August 26, 2023 — The following was released by Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) Atlantic herring fishery is projected to have harvested 92% of the Season 1 (June 1 – September 30) allocation by August 25, 2023. Beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, August 26, 2023, the Area 1A fishery will move to zero landing days through September 30, 2023, as specified in Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring.
Vessels participating in other fisheries may not possess more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip per day harvested from Area 1A. In addition, all vessels traveling through Area 1A must have all seine and mid-water trawl gear stowed.
Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts are expected to reconvene in September via conference call to set effort controls for the 2023 Area 1A fishery for Season 2 (October 1 – December 31). An announcement will be issued once the meeting is scheduled.
For more information, please contact Caitlin Starks, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 or cstarks@asmfc.org.
The announcement can also be found at https://asmfc.org/uploads/