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Fisheries Home » Sustainable Fisheries » Atlantic HMS

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species

  • 2015 SAFE Report Available

    The 2015 Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Report is now available. Read More . . .

  • Proposed Rule to Adjust IBQ

    NOAA Fisheries Announces a Proposed Rule to Adjust Individual Bluefin Tuna Quota (IBQ) Program Regulations for Distribution of Inseason Quota Transfers. Read More . . .

  • Draft Amendment 10: Essential Fish Habitat

    NOAA Fisheries Announces the Availability of Draft Amendment 10 to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan: Essential Fish Habitat. Read More . . .

  • Draft Amendment 5b Dusky Sharks

    NOAA Fisheries Announces the Availability of Draft Amendment 5b to the 2006 Consolidated Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan Read More . . .

  • NOAA Fisheries Closes the General Category Fishery

    NOAA Fisheries Closes the 2016 Atlantic Bluefin Tuna General Category Fishery, Coastwide, on November 4, 2016 Read More . . .

The Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Management Division manages a number of fish species in U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico waters known as highly migratory species (HMS). These fish—tuna, sharks, swordfish, and billfish—live throughout the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico and often migrate long distances. Because these species cross domestic and international boundaries, NOAA Fisheries' HMS Management Division is responsible for managing them under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. In cooperation with an advisory panel, the division develops and implements fishery management plans for these species taking into account all domestic and international requirements under the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Because these fish travel long distances, responsible management of HMS requires international cooperation through a number of agreements including the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT), Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).