Swordfish Permits Now Renewable Without Deadline Pressure
Published Date: 2/19/2026
Proposed Rule
Summary
If you hold a swordfish or shark fishing permit, good news! You’ll no longer lose your permit just because you missed renewing it within a year. This change lets you renew your permit anytime, giving you more flexibility without affecting fishing limits or costs.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 2 costs, 0 mixed.
Keep Your Swordfish/Shark Permit
If you hold a swordfish or shark limited access permit (LAP), the rule would remove the one-year termination cutoff so you could renew your LAP at any time beginning on the final rule's effective date. NMFS says this would stop further loss of LAPs and avoid changes to harvest levels; NMFS estimates the annual economic loss from terminations at $243,023 and reports 2024 counts of 167 Swordfish Directed, 63 Swordfish Incidental, 75 Swordfish Handgear, 194 Shark Directed, and 221 Shark Incidental LAPs.
Limit for Very-Old Lapsed Permits
The proposed regulatory text says a swordfish or shark LAP that has been in a non-active permitted status for at least one year as of [30 days after publication of final rule] may not be renewed. That means permits already non-active for one year or more as of that 30-day post-publication reference date would remain ineligible for renewal.
Some Laps May Still Terminate Before Rule
Under the preferred approach (Alternative 3), NMFS would not reissue permits that terminate between the proposed rule publication and the final rule's effective date. NMFS notes that between 2020 and 2024 an average of four LAPs terminated per year, and permit records indicate up to 28 currently-expired LAPs could terminate between September 2025 and January 2026 if not renewed.
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Key Dates
Department and Agencies
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