Arlington, VA – The Commission’s Spiny Dogfish Management Board approved a coastwide commercial quota for the 2026/2027 and 2027/2028 fishing seasons (May 1-April 30) of 9.2 million pounds (state-specific allocations are provided in table below), pending approval by NOAA Fisheries. The quota is consistent with the measures recommended to NOAA Fisheries by the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils (Councils). The Board also maintained the commercial trip limit in state waters of 7,500 pounds for the northern region states of Maine through Connecticut. The states of New York through North Carolina have the ability to set state-specific trip limits based on the needs of their fisheries. The Commission’s actions are final and apply to state waters (0-3 miles from shore). The Councils forwarded their recommendations for federal waters (3 –200 miles from shore) to NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Administrator for final approval.
* Any overages in the above quota allocations will be deducted from that region’s or state’s quota allocation in the subsequent year. Similarly, any eligible rollovers from one season can be applied to that region’s or state’s quota allocation the following year. The approved coastwide quotas represent a 1.5% reduction from the current fishing season’s coastwide quota of 9.3 million pounds. The decreased quota is based on the Councils’ maintaining the acceptable biological catch estimate from 2025/2026 but setting aside a slightly higher amount for discards. For more information, please contact James Boyle, FMP Coordinator, at jboyle@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.