50 CFR § 622.436 - Anchoring restrictions.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t50/s622.436"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "50 CFR § 622.436 - Anchoring restrictions."
title_number: 50
title_name: "Wildlife and Fisheries"
section_number: "622.436"
section_name: "Anchoring restrictions."
chapter_name: "FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE"
part_number: "622"
part_name: "FISHERIES OF THE CARIBBEAN, GULF OF AMERICA, AND SOUTH ATLANTIC"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "16 U.S.C. 1801"
regulatory_source: "78 FR 22952, Apr. 17, 2013, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "622"
---


# 622.436 Anchoring restrictions.

The owner or operator of any fishing vessel, recreational or commercial, that fishes for or possesses reef fish in or from the EEZ around Puerto Rico must ensure that the vessel uses only an anchor retrieval system that recovers the anchor by its crown, thereby preventing the anchor from dragging along the bottom during recovery. For a grapnel hook, this could include an incorporated anchor rode reversal bar that runs parallel along the shank, which allows the rode to reverse and slip back toward the crown. For a fluke- or plow-type anchor, a trip line consisting of a line from the crown of the anchor to a surface buoy is required.