# 2026-07537: Pacific Fishermen Gain Gear Freedom and Fee Program

2026-07537, Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan; Amendment 36; Limited Entry Fixed Gear Follow-On Actions, is a Federal Register proposed rule from Commerce Department, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published 2026-04-17, effective Comments on this proposed rule must be received on or before May 18, 2026.; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-06-11).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-07537
- As of: 2026-06-11
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Document number: 2026-07537
- Title: Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan; Amendment 36; Limited Entry Fixed Gear Follow-On Actions
- Type: Proposed Rule
- Agencies: Commerce Department; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Citation: 91 FR 20624
- Published: 2026-04-17
- Effective: Comments on this proposed rule must be received on or before May 18, 2026.
- Comments close: not stated
- Significant: no
- Touches household money: yes
- Regulation identifier numbers: 0648-BO02
- Last updated: 2026-06-11

## In one line

Pacific Fishermen Gain Gear Freedom and Fee Program

## Summary

The new rules affect fishermen using limited entry fixed gear permits on the Pacific Coast. They’ll get more freedom with their gear and fishing times, plus a new cost recovery program will help cover management expenses. Comments are open until May 18, 2026, so now’s the time to weigh in!

## Abstract

NMFS issues these proposed regulations to implement amendment 36 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (Groundfish FMP). The proposed regulations include management measures that would apply to vessels registered to limited entry fixed gear (LEFG) endorsed permits and LEFG permit owners in the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery. Specifically, NMFS proposes to add flexibility to the LEFG permits' gear endorsements, remove the base permit designation of LEFG permits, remove the start and end times (i.e., hours of the day) for the open dates of the primary sablefish season, and develop a cost recovery program for the LEFG primary sablefish fishery. The purpose of this action is to provide increased flexibility to LEFG participants while reducing administrative burdens and to develop a cost recovery program to meet the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

## Effects PRIA read

- Allow any legal non-trawl gear: benefit, medium. If you hold a limited entry non-trawl (LEFG) permit, you would be allowed to use any legal non-trawl groundfish gear to harvest your LEFG sablefish tier limits and groundfish trip limits, except entangling nets (including set nets, gillnets, and trammel nets). The rule replaces the term "fixed gear…
- Observer notification time increased: cost, low. If your vessel carries an observer, you must notify NMFS 48 hours before your intended departure and identify the gear you will use; this replaces the current 24-hour notification requirement. The change is in the notice-of-departure rule and applies to vessels carrying observers.
- Remove base-permit designation: benefit, low. The rule removes the "base permit" definition and the requirement to designate a base permit for LEFG permits (the definition is removed from Sec. 660.11 and related language removed from Sec. 660.25). NMFS and the Council say removing this designation eliminates a duplicative administrative burden…
- Remove time-of-day from season dates: benefit, low. For the limited entry non-trawl sablefish primary season north of 36° N latitude, the rule removes the specific time-of-day language ("noon local time") while keeping the season start and end days as April 1 and December 31. This change eliminates hour-of-day specifications for the open dates of th…
- New sablefish cost-recovery fees (max 3%): cost, low. If your vessel lands sablefish in the limited entry non-trawl (tier) primary fishery, the vessel owner or authorized representative must pay an annual cost-recovery fee equal to the annual fee percentage multiplied by the ex-vessel value of applicable landings; the fee percentage is calculated as d…

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## Sources
- [2026-07537 on federalregister.gov](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/04/17/2026-07537/magnuson-stevens-act-provisions-fisheries-off-west-coast-states-pacific-coast-groundfish-fishery)
- [2026-07537 as published (PDF)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-04-17/pdf/2026-07537.pdf)

## Related
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- [Next: 2026-07605, Establishment of Class E Airspace; Rosenberg, TX](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-07605)
- [All Federal Register documents](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-07537 (as of 2026-06-11).