The Gulf Fishery Management Council (Gulf Council) will hold a meeting of its Law Enforcement Technical Committee (LETC), in conjunction with the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Co...
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION:
Notice of public meeting.
SUMMARY:
The Gulf Fishery Management Council (Gulf Council) will hold a meeting of its Law Enforcement Technical Committee (LETC), in conjunction with the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission's (GSMFC) Law Enforcement Committee (LEC).
DATES:
The meeting will convene on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time.
ADDRESSES:
The meeting will be held at Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa located at 4000 Sandestin Boulevard South, Miramar Beach, FL. Please visit the Gulf Council website (
www.gulfcouncil.org) for agenda and meeting materials information.
Council address:
Gulf Fishery Management Council, 4107 W Spruce Street, Suite 200, Tampa, FL 33607.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dr. Assane Diagne, Economist, Gulf Council,
assane.diagne@gulfcouncil.org,
(813) 348-1630; and Mr. Steve VanderKooy, Inter-jurisdictional Fisheries (IJF) Coordinator, GSMFC,
svanderkooy@gsmfc.org,
(228) 875-5912.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The following items of discussion are on the agenda, though agenda items may be addressed out of order and any changes will be noted on the Gulf Council's website when possible.
Joint Gulf Council's LETC and GSMFC's LEC Meeting Agenda
The joint meeting will begin with introductions, adoption of agenda, approval of minutes from the October 29, 2025, meeting and summary from the joint Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission/GSMFC meeting held May 5-6, 2026.
The Gulf Council LETC will review and discuss hook limitations on commercial longline vessels, crew size restrictions for dually permitted vessels, Joint Enforcement Agreement (JEA) activities, and hold an election of LETC chair and vice-chair.
The GSMFC LEC will review and discuss joint NOAA Office of Law Enforcement (OLE)/Enforcement JEA meetings and GSMFC/ASMFC joint Law Enforcement (LE) committees meetings, the program activity for black drum profile, striped mullet profile and commission publications.
The committee will present the State report highlights from Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA OLE, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and will discuss any other business items.
The agenda is subject to change, and the latest version along with other meeting materials will be posted on
www.gulfcouncil.org.
The LETC consists of principal law enforcement officers in each of the Gulf States, as well as the NOAA OLE, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the NOAA Office of General Counsel for Law Enforcement.
Although other non-emergency issues not on the agenda may come before this group for discussion, in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, those issues may not be the subject of formal action during this meeting. Actions will be restricted to those issues specifically identified in the agenda and any issues arising after publication of this notice that require emergency action under section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, provided the public has been notified of the Council's intent to take action to address the emergency.
Dated: September 25, 2026.
Rey Israel Marquez,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
www.gulfcouncil.org