July 1, 2026 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council met from June 23-25, 2026, in Mystic, Connecticut. The following is a summary of ongoing Council work priorities and future planning. All presentations, materials, and meeting audio recordings are available on the Council’s June 2026 meeting page. For an update on stock-specific actions that took place at the June meeting, please see the following press release.
NOAA LEADERSHIP OPENS THE JUNE MEETING, MARKING 50 YEARS OF THE MAGNUSON-STEVENS ACT
NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Genio Piñeiro-Soler opened the June meeting with comments about the importance of regional fishery management councils and recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. He welcomed Council questions and feedback, which included continued support for Saltonstall-Kennedy funding for seafood marketing, support for a vessel buyback and new vessel purchasing program, and a call for focus on soliciting representative Council members.
RISK POLICY APPROVED FOR USE BY COUNCIL
The Council approved revisions to its Risk Policy, establishing qualitative categories of low, medium, and high risk tolerance to support management decisions beginning in 2026. The Risk Policy is a decision support tool that complements the existing specification-setting processes. Adoption of this policy sets New England as the first Fishery Management Council in the U.S. to consider tolerance of more risk, not just less. This bi-directional approach is designed to emphasize caution when stock conditions are poor, recruitment is low, and environmental conditions are unfavorable, and conversely allow fishery managers to increase catch limits for healthy stocks deemed eligible to tolerate more risk.
Weighting Exercise
The Risk Policy combines the Council’s input about the importance of risk factors with technical scores related to managed resources. The policy preference was determined at the June meeting, when 18 voting Council members took the important step of assigning universal weights to five factors on a scale of 0-4, ranging from “least” to “critically” important. The five factors include:
- Biomass/Stock Status
- Recruitment
- Climate Vulnerability
- Recreational Fishery Characterization
- Commercial Fishery Characterization
The weights from the June meeting will be combined with scores completed by each Plan Development Team and unique to each Fishery Management Plan (FMP) in the coming months. Combined weights and scores generate a qualitative Risk Tolerance level. Weights are recommended to remain in place for three years, at which time they are eligible for review.