October 31, 2023 — The following was released for Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
With approximately 1,313 metric tons (mt) of the Atlantic herring Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (sub-ACL) remaining available to harvest, the Area 1A fishery will move to four (4) consecutive landing days per week starting Sunday, November 5 at 6:00 p.m. Landings will be closely monitored and the directed fishery will close when 92% of Area 1A sub-ACL is projected to be reached.
Fishing for and possessing herring onboard prior to November 5 is allowed in accordance with published state regulations. However, landing days are still set at zero (0) up until November 5 at 6:00 p.m. While landing days are set at zero (0), harvesters are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip from Area 1A. Additionally, if landing in Maine during zero (0) landing days, those herring cannot comprise more than 10% of the total catch weight.
These measures follow up on previous action by the Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts to set effort control measures for the Season 2 2023 Area 1A fishery. Landing days were initially set at zero (0) for October 1-9 followed by two (2) landing days from October 10-11, and subsequently back to zero (0) landing days from October 12 through November 4. The Board members agreed if there was remaining quota on November 5, the fishery will move to four (4) consecutive landing days starting Sunday, November 5 at 6:00 p.m.
Estimates indicate approximately 1,313 mt of the Area 1A sub-ACL remain available to harvest, which accounts for the increase of 1,000 mt based on catch information from the New Brunswick weir fishery, the landings from October 10-11, the 30 mt fixed gear set-aside, and the 8% buffer (Area 1A closes at 92% of the sub-ACL).
For more information, please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at efranke@asmfc.
The announcement can also be found at https://asmfc.org/files/