March 4, 2026 — It has been almost a week since six New England groundfish sector managers formally petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for relief on Framework 69, and, from the industry’s perspective, nothing has changed.
In a Feb. 27 letter addressed to Michael Pentony, regional administrator for NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, the managers called the delay in approving Framework 69 “frankly ridiculous,” noting that there are only nine weeks (now eight weeks) left in the fishing year and that vessels are already being forced to stop fishing in the Gulf of Maine.
“We the undersigned Northeast groundfish sector managers petition for relief from the frankly ridiculous delay in what should have been a belated but routine approval of groundfish Framework 69,” the letter states.