Alexandria, VA – MAY 4, 2012 – An independent panel of scientists endorsed the findings of the 2012 Benchmark Stock Assessment for River Herring, concluding the overall coast-wide population of river herring (alewife and blueback herring) stocks on the US Atlantic coast is depleted to near historic lows. The "depleted" determination was used instead of "overfished" and "overfishing" because many factors, not just directed and incidental fishing, are contributing to the declining abundance of river herring. In addition to reducing harvest, recovery of river herring will need to address issues such as fish passage, predation, water quality, and climate change.
River herring are an anadromous species, spending the majority of their life at sea and returning to their natal streams to spawn. While at sea, mixing is believed to occur among multiple river-specific stocks and the incidental catch of river herring in non-targeted ocean fisheries is known to include both immature and mature fish.
Ideally, river herring should be assessed and managed by individual river systems. However, with over 200 river-specific stocks, population estimates were difficult to develop for the majority of these due to insufficient data. For the 52 river-specific stocks of alewife and blueback herring for which data were available, 23 were depleted relative to historic levels, one stock was increasing, and the status of 28 stocks could not be determined because of the data’s limited time-series (see Table below).
In 2008, in response to perceived declines, the Management Board initiated the development of Amendment 2 to the Shad and River Herring FMP. Under Amendment 2, states and jurisdictions without an approved sustainable fisheries management plan were required to close their river herring fisheries by January 1, 2012. States with approved plans are Maine, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina and South Carolina. Prohibitions on harvest currently occur in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, District of Columbia, Potomac River Fisheries Commission, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida. The Commission will continue to coordinate with the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils in monitoring and reducing river herring by-catch in at-sea fisheries.
A more detailed overview of the River Herring Stock Assessment is available here. It was developed with the intent of aiding media and interested stakeholders in better understanding the Commission’s stock assessment results and process. Copies of the River Herring Stock Assessment Report and Assessment Peer Review Report will be available on the Commission website under Breaking News on May 7. For more information, please contact Kate Taylor, Fishery Management Coordinator, at ktaylor@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.