NOAA seeks comments on Gulf permit that would pay captains to study spawning aggregations

NOAA Fisheries is taking public comments on an application for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) for cooperative research on fish spawning aggregations in federal waters of the Gulf of America. The project is funded through the RESTORE program. Its aim is to verify, describe, monitor and model places where several reef fish species gather to spawn.

The permit would allow up to 120 trips over four years, about 30 a year. The trips would be run by trained and certified commercial and for-hire captains, who would be paid for their work, with no scientists on board. Sampling could happen at any time of year at depths from 10 to 1,800 feet, using hook-and-line gear such as automatic reels, bandit reels, bottom longlines and rod and reel. Target species include triggerfish, groupers, snappers, jacks, mackerels and cobia, with two to five fish kept per sample. The permit would exempt this work from some of the normal federal fishing rules.

Comments are due Nov. 12, 2026. You can file them online at regulations.gov under docket NOAA-NMFS-2026-2806, or mail them to Frank Helies at NOAA Fisheries' Southeast Regional Office, 263 13th Ave. S., St. Petersburg, FL 33701. The notice is also published in the Federal Register as document 2026-21999.

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

Source: NOAA Fisheries — NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on an Application for an Exempted Fishing Permit to Support Cooperative Research (FB26-061) (Oct. 28, 2026).