May 5, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
NOAA Fisheries approves Framework Adjustment 6 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan (FMP). This action reduces Atlantic herring catch limits for 2020 and 2021, consistent with the New England Council’s harvest policy for herring and in response to estimates of herring biomass and recruitment, and maintains the 2019 catch caps for river herring and shad for 2020 and 2021.
This action updates the overfished and overfishing definition for the herring stock. The updated definitions are more consistent with the 2018 herring stock assessment, definitions used for other stocks in the region, and the ABC control rule developed in Amendment 8 to the Herring FMP. This action suspends the carryover of unharvested herring catch for 2020 and 2021. Suspending carryover is needed because the amount of carryover from 2018 (just under 5,000 mt), and potentially 2019, is substantial relative to the reduced ACL for 2020 and 2021 (11,571 mt). If carryover is harvested in specific management areas early in the year, other areas that are typically fished later in the year may be constrained by the ACL such that the sub-ACLs in those areas cannot be fully harvested. Suspending carryover is consistent with the Council’s precautionary management given the approaching overfished condition of the herring stock and the uncertainty surrounding estimates of herring biomass and recruitment. This action also makes minor administrative clarifications and corrections to existing regulations.
Read the final rule as filed in the Federal Register and the permit holder bulletin available on our website.