February 1, 2017 —  Alexandria, VA — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission: 

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Section approved Draft Addendum I to Amendment 3 of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring for public comment. Draft Addendum I includes management options to ensure the seasonal quota is distributed throughout Trimester 2, are applied consistently by the states adjacent to Area 1A, and address excessive capacity.

The Draft Addendum was initiated in response to the accelerated rate of Area 1A Trimester 2 (June through September) landings in recent years and the increasingly dynamic nature of days out measures to control effort that have varied across states. The Section utilizes days out of the fishery to slow the rate of Area 1A catch by restricting the number of available landing days. Landing reports indicate vessels are harvesting herring on days out of the fishery and transferring fish at‐sea to carrier or larger vessels until landing is permitted. The practice of fishing outside of landing days has limited the effectiveness of the days out program in controlling the rate of harvest.

The Draft Addendum presents six management options to improve the performance of the Area 1A fishery, ranging from restricting a vessel from landing fish caught on days out of the fishery to limiting transfers at sea as well as the amount a vessel can land per week. The document also seeks input on a tiered weekly landing limit for future management consideration.

The Draft Addendum will be available on the Commission website, www.asmfc.org (under Public Input) by February 10, 2017. It is anticipated Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New Jersey will be conducting public hearings in March/April. The details of those hearings will be released in a subsequent press release. The Section will review submitted public comment and consider final approval of Addendum I at the Commission’s Spring Meeting in May 2017.

For more information, please contact Ashton Harp, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at aharp@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.