Southeast
Southeast
The southeastern United States is home to the largest concentration of saltwater recreational fishing in America. Whether seeking iconic fish to catch for sport or for sustenance, recreational fishing in the Southeast generates more than $15 billion in sales annually. More than 4.5 million fishermen take more than 36 million fishing trips here every year.
The commercial fishery represents the second largest by volume in the United States and the third largest by landings revenue.
Covering a vast area from Texas to North Carolina and the U.S. Caribbean, the Southeast has the largest wetland acreage and the largest coral reef track in the contiguous United States. It provides the only known calving grounds for the highly endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. Right whales travel here in the fall to give birth off the eastern coast of Florida.
Right whales aren’t alone though—bottlenose dolphins, sea turtles, a variety of corals, sawfish, Rice's whales, manta rays and Gulf, shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon are also residents of our region. This variety creates unique viewing opportunities, experiences, and even challenges for those living in and visiting our region.
Together, NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office and Southeast Fisheries Science Center work to protect our marine life and their habitat, offering sound science to help inform management decisions in an ever-changing environment.
Sign up to receive our Southeast Fishery Bulletins for information about upcoming and current fishing regulations.
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Featured News
![Lauren Johnson, far right, and other students show off marine life they found on an NCCU field visit. (Credit: North Carolina Coastal Federation)](/https/www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3//styles/inline_field_thumbnail/s3/2024-08/2000x1333-NCCUfieldtrip-NCCF-3.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=0Yy7Ngn4)
![Amin Neal, Dr. Carol Price, and fellow CMAST student Iileyah Braxton (Credit: Amin Neal)](/https/www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3//styles/inline_field_thumbnail/s3/2024-08/2000x1333-AminNeal.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=0tsLqK7R)
![View from an underwater remotely operated vehicle, its robotic arm reaching for a concrete plate on which coral will settle, and two divers in SCUBA gear and helmets working in the background on the seafloor.](/https/www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3//styles/inline_field_thumbnail/s3/2024-09/750x500-SATFADS2024-saturation-divers-ROV-C-Innovation-cropped.jpg?h=9e499333&itok=LDNdkuti)
![Rebecca Ruiz on a scientific dive in Bonaire (Credit: Rebecca Ruiz)](/https/www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3//styles/inline_field_thumbnail/s3/2024-08/2000x1333-RebeccaRuiz-1.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=8e5E9Lcv)
![North Carolina Central University students explore an estuary at the Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium with Rachel Bisesi, Education Coordinator for the North Carolina Coastal Federation. Credit: North Carolina Coastal Federation](/https/www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3//styles/inline_field_thumbnail/s3/2024-08/NCCUfieldtrip-NCCF-2.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=CHlSE4qn)
Notices & Rules
Featured Highlights
![Izzy in her new home at Clearwater Marine Aquarium](/https/www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3//styles/inline_field_thumbnail/s3/2022-12/2022.12.06%20Izzy-4.jpg?h=c4383ff1&itok=-lctqvBm)
![large whale entanglement](/https/www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3//styles/inline_field_thumbnail/s3/2022-06/large%20whale%20entanglement.jpg?h=67788074&itok=Gyd9Kr9l)
![An angler holds a fish, its mouth open and air bladder inflated from barotrauma.](/https/www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3//styles/inline_field_thumbnail/s3/2021-06/fish%20descender%20devices%20barotrauma%20fish%20stomach%203052x2021%20NOAA%20Fisheries%20FL%20Sea%20Grant.jpg?h=babcf495&itok=-lVUm2f2)
Science in the Southeast
Our scientists produce data, information, and advice that serves as a foundation of knowledge upon which living marine resource managers in the southeastern United States depend. Our science is used to make informed decisions for maintaining healthy marine ecosystems, productive and sustainable fisheries, restoring depleted populations and damaged habitats, and recovering populations of protected, threatened, and endangered species.
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Fishing in the Southeast
The southeastern United States is home to the largest concentration of saltwater recreational fishing in America. Recreational fishing in the Southeast generates more than $15 billion in annual sales for more than 4.5 million fishermen on more than 36 million fishing trips each year.
NOAA Fisheries Southeast manages fisheries in three areas: Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic. The three Fishery Management Councils (Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and the South Atlantic) recommend regulatory actions for their region to NOAA Fisheries in order to manage federal waters from North Carolina through Texas, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
With the fishery management councils for each region, NOAA Fisheries uses the best scientific information available to manage and conserve marine fishery resources. Our main objective is to maintain fish stocks important to commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries for long-term economic and social benefits to the nation.
Fishery Management Areas & Resources
Other Fishing and Seafood in the Southeast
Protected Marine Life in the Southeast
Through policy, management, and public outreach, we strive to ensure the recovery and survival of protected marine species for future generations in the waters of the southeastern United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. We implement the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act to protect marine mammals like bottlenose dolphins and endangered species such as sea turtles and sawfish.
Species Conservation
Marine Mammal Protection
Guidance and Regulatory Actions in the Southeast
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Habitat Conservation in the Southeast
Our habitat conservation efforts center around protecting, conserving, restoring, and creating habitats and ecosystems vital to maintaining sustainable populations of recreationally and commercially important fisheries and the recovery of threatened and endangered species. Working with state and federal regulatory and permitting programs, we attempt to minimize the loss of coastal waters and wetlands while successfully enhancing and restoring fishery habitats and accommodating sustainable development.
Regulatory programs do not address the full spectrum of conservation challenges nor do they provide all the tools needed for comprehensive habitat conservation. We also participate in a variety of programs to enhance, restore, and create fishery habitats across the southeastern United States.
Partnerships are important for protecting and conserving aquatic habitat while continuing to provide ecological and economic benefits. New conservation challenges (e.g., climate change, prolonged droughts, and population growth) require engagement from the broader stewardship community. We work with a variety of partnership entities comprising various federal, state, local, private, and non-profit groups
Habitat Conservation
Habitat Restoration
Habitat Partnerships
Frequently Asked
Featured Species in the Southeast
Covering a vast area from Texas to North Carolina and the U.S. Caribbean, the Southeast has the largest wetland acreage and the largest coral reef track in the contiguous United States and provides the only known calving grounds for the highly endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. Right whales travel here in the fall to give birth off the eastern coast of Florida.
Right whales aren’t alone though—bottlenose dolphins, sea turtles, a variety of corals, sawfish, Bryde's whales, manta rays and Gulf, shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon are also residents of our region. This variety creates unique viewing opportunities, experiences, and even challenges for those living in and visiting our region.