New Rules for Scamp and Yellowmouth Grouper in the South Atlantic for 2026 Reading Time: 3 minutes

NOAA Fisheries published the final rule for Amendment 55 on June 4, 2026, setting new management measures for Scamp and Yellowmouth Grouper in South Atlantic federal waters. The rules take effect July 6, 2026.

Angler is wearing sunglasses and holding a large Scamp Grouper outdoors by a fence and palm trees on a sunny day after fishing in the South Atlantic.

The change mirrors what was proposed, but then paused, on the Gulf side. The Gulf Amendment 58A would have pulled Scamp and Yellowmouth out of the Gulf’s shallow-water Grouper complex into their own sub-complex. However, the Gulf Council stopped that action in January 2026 to wait for updated recreational data. 

The South Atlantic’s Amendment 55, on the other hand, moves forward on schedule.

What the New Rule Brings

Amendment 55 pulls Yellowmouth Grouper out of the existing “other South Atlantic shallow water grouper complex” and pairs it with Scamp in a brand-new two-species complex.

The new New Scamp and Yellowmouth Grouper complex rules:

  • The bag limit is one fish per person per day (Scamp or Yellowmouth Grouper combined).
  • The bag limit counts toward the existing three-fish Grouper and Tilefish aggregate.

Other shallow-water Grouper complex (Rock Hind, Red Hind, Coney, Graysby, and Yellowfin Grouper) rules:

  • The new total annual catch limit for these species is 100,151 lb whole weight.

Why These Changes Are Happening

A SEDAR stock assessment (NOAA’s process for evaluating fish population health) found both Scamp and Yellowmouth Grouper to be overfished. That means their populations have dropped below healthy levels. The species are not currently experiencing active overfishing, but they need room to recover.

Giving them their own complex lets managers set limits specifically for these two species rather than placing them in with healthier fish populations.

A brown and tan patterned Scamp Grouper's swimming underwater against a dark, rocky background.
Source: NOAA

The rebuilding plan targets recovery by 2034 and steps up catch limits gradually as the stocks improve. The total catch limit for the new complex starts at 67,450 lb whole weight in 2025 and rises to 79,800 lb whole weight in 2029 and beyond.

What This Means for Anglers

If you fish for Grouper along the South Atlantic coast, the main thing to remember is the new one-fish combined bag limit for Scamp and Yellowmouth Grouper. That one fish counts inside your existing three-fish Grouper and Tilefish aggregate, so keeping a Scamp or Yellowmouth Grouper reduces what else you can take home.

The standard South Atlantic shallow-water Grouper spawning closure still applies, and no harvest is allowed from January 1 to April 30. 

The fishery is currently open, but NOAA has not yet published a 2026 season-end date for the new complex, so watch for a separate update that will announce when the recreational catch limit is projected to be reached.

Last but not least, if recreational landings exceed the annual catch limit in a given year, the following year’s season gets shortened to compensate.

Have you targeted Scamp or Yellowmouth Grouper in the South Atlantic? What do you think about the new rules? Hit the comment button below and share your thoughts with us.


The concept and outline of this article were created by people engaged by FishingBooker. Artificial intelligence tools were used to flesh out and reformat information into a blog article. Before being published, this article was edited and fact-checked by FishingBooker staff.

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