2026 Fishing Year Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing Quota Allocations

Fishing Year 2026 IFQ Allocations

The table below includes the LAGC fleet fishing year 2026 IFQ allocations effective April 1, 2026, through March 31, 2027. We will upload your vessel's updated 2026 IFQ and your IFQ letter to Fish Online based on the following allocations. Vessels can exchange IFQ via Fish Online or the IFQ Transfer Form .

**REMINDER** For IFQ vessels, all scallop harvest counts against your IFQ, regardless of where it is caught, including state waters.

IFQ Overage Payback and Important Reminders

You are prohibited from exceeding your IFQ allocation at any time during the fishing year. If you have exceeded your IFQ, you must balance an overage through temporary IFQ leases and/or permanent allocation transfers prior to any additional fishing activity. However, balancing an IFQ overage does not negate any potential violation related to exceeding your IFQ. If you exceed your yearly IFQ allocation, we will deduct any overages that remain at the end of the fishing year from the following year's IFQ allocation on a pound-for-pound basis.

In-shell (Shell Stock) Possession Limits

• The in-shell (shell stock) possession limit of scallops is a weight conversion (8.33 lb of in-shell scallops = 1 lb of scallop meats).
• For Access Area trips, vessels may not possess or land, per trip, more than 800 lb of shucked scallops, or possess more than 6,664 lb of in-shell scallops shoreward of the VMS Demarcation Line.
• For open area trips, vessels may not possess or land, per trip, more than 600 lb of shucked scallops, or possess more than 4,998 lb of in-shell scallops shoreward of the VMS Demarcation Line.

LAGC Incidental Scallop Target TAC: The incidental scallop target TAC for fishing year 2026 is 50,000 lb. Vessels issued an LAGC Incidental Catch scallop permit may land up to 40 lb shucked or 333 lb of in-shell scallops per trip.

LAGC Calendar Day Landing Restriction

LAGC vessels may not land scallops more than once per calendar day. For example, an LAGC vessel that lands scallops on Monday may depart on a second trip on the same day it landed scallops (Monday), but cannot land scallops again until Tuesday.

Fishing Year 2026 Access Area Allocations

There are no fishing year 2026 access area allocations.

2026 Area Management

Fishing Year 2026 Scallop Area Information

Area II and Nantucket Lightship: The Area II and Nantucket Lightship North and South Scallop Rotational Areas will be closed for fishing year 2026. Coordinates are provided below.

Elephant Trunk: The area known as Elephant Trunk has been converted to open bottom, and will be available to fish as open area starting on April 1, 2026.

Area I: The area known as Area I will be converted to open bottom and available to fish as open area on May 31, 2026.

The following areas are closed for scallop fishing year 2026 (see map above and coordinates below):

Area II Scallop Rotational Area (Closed)

1 The intersection of 41°30′ N lat. and the U.S.-Canada Maritime Boundary, approximately 41°30′ N lat., 66°34.73′ W long.

2 From Point AII2 connected to Point AII3 along the U.S.-Canada Maritime Boundary.

3 The intersection of 40°40′ N lat. and the U.S.-Canada Maritime Boundary, approximately 40°40′ N lat. and 65°52.61′ W long.

Nantucket Lightship Scallop Rotational Area (Closed)

Observer Program Updates

Set-Aside Compensation

LAGC IFQ vessels are eligible for additional compensation when carrying an observer on board. The daily compensation rate of 200 lb will be prorated at 12-hour increments for trips exceeding 24 hours. The amount of compensation a vessel could receive on 1 trip would be capped at 2 days (48 hours) and vessels fishing longer than 48 hours will not receive additional compensation allocation. For example, if the observer compensation rate is 200 lb/day and an LAGC IFQ vessel carrying an observer departs on July 1 at 2200 and lands on July 3 at 0100, the length of the trip would equal 27 hours, or 1 day and 3 hours. In this example, the LAGC IFQ vessel would be eligible for 1 day plus 12 hours of compensation allocation, i.e., 300 lb. An LAGC IFQ vessel will be able to harvest the trip limit and the daily compensation rate on the observed trip, or the vessel could harvest any unfished compensation on a subsequent trip while adhering to the commercial possession limit.

If NOAA Fisheries selects your IFQ vessel for an observed trip, you will receive observer compensation credit as described above if the observer set-aside has not been fully harvested. You can fish those additional pounds on the observed IFQ trip above the regular possession limit or on a subsequent trip that fishing year. However, if you harvest the additional pounds on a subsequent trip, you must remain within the possession limits.

We monitor the compensation rates and observer set-aside use closely throughout the year. If information suggests that a different rate is necessary to account for unexpected fishery conditions, we will change the compensation rate as appropriate and necessary.

Important Reporting Reminders

Scallop Pre-Landing Notification

LAGC IFQ vessels must send a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) Scallop Pre-Landing Notification form at least 6 hours before arrival on the way back to port, or immediately after fishing ends if less than 6 hours before arrival. In addition, you must submit this form on trips that are not declared as scallop trips, but on which scallops are kept incidentally.

Forms must include the:

• Operator's permit number;
• Vessel trip report (VTR) serial number recorded from that trip's VTR;
• Estimated amount of scallop meats and/or bushels to be landed;
• Estimated time and date of arrival in port;
• Port city and state at which the scallops will be landed; and
• Whether any scallops were caught in the NGOM.

Daily Scallop Catch Reports

Scallop catch reports are required to be submitted daily for vessels that fish for, possess, or retain scallops and not also fishing under a Northeast multispecies DAS or sector allocation. These reports must be submitted in 24-hour intervals for each day of fishing that begins at 0000 hours and ends at 2400 hours. The reports must be submitted before 9:00 a.m. local time each day for the previous day's catch. Each report must include the:

• Operator's permit number;
• VTR serial number;
• Date fish were caught;
• Total pounds of scallop meets kept; and
• Total pounds of all other fish kept.

Protected Species Reminders:

Commercial Fishing Reporting of Protected Species Takes

Protected Species Handling and Resuscitation Requirements and Guidelines

Stellwagen Bank Historic Shipwreck Avoidance

NOAA Fisheries, in conjunction with NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Program, requests that vessels avoid shipwreck sites on southern Stellwagen Bank within the Sanctuary by keeping gear 400 feet away from each of the site locations listed below. For details on the location of the wrecks please visit the Stellwagen Bank Historic Shipwreck Avoidance Webpage .

This bulletin serves as a Small Entity Compliance Guide complying with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.