Atlantic herring are widely distributed throughout the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, from Labrador to Cape Hatteras. While the smaller herring have long been harvested and canned as sardines, adult herring are now a lucrative fishery, providing most of the bait for New England and Maritime lobstermen. Those adult herring are caught in the western Gulf of Maine, on Georges Bank and on the Scotian Shelf.

For such a small fish, Atlantic herring has generated a lot of managerial attention. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) has an interstate management plan for herring. The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) also has a fishery management plan which must jibe with the ASMFC plan. Fishing for herring is controlled through these plans primarily by closing areas where the fish are spawning, instituting catch controls throughout the region and establishing a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) limit for each of four sections of the Gulf. One of the most productive sections is the near-shore area off Maine known as Section 1A.

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