All recreational and commercial possession of shortfin mako is prohibited in state waters (0 – 3 miles offshore). This rule maintains consistency with interstate and federal management plans as part of a larger rebuilding program for the North Atlantic shortfin mako. For current shark fishing limits in New York State, check DEC’s Recreational Saltwater Fishing Limits.
NOAA Fisheries established a shortfin mako retention limit of zero in the commercial and recreational Atlantic HMS fisheries, prohibiting all take of shortfin mako from federal waters (3 to 200 miles offshore) on July 5, 2022.
Regulation changes are consistent with the management measure adopted in 2021 by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) recommendation based on the 2017 stock assessment. For more information, visit NOAA’s website.