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NMFS is publishing an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to solicit comments on potential modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan's Massachusetts Trap/Pot Restricted Area and the Great South Channel Trap/Pot Restricted Area to allow trap/pot fishing that does not use vertical buoy lines (referred to as buoy-lineless or ropeless gear) prior to gear retrieval. Large whale entanglements resulting in serious injuries and mortalities still occur at levels that, for North Atlantic right whales, exceed the levels established by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Therefore, NMFS believes modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (Plan) are needed to meet the goals of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Currently the plan has two seasonal trap/pot closures: Massachusetts Restricted Area and the Great South Channel Trap/Pot Closure. NMFS is acting on the 2003 Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team (Team) and 2018 Team working group recommendations to investigate the feasibility of opening current closed trap/pot areas to experimental trap/pot fisheries that would use buoy lineless fishing gear, except during gear retrieval. By opening these areas in this limited way, it is expected that a portion of previously excluded fishermen will regain access to fishing grounds therefore increasing their revenue while helping increase incentives to develop practical buoy lineless gear technologies and techniques that are economically feasible. These technologies and techniques will provide long-term options for helping reduce large whale entanglements in the future.