September 19, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Section (Section) members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts met via conference call on Tuesday, September 18th to discuss Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) effort control measures for Trimester 3 (October 1 – December 31). Section members agreed to five consecutive landing days until 92% of the Area 1A sub-ACL is projected to be harvested, or until further notice. Vessels may only land once every 24-hour period.
- For the first week of October, beginning on October 1, 2018: Vessels in the States of Maine and New Hampshire, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts may possess and land herring from Area 1A starting at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, October 1st up to 11:59 p.m. on Friday, October 5th.
- Beginning on October 7, 2018: Vessels in the State of Maine may land herring starting at 6:00 p.m. on Sundays up to 5:59 p.m. on Fridays. Beginning October 8, 2018, vessels in the State of New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts may land herring starting at 12:01 a.m. on Mondays up to 11:59 p.m. on Fridays.
The Atlantic Herring Section members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts are scheduled to reconvene via conference call to review fishing effort on:
- Friday, October 12 at 1:00 p.m.
To join the call, please dial 888.585.9008 and enter conference room number 502-884-672 when prompted.
Trimester 3 landings will be closely monitored and the directed fishery will close when 92% of the Area 1A sub-ACL is projected to be reached. Fishermen are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip from Area 1A until the start of Trimester 3.
For more information, please contact Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 or mware@asmfc.org.
A PDF of the announcement can be found here –http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/5ba145f1AtlHerringDaysOutTri3_Sept2018.pdf.