October 16, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts met via conference call on October 16, 2020 to consider changes to days out measures for the Area 1A fishery for Season 2 (October through December).Preliminary estimates indicate approximately 445 metric tons (mt) of the Area 1A sub-ACL remains available for harvest, which accounts for the fact that the Area 1A fishery closed with 92% of the sub-ACL is landed. Therefore, Board members from the three states decided to maintain status quo days out measure for Season 2; two (2) consecutive landings days per week.
It is anticipated that 1,000 mt from the Management Uncertainty Buffer will be reallocated to the Area 1A fishery in late October due to the low level of landings that have occurred in the Canada weir fishery. When this transfer occurs, Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts will reconvene to determine days out measures for the remainder of Season 2. A meeting notice will be released when that meeting has been scheduled.
For more information, please contact Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, atmappelman@asmfc.org.
The Atlantic Herring Days Out meeting summary can be found here –http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/