# 2025-09159: Fishing Fleet Seeks More Room to Catch Skate Wings

2025-09159, Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permits, is a Federal Register notice from Commerce Department, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published 2025-05-22, effective Project start: Upon approval. Project end: 04/30/2026.; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-22).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-09159
- As of: 2026-10-22
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Document number: 2025-09159
- Title: Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permits
- Type: Notice
- Agencies: Commerce Department; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Citation: 90 FR 21902
- Published: 2025-05-22
- Effective: Project start: Upon approval. Project end: 04/30/2026.
- Comments close: not stated
- Significant: no
- Touches household money: yes
- Regulation identifier numbers: none
- Last updated: 2026-10-22

## In one line

Fishing Fleet Seeks More Room to Catch Skate Wings

## Summary

Fishing boats with federal permits want special permission to catch more skate wings than current rules allow, helping them use the full skate wing fishery. This change is being reviewed now, and anyone interested has until June 6, 2025, to share their thoughts. If approved, it could boost fishing opportunities without extra costs right away.

## Abstract

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) application contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. The EFP would allow federally permitted fishing vessels to fish outside fishery regulations in support of exempted fishing activities proposed by the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed EFPs.

## Effects PRIA read

- Higher Skate Wing Trip Limits: benefit, high. If you operate a participating federally permitted vessel, the Exempted Fishing Permit would raise per-trip skate wing limits from 4,000 lb to 7,000 lb in Season 1 (May 1–Aug 31) and from 6,000 lb to 9,000 lb in Season 2 (Sept 1–Apr 30). The EFP would authorize up to 700 such trips in the 2025 fish…
- Exemption Suspended at 75% Quota: cost, medium. If skate landings exceed 75 percent of the total allowable landings (TAL) in either Season 1 or Season 2, the possession-limit exemption would be suspended for the rest of that season and vessels would be subject to the fishery-wide possession limit. The notice states the 2025 skate wing TAL is 10,…
- Required Trip-Level Data Collection: cost, low. All participating vessels must collect data on every large-mesh gillnet trip with and without the raised trip limit, including trip duration, number of nets and soak time, quantity and value of skate and non-target catch, fuel used, and monkfish/bycatch information. This data collection applies for…
- Limited Participation and Per-Vessel Caps: benefit, medium. The EFP would be limited to 7 participating vessels and up to 700 trips in 2025, with an intent that each vessel may make up to 100 trips; unused trips from any vessel may be used by other participating vessels. All EFP trips must be wing-only trips (no bait skate landings).
- Potential Monkfish Fishery Benefit: benefit, low. The notice says that because of overlap with the monkfish fishery, the EFP could improve utilization of the monkfish annual catch limit by reducing skate-related constraints in the Southern Fishery Management Area. This effect is presented as a potential outcome of approving the exemption.

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## Sources
- [2025-09159 on federalregister.gov](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/05/22/2025-09159/magnuson-stevens-act-provisions-general-provisions-for-domestic-fisheries-application-for-exempted)
- [2025-09159 as published (PDF)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-05-22/pdf/2025-09159.pdf)

## Related
- [Previous: 2025-09158, Agency Information Collection Activities: Information Collection Renewal; Comme…](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-09158)
- [Next: 2025-09160, Raw Honey From Argentina: Amended Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrat…](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-09160)
- [All Federal Register documents](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-09159 (as of 2026-10-22).