§ 635.35 Spatial management area restrictions.
(a) General Restrictions. Spatial management areas are the gear restricted and monitoring areas in paragraphs (b) through (d) of this section and other areas in paragraph (e) of this section. Coordinates for gear restricted areas and monitoring areas are set forth in the definitions under § 635.2. If a vessel issued or required to be issued a LAP under this part has pelagic or bottom longline gear on board and is in a gear restricted area (see paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section), a monitoring area (see paragraphs (d) of this section), or other restricted area (see paragraph (e) of this section), it is a rebuttable presumption that any fish on board such a vessel were taken with pelagic or bottom longline gear in the area except where such fish is aboard a vessel transiting such an area with all fishing gear stowed appropriately. Longline gear is stowed appropriately if all gangions and hooks are disconnected from the mainline and are stowed on or below deck, hooks are not baited, and all buoys and weights are disconnected from the mainline and drum (buoys may remain on deck).
(b) Bottom Longline Gear Restricted Area. If bottom longline gear is on board a vessel issued or required to be issued a permit under this part, persons aboard that vessel may not fish or deploy any type of fishing gear in the Mid-Atlantic Bottom Longline Gear Restricted Area from November 1 of one calendar year through May 31 of the following calendar year, unless persons on board the vessel are authorized to conduct research under a shark research permit, an EFP, or a SRP as specified at § 635.32.
(c) Pelagic Longline Gear Restricted Areas. If pelagic longline gear is on board a vessel issued or required to be issued a permit under this part:
(1) In the Charleston Bump Gear Restricted Area, persons aboard that vessel may not fish or deploy any type of fishing gear from February 1 through April 30, unless persons aboard the vessel are authorized to conduct research under an EFP or a scientific research permit as specified at § 635.32.
(2) In the East Florida Coast Gear Restricted Area, persons aboard that vessel may not fish or deploy any type of fishing gear at any time, unless persons aboard the vessel are authorized to conduct research under an EFP or SRP as specified at § 635.32.
(3) In the DeSoto Canyon Gear Restricted Area, persons aboard that vessel may not fish or deploy any type of fishing gear at any time, unless persons aboard the vessel are authorized to conduct research under an EFP or SRP as specified at § 635.32.
(4) In the NED, persons aboard that vessel may not fish or deploy any type of fishing gear at any time unless they comply with the requirements under § 635.21(c)(2) and (4) or are authorized to conduct research under an EFP or SRP as specified at § 635.32.
(d) Pelagic Longline Monitoring Areas—(1) General restrictions. Persons aboard a vessel with pelagic longline gear on board that is issued or required to be issued a permit under this part may, consistent with other applicable sections of this part, fish in a monitoring area (see paragraph (d)(4) of this section) when the monitoring area is effective if:
(i) The vessel has a functioning EM system consistent with § 635.9(h);
(ii) The vessel has a functioning VMS unit and can submit the set reports as required under § 635.69(e)(5);
(iii) The vessel owner and/or operator has notified NMFS via the vessel's VMS unit of their intent to fish in a monitoring area as required under § 635.69(e)(2); and
(iv) The monitoring area has not been closed as specified under paragraph (d)(4) of this section).
(2) Effort caps. Each monitoring area is designated an annual number of pelagic longline sets called an effort cap (see paragraph (d)(3) of this section). NMFS may apportion the effort cap (see § 635.34(a)) in a monitoring area across monthly, quarterly, or other time frames, if there are indications that fishing effort is temporally clustered, distribution of effort caps across the effective period of the monitoring area would further support data collection and conservation protection goals, or other considerations, which may include some of the factors described in paragraph (f) of this section. NMFS would review, among other things, current and historical trends of effort and catch in the monitoring area, as well as the time left until the monitoring area is no longer effective. If NMFS determines that an adjustment or apportionment of the annual effort caps are necessary to meet management objectives, NMFS will file an action for publication in the Federal Register.
(3) The monitoring areas. For the purposes of this section, the effective dates and annual effort caps in the monitoring areas are:
(i) The Charleston Bump Monitoring Area is effective from February 1 through April 30 of each calendar year unless closed under paragraph (d)(4) of this section. The annual effort cap is 380 pelagic longline sets.
(ii) The East Florida Coast Monitoring Area is effective year-round unless closed under paragraph (d)(4) of this section. The annual effort cap is 250 pelagic longline sets.
(4) Closures of the monitoring areas. When an effort cap under paragraph (d)(3) of this section is reached, or is projected to be reached within the monitoring area's effective time period for a given calendar year, NMFS will file for publication in the Federal Register a closure for the monitoring area, which will be effective no fewer than five days from date of filing. NMFS may also file for publication in the Federal Register a closure of the monitoring area before the effort cap is reached, if warranted by conservation and management concerns raised by unexpectedly high bycatch, high fishing effort, fishing effort that is overly clustered temporally or spatially, or other relevant considerations. From the effective date and time of the closure until the date specified in the closure action, vessels issued or required to be issued a LAP under this part and that have pelagic longline gear on board are prohibited from fishing with any kind of gear within the boundaries of the relevant monitoring area. NMFS may reopen a monitoring area at a later date during its effective period in that calendar year by filing an action for publication in the Federal Register, if NMFS determines that an effort cap has not in fact been reached, or the closure is no longer needed to address the conservation and management concerns that prompted the closure.
(e) Other area restrictions applicable to HMS permitted vessels. (1) In addition to the area restrictions listed above, vessels that have been issued or are required to be issued a permit under this part, may not fish for, catch, possess, or retain any Atlantic HMS in the following spatial management times and areas:
(i) As specified at § 622.34(a)(1)(iii) and (3) of this chapter, within the Edges from January through April of each year. Additionally, no person may anchor a fishing vessel that has been issued a permit or is required to be permitted under this part, in the areas and seasons designated at § 622.34(a)(3) of this chapter.
(ii) As specified at § 622.34(a)(1)(i) and (ii) of this chapter, within the Madison and Swanson and the Steamboat Lumps sites:
(A) From November through April of each year, no vessel issued or required to be issued a permit under this part may fish or deploy any type of fishing gear.
(B) From May through October of each year, no vessel issued or required to be issued a permit under this part may fish or deploy any type of fishing gear except for surface trolling. For the purposes of this section, surface trolling is defined as fishing with lines trailing behind a vessel that is in constant motion at speeds in excess of 4 knots with a visible wake. Such trolling may not involve the use of down riggers, wire lines, planers, or similar devices.
(iii) Within the areas of the Gulf coral Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (HAPCs), as specified in § 622.74 of this chapter, no person may bottom anchor a fishing vessel or deploy fishing gear that may not be deployed pursuant to § 622.74 of this chapter. For purposes of this provision, fishing gear is deployed if any part of the gear is in contact with the water.
(2) If bottom longline gear is on board a vessel issued or required to be issued a permit under this part, persons aboard that vessel may not fish or deploy any type of fishing gear in the following areas:
(i) In the Caribbean, the areas designated at §§ 622.439(a)(1) through (2), 622.479(a)(1) through (2), and 622.514(a)(1) of this chapter, year-round; and
(ii) In the South Atlantic, the areas designated at § 622.183(a)(1)(i)(A) through (H) of this chapter, year-round.
(f) Review of spatial management measures. NMFS will regularly review the gear restricted and monitoring areas described in paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this section to determine if adjustments are needed to add, change, or modify an area or any applicable requirements for an area. NMFS may review other existing area restrictions (see paragraph (e) of this section) or new or revised area restrictions for potential applicability to HMS permitted vessels. After reviewing an area, NMFS may consider changes or modifications to the area or its management measures, as appropriate, through framework adjustments as specified at § 635.34. When reviewing a spatial management area, NMFS may consider, but is not limited to consideration of, the following relevant factors:
(1) Fishery statistics such as landings, discards, catch rates, and effort.
(2) Fishery social and economic data regarding fishing vessels and shoreside business, including revenue, costs, and profitability.
(3) Effects of total catches from the spatial management areas and other regions on the stock status of target and non-target species or on fishing opportunities in other regions or fisheries.
(4) Fishing practices, including tactics, strategy, and gear.
(5) Biological, ecological, and life history data and research on primary bycatch and target species.
(6) Variations in seasonal distribution, abundance, or migration patterns of the relevant species.
(7) Resilience to oceanographic and fishery changes including changes in species distribution, fishing effort location, and access to fishery resources.
(8) Oceanographic data and research including, but not limited to, sea surface temperature, chlorophyll a concentrations and bathymetry.
(9) Variations in oceanographic features such as currents, fronts, and sea surface temperature.
(10) Other technical considerations such as ecosystem modeling parameters (e.g., ocean currents, bottom topography), safety, enforceability (e.g., regular shapes), gear conflicts, timing of evaluation, access to the area for data collection, access to the fishery itself, conservation and management objectives, state or other jurisdictional boundaries, efficiency in the size of area (given the highly variable and mobile nature of the HMS fisheries), and non-fishery activity (e.g., transportation, energy production).
(11) Other considerations as may be applicable to the specific management goals of any particular spatial management area.
[91 FR 10741, Mar. 4, 2026]