July 23, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (Commission) Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts met via webinar on July 23rd, and decided to maintain status quo effort control measures for the 2020 Area 1A fishery for Season 1 (June 1 – September 30). Current effort controls for the 2020 Area 1A fishery are detailed in M20-50 which is available on the Commission’s website (click here).
The Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (ACL) is 2,957 metric tons (mt) after adjusting for the research set-aside, the 30 mt fixed gear set-aside, and the fact that Area 1A closes at 92% of the sub-ACL. The Board allocated 72.8% of the sub-ACL for Area 1A to Season 1 (2,152 mt). The Maine fishery began Sunday, July 19 (6:00 pm), and the New Hampshire/Massachusetts fishery began Monday, July 20 (12:01 am). Landings will be closely monitored and the fishery will be adjusted to zero landings days when 92% of the Season 1 quota is projected to be reached.
The Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts are scheduled to reconvene via conference call to review fishing effort on:
- Friday, July 31, at 8:30 – 10:00 am
- You can join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone at the following link:https://global.
gotomeeting.com/join/924867957 . 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 (646) 749-3122and enter access code 924-867-957 when prompted.
If it is decided that this meeting is not needed, it may be canceled. Please contact Max Appelman, FMP Coordinator, at mappelman@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740 for more information.