New England Council Leaves Scallop Permit Stacking to NOAA, Pushes Northern Edge Access to December

The New England Fishery Management Council worked through a list of management priorities at its September 2026 meeting that NOAA laid out in a July 2 letter tied to Executive Order 14276, "Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness," with outcomes ranging from deferral to outright rejection ahead of a formal Council response due to NOAA by September 30.
The most consequential decision came on scallop permit stacking, which would let vessels combine multiple permits' allocations onto a single boat. Despite NOAA tasking the Council with pursuing action...
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