August 21, 2023 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic herring Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) fishery regulations include seasonal spawning closures for portions of state and federal waters in Eastern Maine, Western Maine and Massachusetts/New Hampshire. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 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, if sufficient samples are not available then closures will begin on predetermined dates.
There are currently no samples from the Eastern Maine spawning area to determine spawning condition. Therefore, per the Addendum II default closure dates, the Eastern Maine spawning area will be closed starting at 12:01 a.m. on August 28, 2023 extending through 11:59 p.m. on October 8, 2023. The Eastern Maine spawning area includes all waters bounded by the following coordinates:
Maine coast 68° 20’ W
43° 48’ N 68° 20’ W
44° 25’ N 67° 03’ W
North along the US/Canada border
Vessels in the directed Atlantic herring fishery cannot take, land or possess Atlantic herring caught within the Eastern Maine spawning area during this time. The incidental bycatch allowance of up to 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip per day applies to vessels in non-directed fisheries that are fishing within the Eastern Maine spawning area. In addition, all vessels traveling through the Eastern Maine spawning area must have all seine and mid-water trawl gear stowed.
Upcoming Days Out Meeting
In addition, Atlantic Herring Management Board members from the States of Maine, New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will meet via webinar on September 14, 2023 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., to discuss Season 2 (October 1 – December 31) days out measures for the 2023 Area 1A fishery (inshore Gulf of Maine). Days out measures include consecutive landings days for Season 2. The webinar and call information are included below:
Atlantic Herring Days Out Meeting
September 14, 2023
10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
You can join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone at the following link:https://meet.goto.com/738566485. If you are new to GoToMeeting, you can download the app ahead of time (click here) and be ready before the meeting starts. For audio, the meeting will be using the computer voice over internet protocol (VoIP), but if you are joining the webinar from your phone only, you can dial in at +1 (872) 240-3212 and enter access code 738-566-485 when prompted. The webinar will start at 10:15 a.m., 15 minutes early, to troubleshoot audio as necessary.
The 2023 Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (sub-ACL) is 3,345 metric tons (mt). The initial specification for the 2023 Area 1A sub-ACL of 3,592 mt decreased by 247 mt due to the catch overage in Area 1A in 2021. After adjusting for the 30 mt fixed gear set-aside and the 8% buffer (Area 1A closes at 92% of the sub-ACL), the Area 1A sub-ACL is 3,050 mt. There is no research-set-aside for 2023.
The Board established the following seasonal allocations for the 2023 Area 1A sub-ACL: 72.8% available from June 1 – September 30 and 27.2% available from October 1 – December 31.
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/file/64e3bac8AtlHerring_2023EM_SpawningClosure_DaysOutNotice_Aug2023.pdf