Rainbow runner becomes a pelagic fish in Puerto Rico federal waters

Rainbow runner in federal waters around Puerto Rico is no longer managed as a reef fish. National Marine Fisheries Service published a final rule implementing Amendment 4 to the Puerto Rico Fishery Management Plan, effective Oct. 5, 2026. The Caribbean Fishery Management Council prepared the amendment. NMFS approved it Aug. 19 after a May notice of availability and a July proposed rule.

The change tracks how the fish is caught. The rule says rainbow runner is taken in the water column, the way other pelagic species are, while reef fish are usually taken off the bottom. Crevalle jack and African pompano stay classified as reef fish. Reef-fish rules that drop off rainbow runner include the combined recreational bag and possession limit and the Oct. 1–March 31 seasonal closure in the Bajo de Sico area off western Puerto Rico. Commercial and recreational harvest of rainbow runner is now allowed there year-round, including during that former closed season. Year-round anchoring restrictions in Bajo de Sico stay in place. The rule does not authorize new gear.

Catch limits do not go up. The commercial annual catch limit stays 913 pounds round weight and the recreational limit stays 8,091 pounds. The old total ACL of 9,004 pounds comes out of the regulations because pelagic accountability measures do not use a combined total. New annual catch targets, set at 90 percent of each sector limit, are 822 pounds commercial and 7,282 pounds recreational. If landings are estimated over the applicable target, NMFS consults the Council on a response instead of automatically shortening the season. The stock has not had a formal assessment since the plan took effect in 2022. Overfished status is unknown. NMFS says it has not been undergoing overfishing, based on landings against the overfishing-limit proxy. Nine public comments came in. Six supported the reclassification. The contact on the rule is Maria Lopez-Mercer, (727) 824-5305.

Puerto Rico is not in this site’s state list, so this brief is filed under Laws & Licensing without a state tag.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: Federal Register — Puerto Rico Fishery Management Plan, Amendment 4 (final rule, effective Oct. 5, 2026).