What: On May 26, 2026, the National Marine Fisheries Service proposed regulations requiring the electronic submission of commercial fishing logbooks.
Why: Commercial fishing logbooks are used to collect basic fishing effort and catch-related data, including species and weights of landed fish, fishing location and depth of water, and the type of gear used to fish. Currently, the NMFS mails the logbook to the owners of federally permitted vessels every December.
The mailing consists of a carbon paper logbook, approximately 100 pages in length, containing three sections: instructions, fishing trip reporting forms, and no-fishing report forms, along with postage-paid return envelopes. The owner or operator of the federally permitted vessel must report the fishing activity of each trip within seven days after finishing a trip or after a month without any fishing activity and mail the form to the NMFS.
NMFS is proposing to change the commercial fishing logbook reporting format from a paper logbook to an electronic reporting format and make limited changes to the data that fishermen need to report.
The changes would apply to any commercial permit for the following species:
- Coastal migratory pelagic species in the Gulf of America and Atlantic Ocean.
- Atlantic dolphinfish and wahoo.
- South Atlantic snapper-grouper species.
- Gulf reef fish species.
The deadline to submit an electronic report after a fishing trip would not change from current requirements.
Action: Read the proposed rule and submit comments before the June 26, 2026, deadline.
PROPOSED RULE:
Electronic Logbook Reporting in Commercial Fisheries of the Gulf of America and Atlantic
CONTACT:
Nick Goldstein
EMAIL:
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