Highly migratory species (HMS) travel long distances and often cross domestic and international boundaries. The National Marine Fisheries Service HMS Division manages HMS fisheries; tunas, sharks, swordfish, and billfish, in U.S. Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean waters. The goal of the HMS Division is to manage migratory fisheries that cross international boundaries and implement domestic requirements of international conventions of fisheries management that the United States is partner to. The HMS Division achieves this through fishery management plans administered through the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) with approval of the secretary of commerce.

Like the regional management councils, authority to manage HMS fisheries comes from the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The HMS Division of NMFS was created in 1992 after the 1990 re-authorization of the Magnuson Act which gave authority to the secretary of commerce for the management of Atlantic tunas (albacore, bluefin, bigeye, yellowfin, and skipjack), oceanic sharks, swordfish, and billfish. Prior to this, HMS fisheries were managed by the regional councils or NMFS field offices which lacked adequate representation over the total range of the fishery, the ability to cooperatively manage through international treaties and partnerships, and without appropriate public input into the management process.

Under the Magnuson Act, the HMS Division is required to follow the same national standards that govern council managed species, which include preventing overfishing, minimizing bycatch, and using the best available science to make management decisions. All of this is achieved through fishery management plan development with consultation with an HMS Advisory Panel. This panel is composed of stakeholders from commercial and recreational fishing sectors, non-governmental organizations, state and council representatives and domestic representatives on international species management boards and conventions. Because of international management and trade agreements, HMS plans have added requirements for the NMFS to consider. Chief among these is to evaluate the likely effects of conservation and management measures on participants of the affected fisheries and minimize any disadvantage to U.S. fishermen in relation to foreign competitors. In July 2006, NOAA Fisheries finalized the Consolidated Atlantic HMS Fishery Management Plan. This plan consolidated the Atlantic billfish and the Atlantic tunas, swordfish and sharks fishery management plan and included a range of management measures for all HMS fisheries.

In addition to the Magnuson Act, the HMS Division also must comply with the Atlantic Tunas Conservation Act which provides the domestic legislative authority to implement recommendations from the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The ICCAT is an international body with representation from most countries in the Atlantic basin and other areas with interest in tunas and billfish. The countries work in collaboration to manage and regulate these fisheries at an international scale with each member state required to implement and follow the management measures developed by the body.

Under current management, operators of vessels fishing for HMS managed species must obtain a permit from NMFS and report their harvest. Commercial operators are required to electronically submit catch logs and/or detailed receipts upon the landing and sale of any fish. Some commercial operators, like fishermen who possess a pelagic long line permit, are also required to have a vessel monitoring system on board that utilizes video recording equipment to document all harvest and bycatch of the vessel. Recreational fishermen are also required to report their harvest of all HMS managed species, but it is the responsibility of the state to administer the catch reporting program. The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries collects these reports through the Recreational Highly Migratory Species Reporting Program.