmon	No retention	No retention	No retention	N/A	N/A
Atlantic sea scallop	No retention	No retention	No retention	N/A	N/A
Atlantic surfclam	All year	None	2 bushels	See comments	Check state regulations There are a number of areas closed to the harvesting of surfclams/ocean quahogs. Please refer to our charts website additional information.
Atlantic tunas, sailfish and sharks (excluding spiny dogfish)	Consult NOAA Highly Migratory Species Division				Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Regulations apply in Federal and state waters
Black sea bass	Season Closed as of Nov 1, 2012	No retention	Closed	N/A	(See Note 2) Federal coast-wide regulations are put in place each year for black sea bass. States or groups of states implement individual measures through ASMFC. Vessels with a Federal permit are subject to the more restrictive measures (See Bulletin).
	See Atlantic States Marine Fisheris Commission (ASMFC) webpage
Black drum	All year	No limit	No limit	N/A	Check state regulations
Bluefish	All year	No limit	15 fish	N/A	N/A
Butterfish	All year	No limit	No limit	N/A	N/A
Cusk	All year	No limit	No limit	N/A	Species of Concern (See note 6)
Golden tilefish	All year	No limit	8 per angler	N/A	In effect from the VA/NC border north
Haddock outside Gulf of Maine Regulated Mesh Area	All year	18 in	No limit	N/A	Filleting at sea allowed (See Note 1)
Haddock in Gulf of Maine Regulated Mesh Area	All year	18 in	No limit	N/A	Filleting at sea allowed (See Note 1)
Hake- offshore, red, white and silver (whiting)	All year	No limit	no limit	N/A	N/A
Halibut	All year	41 in	1 fish/vessel/trip	N/A	Filleting at sea allowed (See Note 1) Species of Concern (See note 6)
Mola Mola (ocean sunfish)	All year	No limit	No limit	N/A	N/A
Monkfish (goosefish)	All year	17 in	No limit	N/A	Whole fish or tails may be landed (See Note 5)
Ocean pout	No retention	No retention	Closed	N/A	N/A
Ocean Quahogs	All year	None	2 bushels	See comments	Check state regulations There are a number of areas closed to the harvesting of surfclams/ocean quahogs. Please refer to our charts website additional information.
Pollock	All year	19 in	No limit	N/A	Filleting at sea allowed (See Note 1)
Red Drum	No retention	No retention	Closed	N/A	N/A
Redfish (ocean perch)	All year	9 in	No limit	N/A	Filleting at sea allowed (See Note 1)
Scup	All year	10.5 in	20 fish per person per trip	N/A	Federal coast-wide regulations are put in place each year for black sea bass. States or groups of states implement individual measures through ASMFC. Vessels with a Federal permit are subject to the more restrictive measures (See Bulletin).
	See Atlantic States Marine Fisheris Commission (ASMFC) webpage
Skate, barndoor	No retention	No retention	Closed	N/A	N/A
Skate, clearnose	All year	No limit	No limit	N/A	Charter/partyboats with a commercial permit, retaining fish for sale or bait, have a 1,135 lb whole weight or 500 lb wing limit for clearnose, little, rosette and winter skates.
Skate, little	All year	No limit	No limit	N/A	Charter/partyboats with a commercial permit, retaining fish for sale or bait, have a 1,135 lb whole weight or 500 lb wing limit for clearnose, little, rosette and winter skates.
Skate, rosette	All year	No limit	No limit	N/A	Charter/partyboats with a commercial permit, retaining fish for sale or bait, have a 1,135 lb whole weight or 500 lb wing limit for clearnose, little, rosette and winter skates.
Skate, smooth	No retention	No retention	Closed	N/A	N/A
Skate, thorny	No retention	No retention	Closed	N/A	Species of Concern (See note 6)
Skate, winter	All year	No limit	No limit	N/A	Charter/partyboats with a commercial permit, retaining fish for sale or bait, have a 1,135 lb whole weight or 500 lb wing limit for clearnose, little, rosette and winter skates.
Spiny dogfish	All year	No limit	No limit	N/A	Charter/partyboats with a Federal commercial permit retaining fish for sale must fish under commercial day at sea rules. A 3,000 lb limit is in effect during commercial season. No fish can be retained for sale or bait during closed commercial season.
Squid (longfin and shortfin)	All year	No limit	No limit	N/A	N/A
Summer flounder (fluke)	See Atlantic States Marine Fisheris Commission (ASMFC) webpage			N/A	Federal coast-wide regulations are put in place each year for black sea bass. States or groups of states implement individual measures through ASMFC. Vessels with a Federal permit are subject to the more restrictive measures (See Bulletin).
Striped bass	No retention	No retention	Closed	N/A	Exception - Block Island, RI, Transit Area
Sturgeon, Atlantic and shortnose	No retention	No retention	Closed	N/A	Click on Species Description for Outreach Materials. (See Sturgeon Sticker)
Tautog	All year	No limit	No limit	N/A	N/A
Weakfish	All year	14 in	No limit	N/A	N/A
Windowpane flounder	No retention	No retention	Closed	N/A	N/A
Winter flounder (N of Cape Cod)	All year	12 in	No limit	N/A	Filleting at sea allowed (See Note 1) See Charter/Party and Recreational Fishing Information Sheet, page 5, for more information.
Winter flounder (S. and E. of Cape Cod)	No retention	No retention	Closed	N/A	See Charter/Party and Recreational Fishing Information Sheet, page 5, for more information.
Witch flounder (gray sole)	All year	14 in	No limit	N/A	Filleting at sea allowed (See Note 1)
Wolffish (ocean catchfish)	No retention	No retention	Closed	N/A	Species of Concern (See note 6)
Yellowtail flounder	All year	13 in	No limit	N/A	Filleting at sea allowed (See Note 1)

Notes:

1) Multispecies fillets must have some skin left on, and be consistant in size as that taken form legal size fish.

2) Black sea bass are measured from the tip of the snout or jaw (mouth closed) to the farthest extremity of the tail, not including the tail filament

3) For a guide to measure a lobster, please click here.

4) Lobster size limits vary by area. For more information, please click here.

5) The 17inch minimum fish size applies to the whole fish (total length) and, if tials only are landed, they must be at least 11 inches in length (tail length) at the time of landing. Fish or parts of fish, with the exception of cheeks and livers, must have skin on while possessed on board a vessel and at the time of landing in order to meet minimum size requirements. "Skin on" means the entire portion of the skin normally attached to the portion of the fish or fish parts possessed. Monkfish tails are measured from the anterior portion of the fourth cephalic dorsal spine to the end of the caudal fin. Any tissue anterior to the fourth dorsal spine is ignored. If the fourth dorsal spine or the tail is not intact, the minimum size is measured between the most anterior vertebra and the most posterior portion of the tail.

6) Species of concern: those species about which NMFS has some concerns regarding status and threats, but for which insufficient information is available to indicate a need to list the species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We wish to draw proactive attention and conservation action to these species. "Species of concern" status does not carry any procedural or substantive protections under the ESA. More info can be found by clicking the species name at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/concern/#list

7) How to measure finfish The minimum size for fish (exceptions listed below) is the greatest straight line length (not curved over the body) from the anterior tip of the jaw or snout (mouth closed) to the farthest extremity of the tail. Fish should be firmly grasped with both hands for proper measuring. Care should be taken so that the head firmly contacts the zero mark on rulers and tapes simultaneously with the tail extremity. For fish with forked tails, the upper and lower fork may be squeezed together to measure the tail extremity.

Black sea bass if the tail filament (tendril) is present, it is not included in the total length measurement.

Billfish (swordfish, sailfish, marlin) are measured from the tip of the lower jaw to the tail fork.

Sharks are measured from the tip of the snout to the fork of the tail. Tunas measurement is taken in a line, tracing the contour of the body from the tip of the upper jaw to the fork of the tail, which crosses the dorsal insertion of the pectoral fin and the dorsal side of the caudal keel.

 

Recent Announcements & Letters

October 23, 2012 - Recreational Black Sea Bass Fishery Closure Effective November 1, 2012 May 17, 2012 - Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass 2012 Recreational Harvest Measures April 30, 2012 - 2012 Northeast Multispecies Recreational Fishing Size and Possession Limits April 19, 2012 - Gulf Of Maine Recreational Haddock Fishermen and Party or Charter Vessel Operators, Change To Haddock Regulations, Effective April 20, 2012 April 2, 2012 - Cod Management Measures for Recreational Fishermen (Info Bulletin) February 10, 2012 - Second Industry Meeting Held to Discuss Gulf of Maine Cod February 9, 2012 - NOAA Seeks Feedback on Angler Registry Rule Changes January 25, 2012 - NOAA unveils improved way to estimate saltwater recreational fishing January 5, 2012 - Northeast Multispecies Information Sheet - Charter/Party and Recreational Fishing December 30, 2011 - 2012 Commercial Quotas and Recreational Harvest Limits for Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass, Increase to the Scup Commercial Winter 1 Possession Limit from 30,000 to 50,000 lb December 29, 2011 - Revisions to Gulf of Maine Haddock Possession Limit and Minimum Fish Size for Recreational Anglers