NOAA Fisheries posts preliminary January 2026 commercial landings for BAYS complex

NOAA Fisheries’ Atlantic Highly Migratory Species program posted a preliminary monthly commercial landings update for Jan 1–31, 2026 covering the BAYS complex - Atlantic bigeye, northern albacore, yellowfin and skipjack - on March 3, 2026, while separate NOAA swordfish pages posted March 2 present detailed January swordfish numbers. The swordfish tables put North Atlantic total landings at 32.5 metric tons dressed weight (mt dw), which equals about 71,649.5 pounds using NOAA’s explicit conversion of 1 mt = 2,204.6 pounds.

NOAA’s North Atlantic swordfish table breaks that 32.5 mt dw into a 30.7 mt dw directed fishery entry for the Jan 1 - June 30 directed period, a 0.5 mt dw incidental commercial landings figure, and 1.2 mt dw recreational landings. The directed Jan 1 - June 30 entry is shown as 2.3 percent of the 2026 baseline quota of 1,318.8 mt dw, and the North Atlantic total 32.5 mt dw is listed as 1.1 percent of the baseline total 2,937.6 mt dw. The swordfish tables also show 2025 comparators: 34.8 mt dw for the directed Jan 1 - June 30 period and a 2025 total of 36.4 mt dw. The South Atlantic directed fishery entry for January is recorded as 0.0 mt dw and 0.0 percent of the 75.2 mt dw baseline and adjusted quota.

NOAA explicitly frames these numbers as provisional: “NOAA Fisheries estimates landings using commercial dealer reports and reports by anglers in the Highly Migratory Species Non-Tournament Recreational Swordfish and Billfish Landings Database and the Recreational Billfish Survey.” The agency also cautions that “These estimates are subject to late reporting and do not include discards,” language that appears on both the swordfish pages posted March 2 and the broader HMS materials accompanying the BAYS update posted March 3.

Separately, NMFS moved quickly on bluefin tuna General category landings in January and February. The Federal Register rule documents that “To date, reported landings for the BFT General category January through March time period total 64.6 mt,” and that “the adjusted January through March time period subquota of 63.7 mt has been reached and exceeded.” The rule orders that “Therefore, retaining, possessing, or landing large medium or giant ( i.e., measuring 73 inches (185 cm) CFL or greater) BFT by persons aboard vessels permitted in the Atlantic Tunas General category and HMS Charter/Headboat permitted vessels (while fishing commercially) must cease at 11:30 p.m. local time on January 14, 2026.” That closure was effective 11:30 p.m., local time, January 14, 2026, through March 31, 2026, and is recorded in the Federal Register citation 91 FR 2088, Document Number 2026-00848, published 01/16/2026.

For broader fisheries context, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council working material included staff recommendations for bluefish: a commercial ACL equal to ACT of 3.33 million pounds for 2026 and 2027 and a commercial quota of 3.31 million pounds for both years, described in the notes as 9 percent higher than the 2025 quota. The MAFMC excerpts also list year series values for recreational and commercial landings and biological model outputs, including a 2024 spawning stock biomass figure of 77,065 in the table of model results.

If you need clarification on the BFT General category closure or the preliminary landings tables, NMFS contacts listed in the Federal Register are Aiman Raza at aiman.raza@noaa.gov and Larry Redd, Jr. at larry.redd@noaa.gov, or by phone at 301-427-8503. These NOAA tables are preliminary and subject to late reporting and revision as dealer and recreational reports are processed.