2026 Observer Coverage Rate for the Hawai‘i Deep-Set Longline Fishery

NOAA Fisheries is setting the 2026 Hawai‘i deep-set longline fishery observer coverage rate at 7 percent as we prioritize expanding coverage with electronic monitoring.

This coverage rate remains the same as the 2025 rate and will be effective January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2026.

We are committed to monitoring fishing activities and reducing bycatch of protected marine species while simultaneously ensuring economic opportunity for U.S. fishermen and sustainable marine fisheries. This action supports that commitment by allowing us to:

• Continue the coverage rate of 100 percent in the Hawaiʻi shallow-set fishery
• Continue the coverage rate of 10 percent in the American Samoa longline fishery
• Invest in a transition from human at-sea observers to electronic monitoring in Pacific Island longline fisheries

Electronic monitoring, or EM, provides world-class monitoring capabilities that benefit protected species, fishermen, and American tax payers. It makes data collection more timely, accurate, and cost-efficient.

In October 2019, NOAA Fisheries initiated an evaluation of EM in the Hawaiʻi-based longline fisheries. The transition to EM will allow us to expand data collection from fishing vessels and tap into ever-increasing artificial intelligence capabilities.

EM transition milestones completed in 2025 include:

• June 2025 – The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended that NOAA Fisheries authorize the use of EM in Pacific Island longline fisheries to provide reliable estimates of protected species interactions and other lawful purposes.
• August 2025 – NOAA Fisheries entered into a multi-year partnership with the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission to operationalize EM in Pacific Island longline fisheries. This partnership will enable us to begin equipping longline vessels with EM systems, reviewing, processing and storing EM collected data, and establishing the data collection protocols, data infrastructure and data integration with national fisheries monitoring data systems.