Atlantic Bonito & False Albacore Take Center Stage

Feature Photos: Rex Messing & the Simms Fishing Team

Next Tuesday, February 17th, at 5:00 PM, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RI DEM) is holding a final public comment period before rulemaking on new regulations for false albacore and Atlantic bonito. This is a pivotal moment to maintain management momentum for two undervalued and largely unmanaged species. Without clear and simple guardrails, we’re leaving the door wide open for the wrong kind of future: one where short-term exploitation replaces long-term sustainability.

False Albacore and Atlantic Bonito have no management regulations in the state of Rhode Island. Both species drove over 900,000 combined coastwide directed trips in 2025. The decline of striped bass and bluefish, plus the relative abundance of albies and bonito, creates increased effort and leaves the door open for large-scale commercial exploitation. 

RI DEM is proposing several management options. ASGA is encouraging anglers, guides, and conservation-minded stakeholders to show up and support common-sense, conservation-focused regulations that keep these fish available for the anglers who value them most.

The Outlook in Rhode Island:

ASGA supports a set of basic guardrails that reflect what responsible anglers already believe:

• A 16-inch minimum size limit for recreational and commercial fisheries
• An aggregate recreational bag limit of 3 fish per angler (both species combined)
• A commercial landing cap for both species

These regulations are clear, enforceable, and aligned with the current reality of both fisheries. A commercial cap is not about punishing commercial fishermen, and ASGA has not pushed for a moratorium or a total closure of the commercial fishery for these species. Without a cap, the incentive structure becomes dangerous: the moment these fish gain value at the dock, the management system is already too late to respond. With the state of every other inshore fishery along the Atlantic coast, we need to shift our mindset to precautionary management. As black sea bass and bluefish are going to see significant liberalization in regulations in 2026, basic regulations for albie and bonito will not disadvantage any stakeholders.

There were over 740,000 directed trips for albies and bonito in New England in 2025. For perspective, there were only 240,000 trips for bluefish in New England.

RI DEM needs to hear from the public — not just a handful of voices, but a clear wave of anglers saying the same thing: we support precautionary management to ensure a sustainable future for our fisheries.

Anglers from along the coast can attend via Zoom by clicking the following link – or in person at the following address:

URI Bay Campus
Corless Auditorium
215 South Ferry Road, Narragansett RI 

Written comments may be submited via email to Peter Duhamel at peter.duhamel@dem.ri.gov

Feature Photos: Rex Messing & the Simms Fishing Team

North Carolina Is Showing Leadership on Atlantic Bonito — and the Coast Should Pay Attention.

While Rhode Island works to establish new rules, North Carolina is also stepping into a leadership role for Atlantic bonito. Atlantic bonito offer North Carolina anglers a unique fishery: they can show up fast, disappear faster and provide a short but exciting angling opportunity each year. These pulse fisheries are especially vulnerable to exploitation when abundant. When bonito show up in dense, predictable schools, it doesn’t take much effort for harvest to scale quickly. That’s why Atlantic bonito deserve management that matches their reality.

We need to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Keeping extreme numbers of bonito — whether it’s 50, 75, or “a triple digit day” is not sportsmanlike. To be blunt, it’s neither ethical nor necessary. We’re in full support of anglers keeping fish for the table, but bonito should be bled, iced and consumed early. They don’t freeze well, making the increasingly more cliché “dock shot” all the more wasteful.

Encourage North Carolina to vote for Option 4 for Atlantic Bonito! ASGA supports Option 4 because it’s the cleanest, most durable approach: it puts the five-fish recreational bag limit directly into permanent rule, so it can’t quietly drift upward over time depending on future directors or commissions, while still preserving the flexibility needed to manage the fishery responsibly. Option 4 keeps formal monitoring in place and maintains the requirement for NCMFC consent before proclamations are issued, but it limits proclamation authority over “quantity” to the commercial side, where rapid changes and expansion risk are most likely. In short, Option 4 protects recreational angling opportunities with a clear, enforceable standard, while ensuring the commercial fishery can’t grow rapidly without checks and balances. You can read all four options by page 6 & 7 in the briefing book.

North Carolina provides an easy, accessible opportunity for anglers to have their voices heard through a standardized public comment portal. The portal is available by clicking the following link. As you may remember, the last time false albacore were on the docket in NC, over 99% of comments were positive, respectful and conservation-focused. Now, fisheries advocates will get the chance to display those same admirable credentials for bonito. For residents or visitors who want to participate in person, the meeting will take place at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kitty Hawk, NC on February 17 & 18th. Those interested in taking a deeper dive can access the meeting agenda and complete briefing book by clicking the following link.

The conservation community needs to keep our foot on the pedal for albies and bonito. We’re seeing a profound shift in management mentality. That shift is directly driven by your voices and if we quite down, it will come to a screeching halt.

Feature Photos: Rex Messing & the Simms Fishing Team