April 5, 2021 — New rules in the herring fishery aimed at improving sustainability for the important lobster bait fish are impacting fishermen, dealers and others.
The fishery, mostly centered in Massachusetts and Maine, grew in the 1960s but has been in decline since the 1980s. In 2018, 43,878 metric tons were landed. But by 2019, 12,998 mt (valued at $9.72 million) was landed. 2020 landings were 9,368.5 mt (valued at $6.77 million), according to NOAA economist Min-Yang Lee.
The 2021 fishing season started Jan. 1, with an annual catch limit of 11,571 mt, divided among four herring management areas. However, once Framework 8 to the herring management plan is implemented, the total ACL will be set to 4,128 mt. The 2020 stock assessment shows spawning stock biomass to be at its lowest value since the late 1980s.
Wayne Reichle, president of Lund’s Fisheries in Cape May N.J., calls the quota reductions “a disaster for the region’s herring fishery.” Reichle says fleet has stayed within quota the last few years, so the low biomass and poor recruitment is “attributable to the stress of a cold-water fish being challenged by a warming ocean.” Many say it is too early to predict to what extent herring supplies will impact prices, given the newest reductions. In mid-March, herring prices in Maine were about $250 per barrel at the docks.