Highly Migratory Species – Testing Alternative Fishing Practices

NOAA Fisheries may support testing of alternative fishing practices in situations where necessary fishing or research activities would normally be prohibited by regulations. To do so, NOAA fisheries may issue exempted fishing permits (EFPs), letters of acknowledgement (LOAs), and/or scientific research permits (SRPs).

EFP: Issued to individuals or organizations for the purpose of conducting testing of alternative fishing activities using private (non-research) vessels.
LOA: Issued to individuals conducting “bona fide” research. NOAA Fisheries requests research plans for these activities and indicates concurrence that the proposed activities are research by issuing a LOA.
SRP: Issued to agency scientists who are using NOAA vessels as their research platform. Also issued to non-agency scientists using research vessels and conducting research on Highly Migratory Species (HMS).

LOAs and EFPs are the more commonly used management tools for testing alternative fishing practices. LOAs have been issued to collect an initial dataset on an alternative fishing practice, whereas EFPs have been issued to commercial fishing vessels to test fishing practices explicitly exempted from existing regulations and subject to specific terms and conditions.

What do I need to know if I am interested in an EFP?

Prospective EFP applicants may submit an application to NOAA Fisheries for review. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act at 50 CFR 600.745(b) specify the information necessary to include in applications. The applicant for an EFP need not be the owner or operator of the vessel for which the EFP is requested. The Regional Administrator (RA) will review each application and make a preliminary determination whether the application contains all the required information and constitutes an appropriate activity. The RA may request additional information that is necessary to determine whether the application has merit. Incomplete applications will not be considered until corrected in writing. If the RA determines that the application does not warrant further consideration, all affected parties will be notified in writing, with a justification of the decision. 

If the RA determines that the application does warrant further consideration, NOAA Fisheries will prepare a Federal Register Notice with a brief description of the proposal and accept public comment on the proposal for 30 days. The RA may also forward the application to the United States Coast Guard, state-level and other appropriate fishery management agencies, including the Pacific Fishery Management Council.

During the application review process, NOAA Fisheries may assist in preparing the necessary documentation to satisfy compliance with other applicable federal laws, such as the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. 

The duration of the review process may vary depending on the availability of staff resources and the complexity of the request for regulatory exemptions. NOAA Fisheries recommends applicants plan ahead and coordinate with NOAA Fisheries HMS EFP Liaison when considering submission of an application.

Issued EFPs

For the 2025-2026 fishing season, NOAA Fisheries has issued EFPs following review of the applications in Table 1, below. 

Table 1: List of EFP Applicants, number of vessels, Federal Register Notice, sample permit, and operative terms and conditions.

For more information

Contact the NOAA Fisheries HMS EFP Liaison, Chris Fanning (Chris.Fanning@noaa.gov), with any additional questions about obtaining an EFP, LOA, or SRP.