2026 Ocean Salmon Specifications and Management Measures

NOAA Fisheries is issuing a final rule to implement fishery management measures for the 2026 ocean salmon fisheries. Through this final rule, NOAA Fisheries establishes fishery management measures for the 2026-2027 ocean salmon fisheries off Washington, Oregon, and California and the 2027 salmon seasons opening earlier than May 16, 2027, under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA).

Specific fishery management measures vary by fishery and by area and establish fishing areas, seasons, quotas, legal gear, recreational fishing days and catch limits, possession and landing restrictions, and minimum lengths for salmon taken in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) (3-200 nautical miles (nm)) (5.6-370.4 kilometers (km)) off Washington, Oregon, and California. The management measures are intended to prevent overfishing and to apportion the ocean harvest equitably among treaty Indian, non-Indian commercial, and recreational fisheries. The measures are also intended to allow a portion of the salmon runs to escape the ocean fisheries in order to provide for spawning escapement, comply with applicable law, and to provide fishing opportunities for inside fisheries (fisheries occurring in state waters).