NOAA updates Atlantic bluefin tuna quotas, General category reopens June 1

Bluefin access opens back up for the General category on June 1, but the first thing NOAA Fisheries makes clear is that this is not a simple open-and-fish season. The commercial Atlantic bluefin fishery is split into category-by-category windows, and the rules can tighten fast enough to change a trip plan before the next tide.

For General-category boats, the June 1 through June 30 window carries a 3-fish daily retention limit per vessel or trip. That drops to 1 fish per vessel per day or trip from July 1 through December 31 on open days, and Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday are restricted fishing days from July 1 through November 30. In practical terms, June is the most flexible stretch left for the General fleet, while midsummer and fall demand tighter scheduling and faster decisions at the dock.

The category has already shown how quickly NOAA can shut it down when landings run hot. NOAA closed the General category January-through-March fishery on January 14, after landings reached and exceeded the subquota. The same pattern hit in 2025, when the January-through-March fishery closed on February 28, and again in the fall, when NOAA closed the General category from October 7 through November 30 because the quota was projected to be reached. The message for 2026 is blunt: if the fish are there, the clock moves fast.

The rest of the commercial picture is just as segmented. Harpoon opens June 1 with a combined daily limit of 5 fish per vessel, but no more than 2 fish may measure between 73 and less than 81 inches curved fork length. The trap category stays on a 1-fish-per-vessel-per-year standard. Longline remains under the Individual Bluefin Quota program, and on February 9 NOAA shifted 30.8 metric tons from the Reserve category to Longline, putting Longline at 240.1 mt and Reserve at 7.4 mt for the rest of the fishing year unless it changes again.

NOAA says the whole setup is still moving. The agency intends to take separate rulemaking action in 2026 to consider aligning the baseline Atlantic bluefin quota with the 2025 International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas decision in Seville, Spain, where U.S. negotiators secured an additional 231 metric tons, a 17% increase in baseline quota and allowances for U.S. fishermen. NOAA’s 2025 landings update showed why those numbers matter: General had reached 639.1 mt by November 30, against a 710.7 mt base quota, while Harpoon stood at 56.3 mt of 59.2 mt and Longline at 140.0 mt of 209.3 mt. Federal commercial harvest still requires the proper permit in federal waters and in most state waters, so the real play this season is staying ahead of the category clock.