- Division of Marine Fisheries
Below find the changes made to DMF fishing rules by regulation, emergency action, and in-season adjustment from January 1, 2025 – June 30, 2025. Regulatory changes follow an extensive public process and remain in effect permanently unless otherwise amended; emergency actions go into effect immediately upon adoption without public comment but for a period of 90 days only (unless extended on a permanent basis following the public process); and in-season adjustments go into effect immediately upon adoption after a truncated public process but affect that calendar year only.
Atlantic Bonito and False Albacore Limits (322 CMR 6.42). DMF has enacted a first-ever size and possession limit for both false albacore and Atlantic bonito. The minimum size limit for both species is 16 inches curved fork length and retention is limited to no more than 5 fish per person for both species combined. These new limits apply to all commercial and recreational fishers, except commercial weir and mechanized mackerel jig fishers. These commercial fishers may encounter some incidental catch of these species during their routine operations and sorting and discarding the bycatch would be unduly burdensome. This is a precautionary management action that constrains recreational harvest approximately at current levels and prevents the development of a directed commercial fishery given the local growth in popularity of these fisheries in Massachusetts occurring without the benefit of a population estimate, extensive understanding of life history, or fishery management plans to control fishing mortality. The minimum size limit reflects estimated size-at-maturity for both species.
Commercial American Eel Permitting (322 CMR 7.01 and 7.04). For 2026, DMF is limiting entry into the commercial American eel fishery. This will be done by establishing a December 31, 2024 control date for the American Eel Endorsement and limiting future issuance of this endorsement only to those permit holders who reported landing any eels between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2024. Additionally, all remaining American Eel Endorsements will become owner-operator thereby requiring the named permit holder to be the person conducting the authorized commercial eel fishing. This action responds to persistent low American eel abundance and concerns about underreporting in the commercial fishery.
Commercial Menhaden Management and Permitting (322 CMR 6.43, 7.01, and 7.04). Beginning in 2025, DMF revised the trigger that drops the trip limit for the limited entry fishery from 25,000 pounds to 6,000 pounds so that it occurs if 98% of the quota is reached on or after September 1. Previously, the trip limit would be dropped if 90% of the quota was reached before September 1. Additionally, for 2025, DMF initiated the Harvester Partnership Pilot Program. This program allows similarly permitted vessels rigged for seining to share catch from their nets should a set exceed the trip limit or a vessel’s capacity. For 2026, DMF will further limit access to the limited entry menhaden DMF News | 22 DMF News | 23 fishery by restricting renewals of Menhaden Endorsements to only those permit holders with a minimum of one landing of at least 6,000 pounds of menhaden between January 1, 2014 and August 1, 2023 or hold a Menhaden Endorsement in conjunction with a Fish Weir Endorsement. Lastly, the Control Date for the CAP-Purse Seine Endorsement was amended so that any person issued the endorsement after December 31, 2024—whether by renewal or a new application—may be subject to eligibility criteria based on historic landings by the permit holder.
Commercial Summer Flounder Management (322 CMR 6.22). DMF made several adjustments to the commercial summer flounder management program. Beginning in 2025, DMF: (1) reduced the summertime (April 23–September 30) directed fishery trip limit from 600 pounds to 500 pounds for net fishers and 400 pounds to 325 pounds for hook fishers; (2) amended the trigger to reduce trip limits to 400 pounds for net fishers and 250 pounds of hook fishers so that it occurs if 75% of the quota is taken before August 15, rather than August 1; (3) added a new trigger to reduce the trip limit to 200 pounds for all gear types if 90% of the quota is taken before September 1; (4) prohibited the possession, retention, and landing of summer flounder on Saturdays; and (5) renewed the Consecutive Daily Limit program— effective June 10—to allow trawlers to land two daily limits of summer flounder, horseshoe crabs, whelks, black sea bass, and smooth dogfish taken over consecutive calendar days. Beginning in 2026, DMF will adjust the annual quota allocations so that the Period I fishery (January 1–April 22) receives only 15% of the annual quota (rather than 30%), and the Period II fishery (April 23–December 31) receives the remaining 85% of the quota (rather than 70%) and the Period I trip limit will be set at 2,000 pounds. The purpose of these actions was to shift the quota to the summertime fishery when the resource is more valuable to more permit holders and prevent an early season closure to allow some level of inshore fishing to continue into the early fall.
Constraints on Use of Certain Devices to Deploy Bait When Shore Fishing (322 CMR 4.09). DMF has prohibited anglers from using mechanized, compressed propulsion, and remote-controlled devices to deploy bait when shore fishing. This complements DMF’s regulatory actions to restrict the shorebased targeting of white sharks by limiting the ability for anglers to set baits beyond the surf where white sharks occur. Additionally, it will limit anglers’ ability to target fish at a greater distance and specific size classes when conditions allow, and in doing so, may reduce post-release mortality particularly for striped bass by limiting the fight-time related to stress placed on the fish. See page 10 for more information.
Documentation to Possess and Sell Dogfish Fins (322 CMR 6.37). DMF is now requiring businesses selling spiny or smooth dogfish fins in the Commonwealth to produce paperwork that documents the lawful origin of the product. This enhances enforcement of the shark fin prohibition in state law.
Groundfish Management and Permitting (322 CMR 6.03 and 7.04). DMF took two actions to amend its cod management regulations consistent with expected changes to the federal management plan. First, DMF amended it cod management area boundaries. All state waters north of Cape Cod and those waters down the backside of the Cape and east of Nantucket west of the 70th meridian are now the Western Gulf of Maine Cod Management Area; all other state waters are now part of the Southern New England Cod Management Area. Effectively, this moves that band of waters east of Cape Cod and Nantucket south of 42° 00’ north latitude from the Southern New England Cod Management Area to the Western Gulf of Maine Cod Management Area. Second, DMF established a moratorium on the harvest and possession of cod by commercial and recreational fishers within the Southern New England Cod Management Area. Fishers who lawfully retain cod caught in another jurisdiction may transit state waters within the Southern New England Cod Management Area and land this cod catch in Massachusetts. To provide commercial fishing access to other non-cod species, DMF increased the yellowtail flounder trip limit from 350 pounds to 500 pounds; increased the monkfish trip limit from 536 pounds tail weight (1,560 pounds whole weight) to 1,000 pounds tail weight (2,910 pounds whole weight); and renewed the pilot program for trawlers and gillnetters to land two daily limits of Gulf of Maine winter flounder and yellowtail flounder that were lawfully caught and retained over consecutive calendar days. Lastly, DMF updated the Control Date for the Groundfish Endorsement from December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2024.
Lobster Management (322 CMR 6.02). Consistent with Addendum XXXII to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Lobster, DMF adopted emergency regulations to rescind those minimum and maximum carapace size standards and escape vent changes implemented in December 2024 for the upcoming 2025 fishing year under Addendum XXVII. This has the following effects: (1) for commercial Lobster Conservation Management Area 1 (LCMA1) permit holders and recreational fishers in the Gulf of Maine Management Area, the minimum carapace size standard will remain 3 ¼” and the escape vent size will remain 1 15/16” by 5 ¾” rectangular and 2 7/16” diameter circular; (2) the maximum carapace size for commercial LCMA 3 permit holders will remain 6 ¾”; (3) the maximum carapace size for commercial Outer Cape Cod (OCC) LCMA permit holders with a federal lobster permit will remain 6 ¾”; (4) there will remain no maximum carapace size for commercial state-only OCCLCMA permit holders and recreational fishers in the Outer Cape Cod Management Area; and (5) for seafood dealers, all pending changes to the minimum and maximum carapace size rules will be rescinded resulting in a state-wide minimum size of 3 ¼” and no maximum size. Final rule making remains ongoing at the time of this update.
Management of Conch Pots in the Federal Zone (322 CMR 6.12). DMF extended state permitting and effort control rules to Massachusetts commercial permit holders fishing conch pots for knobbed and channeled whelk (“whelk”) in the federal zone. This requires any Massachusetts commercial permit holder possessing or landing whelks taken by conch pot gear in state or federal waters to: (1) hold a DMF-issued conch pot permit; (2) have all conch pots present on the vessel or set in the water to have a valid annual conch pot trap tag affixed; (3) fish no more than 200 conch pots; and (4) adhere to the April 15–December 15 conch pot fishing season. Absent a federal fishery management plan for whelk, no federal controls govern the use of conch pots in these waters. In recent years DMF has observed an expansion of the traditional state waters conch pot fishery in the federal zone off Nantucket. This raises concerns about the potential proliferation of conch pot gear in federal waters increasing entanglement risks for protected whales and sea turtles.
Mandatory Reporting of Whale and Turtle Entanglements by Mariners (322 CMR 12.08). DMF now requires any mariner who observes sea turtles or whales entangled in fishing gear to report the entanglement to the Massachusetts Environmental Police, NOAA Fisheries, or the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies. This action should enhance disentanglement efforts in Massachusetts waters.
Oceanic Whitetip Sharks (322 CMCR 6.37). DMF has prohibited the retention and landing of oceanic whitetip sharks. This conforms state rules to federal limits and ensures Massachusetts is in compliance with the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Coastal Sharks.
Prohibition on the Use of Pacific Lugworms as Bait (322 CMR 6.10). DMF has prohibited the possession, sale, and use of Pacific lugworms as bait. Over the past several years there have been reports of these non-native worms being sold at local bait and tackle shops and acquired by anglers through online purchases. These worms present biosecurity concerns particularly related to pathogen transmission—including White Spot Syndrome Virus, which is capable of infecting crustaceans, and Covert Mortality Nodavirus, which is capable of infecting a variety of shellfish, crustaceans, and finfish—as well as potential naturalization in our local waters.
Recreational Black Sea Bass Season (322 CMR 6.28). DMF adopted a recreational black sea bass season of May 17 – September 1. The 2024 season was May 18 – September 3. This is a conservationally equivalent action designed to maintain the opening day as a Saturday.
Shore-Based Shark Fishing (322 CMR 6.37). DMF took action to constrain shore-based shark fishing in Massachusetts to enhance the enforcement of the existing prohibition on capturing white sharks and address burgeoning user group conflicts between anglers presumably targeting white sharks and other beachgoers. First, DMF created an area where shore-based anglers are prohibited from fishing with a baited hook that has an inside gap exceeding 5/8 inch when measured straight across from barb to shank coupled with a wire or metal leader that measures greater than 18 inches. The area where this activity is prohibited begins at the northernmost point of Plymouth Beach and follows the shoreline around Cape Cod Bay and the Outer Cape including all of Chatham Harbor and Monomoy Island. The use of this heavy gear remains authorized outside of the area and anglers may fish lighter tackle within the area to target other species. If shore fishing with this heavier gear outside the prohibited area, DMF has restricted anglers from chumming from sunrise to sunset.
Striped Bass Total Length Measurement (322 CMR 6.07). DMF clarified that total length measurement for striped bass is to be taken by measuring the straight-line length from the anterior tip of the snout or jaw to the furthest extremity of the tail with the upper and lower forks squeezed together. This applies to the measurement of fish in both the commercial and recreational fishery. Previously, anglers had discretion to squeeze the forked tail or not; the lack of a clean and consistent standard was eroding the intended conservation and enforceability of the size limits.
