September 18, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The following announcement includes information on (1) days out measures for the 2020 Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) Atlantic herring fishery for Season 2 (October 1 – December 31); (2) closure dates for the Western Maine and New Hampshire/Massachusetts spawning area; and (3) a correction to the closure dates for Eastern Maine spawning area.
Landings Day for the 2020 Area 1A Fishery for Season 2
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts met September 17 via conference call to set effort control measures for the 2020 Area 1A fishery for Season 2. The Season 2 quota is 914 metric tons (mt), which is 27.2% of the Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (ACL) after adjusting for the research set-aside, the 30 mt fixed gear set-aside, a slight underage from Season 1, and the fact that the Area 1A fishery closes at 92% of the sub-ACL.
- Landings days will be set at zero (0) from October 1 until the start of the fishery on October 11 in Maine and October 12 in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
- The fishery will move to three (3) consecutive landings days per week starting October 11 in Maine and October 12 in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
- The fishery will move to two (2) consecutive landings days per week starting October 18 in Maine and October 19 in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
- Landings days in Maine begin on Sunday of each week at 6:00 p.m.; landing days in New Hampshire and Massachusetts begin on Monday of each week at 12:01 a.m.
Harvesters are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip from Area 1A until October 11 or 12, depending on the state. Landings will be closely monitored and the fishery will close when 92% of Area 1A sub-ACL is projected to be reached.
The Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts will reconvene via conference call to review fishing effort on:
- Friday, October 16, at 9:30 – 11:00 a.m.
- You can join the meeting from your computer, tablet, or smartphone at the following link:https://global.
gotomeeting.com/join/947666941 . If you are new to GoToMeeting, you can download the app ahead of time (click here) and be ready before the meeting starts. The meeting will be using the computer audio (VoIP), but if you are joining the webinar from your phone only, you can dial in at +1 (571) 317-3112 and enter access code 947-666-941 when prompted. The webinar will start at 9:00 a.m., 30 minutes early, to troubleshoot audio as necessary.
The Atlantic herring Area 1A fishery regulations include seasonal spawning closures for portions of state and federal waters in Eastern Maine, Western Maine, and Massachusetts/New Hampshire. The Atlantic Herring Management Board approved a forecasting method that relies upon at least three samples, each containing at least 25 female herring in gonadal stages III-V, to trigger a spawning closure. However, closures will begin on predetermined dates if sufficient samples are not available.
Vessels in the directed Atlantic herring fishery cannot take, land, or possess Atlantic herring caught in a spawning area during a closure and must have all fishing gear stowed when transiting through the area. An incidental bycatch allowance of up to 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip/calendar day applies to vessels in non-directed fisheries that are fishing within the Western Maine or Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning areas.
Western Maine and Massachusetts/New Hampshire Spawning Closure
There are currently insufficient samples from the Western Maine and Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning areas to determine spawning condition. Therefore, per Addendum II default closure dates, these spawning areas will be closed starting at 12:01 a.m. on September 23, 2020 extending through 11:59 p.m. on November 3, 2020. Western Maine spawning area includes all waters bounded by the following coordinates:
43° 30’ N Maine coast
43° 30’ N 68° 54.5’ W
43° 48’ N 68° 20’ W
North to Maine coast at 68° 20’ W
The Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning area includes all waters bounded by the Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine coasts, and 43° 30’ N and 70° 00’ W.
CORRECTION: Eastern Maine Spawning Area Closed through 11:59 p.m. October 8, 2020
The Eastern Maine Spawning Area closure extends through 11:59 p.m. on October 8, 2020. Directed herring vessels may begin fishing in the Eastern Maine spawning area starting at 12:01 a.m. on October 9, but may not land herring caught from this spawning area until the Season 2 fishery opens on October 11 or 12, depending on the state of landing. Eastern Maine spawning area includes all waters bounded by the following coordinates:
Maine coast 68° 20’ W43° 48’ N 68° 20’ W44° 25’ N 67° 03’ WNorth along the US/Canada border
For more information, please contact Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 or mappelman@asmfc.org.
The announcement including motions from the September 17th Atlantic Herring Days Out Meeting can be found at http://www.asmfc.org/