Saving Seafood

Secretary of Commerce issues fishery disaster determination for the 2019 Atlantic herring fishery

November 22, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA:

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo announced today her determination, at the request of several Northeastern states, that a fishery disaster occurred for the 2019 Atlantic herring fishery.

“Fishery disasters don’t just impact local communities—they ripple out into the broader economy impacting consumers and businesses far beyond the coast,” said Secretary Raimondo. “Resilient and sustainable fisheries are not only essential to our coastal communities, but play a vital role in supporting our blue economy and our nation’s overall economic wellbeing. With this determination, we proudly support our fishing industry and will work with the affected communities to help them get back on track.”

To reach a determination, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce works with NOAA Fisheries to evaluate the fishery disaster requests based primarily on data submitted by the requesting states. Fishery disasters must meet specific requirements under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and/or the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act, such as causing economic impacts to a commercial fishery and declines in fishery access or available catch resulting from specific allowable causes.

Positive determinations make this fishery eligible for disaster assistance from NOAA. Some fishery-related businesses impacted by this fishery disaster may also qualify for certain Small Business Administration loans. The allocation of funds will be determined in the near future.

The Secretary has received additional requests for fishery disaster determinations from several other states and Tribes. NOAA Fisheries is currently working with the requesters to finalize those evaluations.

Learn more about fishery disaster assistance.

2019 US Atlantic herring fishery declared “disaster”

November 22, 2021 — NOAA announced on 22 November that U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo declared the 2019 Atlantic herring fishery a “fishery disaster.”

A fishery disaster determination brings with it funding that would help the industry in the region. Disaster declarations have in the past gone to regions that have been hit with sudden impacts to livelihoods – like the funding that went to Gulf of Mexico fishers in the wake of impacts caused by the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

Directed Atlantic Herring Fishery Closure for Management Area 1A

November 8, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Please note there has been a slight change to the notice below:

In order to prevent the waste of Atlantic herring, the closure time has changed from 6 PM to 9 PM today. Several vessels sent messages they had fish on-board when the closure notification was released and they would not make it back to port by 6 PM, thus, requiring them to dump fish without an extension.

NOAA Fisheries and the states of Maine and New Hampshire, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts project the Atlantic herring fishery will catch 92% of the Area 1A sub-ACL by November 8, 2021. The Area 1A directed fishery will close effective 6:00 p.m. on November 8, 2021 and remain closed until further notice. Vessels that have entered port before 6:00 p.m. on November 8, 2021 may land and sell, from that trip, greater than 2,000 pounds of herring from Area 1A.

During a closure, vessels participating in other fisheries may retain and land an incidental catch of herring that does not exceed 2,000 pounds per trip or calendar day. In addition, directed herring vessels traveling through Area 1A must have all fishing gear stowed.

In accordance with the Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring, the fixed gear set-aside of 30 metric tons will continue to be available to fixed gear fishermen operating in Area 1A west of Cutler, Maine through December 31, 2021. 

Please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0716 or efranke@asmfc.org for more information.

The closure announcement can also be found at http://www.asmfc.org/files/AtlHerring/AtlHerring1A_Closure_Nov2021.pdf

ASMFC Atlantic Herring Area 1A Days Out Meeting Scheduled for November 4

November 1, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board members from the States of Maine, New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will meet via webinar on November 4, 2021 from 9 to 11 a.m., to consider adjusting the landing days for Season 2 (October 1 – December 31) for the 2021 Area 1A fishery (inshore Gulf of Maine). At the September 2021 days out meeting, the landing days were set at zero (0) for Season 2. The webinar and call information is included below:

Atlantic Herring Days Out Meeting

November 4, 2021

9:00 – 11:00 a.m.

You can join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone at the following link:https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/881890621. 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 (VoIP), but if you are joining the webinar from your phone only, you can dial in at +1 (224) 501-3412 and enter access code   881-890-621 when prompted. The webinar will start at 8:30 a.m., 30 minutes early, to troubleshoot audio as necessary.

The 2021 Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (sub-ACL) is 2,373 metric tons (mt) after adjusting for the increase of 1,000 mt based on catch information from the New Brunswick weir fishery, the carryover from 2019, the 30 mt fixed gear set-aside, and the 8% buffer (Area 1A closes at 92% of the sub-ACL). There is no research-set-aside (RSA) for 2021 because the participants in the program will not continue their RSA project in 2021.

The Board established the following seasonal allocations for the 2021 Area 1A sub-ACL: 72.8% available from June 1 – September 30 and 27.2% available from October 1 – December 31.

Please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0716 or efranke@asmfc.org for more information.

The announcement can also be found at http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/617bf260AtlHerringNov2021DaysOutMeetingNotice.pdf

 

Directed herring fishery closed for rest of the year, incidental catch still allowed 

October 19, 2021 — The directed herring fishery has been closed for the rest of the year for the inshore Gulf of Maine, according to officials.   

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board voted late last month to set the number of landing days at zero for the second half of the herring season, meaning a vessel can’t go out fishing directly for herring.   

Fishermen are allowed to fish for other species and may land up to 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip as incidental catch only, said Emilie Franke, the fishery management plan coordinator at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.   

Herring is a prized bait fish for lobstermen in Maine, though many have resorted to other species, such as  pogies,  as  herring numbers have  declined  and quotas have tightened. Herring is considered overfished, but overfishing  by fishermen  is  not  currently happening, leaving officials searching for an answer on how to help the species  rebound. 

The New England Fishery Management Council met late last month to talk about how to move forward with the conservation of the species across New England. The council decided to go forward with an acceptable biological catch strategy that allows for sustainable harvest of the fish while accounting for the species role as a forage species  and baitfish. The rule works by allowing fishing mortality rate to fluctuate with the highs and lows of the species’ biomass, allowing flexibility depending on how the fish is doing. It also adds accountability measures.   

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

 

Atlantic Herring: NEFMC Approves Stock Rebuilding Plan and Adjustments to Accountability Measures in Framework 9

October 7, 2021 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

During its September 28-30, 2021 webinar meeting, the New England Fishery Management Council selected preferred alternatives for Framework Adjustment 9 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and then voted to submit the framework to NOAA Fisheries for review and implementation.

The framework contains two components:

• A stock rebuilding plan for Atlantic herring; and
• Adjustments to accountability measures that are triggered when overages to catch limits occur in individual herring management areas.

Stock Rebuilding Plan: The Council received a letter from NOAA Fisheries on October 13, 2020 saying the agency “formally determined that the Atlantic herring stock is overfished based on the best scientific information available.”

The Council was given two years from the date of the letter to develop a rebuilding plan that could be implemented by NOAA Fisheries within that timeframe, as required by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

The Council’s Herring Committee initially developed three rebuilding alternatives for this action, and the Scientific and Statistical Committee reviewed the technical basis of the projections that were prepared to evaluate the alternatives. In mid-September, the Herring Committee added another alternative, known as 3A, for the Council to consider. The options presented to the full Council are summed up in the Framework 9 Decision Document.

Aside from “no action,” which was not a viable alternative given the letter from NOAA Fisheries, the Council had two distinct paths to choose from: (a) use the acceptable biological catch (ABC) control rule that was developed under Amendment 8 to guide the rebuilding program; or (b) go with a constant fishing mortality rate target that would remain fixed – regardless of increases or decreases in biomass – for seven or five years depending on which alternative was selected.

Read the full release from the New England Fishery Management Council

 

 

Atlantic Herring Area 1A Days Out Meeting on September 24

September 10, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Members of the Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board from the states of Maine and New Hampshire, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will meet via webinar on September 24, 2021 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., to discuss Season 2 (October 1 – December 31) days out measures for the 2021 Area 1A fishery (inshore Gulf of Maine). Days out measures include consecutive landings days for Season 2. The webinar and call information is included below:

Atlantic Herring Days Out Meeting

September 24, 2021

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

You can join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone at the following link: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/517895485. 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 (VoIP), but if you are joining the webinar from your phone only, you can dial in at +1 (872) 240-3412 and enter access code   517-895-485 when prompted. The webinar will start at 9:30 a.m., 30 minutes early, to troubleshoot audio as necessary.

The 2021 Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (sub-ACL) is 1,453 metric tons (mt) after adjusting for the carryover from 2019, the 30 mt fixed gear set-aside, and the 8% buffer (Area 1A closes at 92% of the sub-ACL). There is no research-set-aside for 2021 because the participants in the RSA program will not continue their RSA project in 2021.

The Board established the following seasonal allocations for the 2021 Area 1A sub-ACL: 72.8% available from June 1 – September 30 and 27.2% available from October 1 – December 31.

Please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0716 or efranke@asmfc.org for more information; or visit http://www.asmfc.org/calendar/9/2021/Atlantic-Herring-Area-1A-Days-Out-Meeting-on-September-24/1797.

The meeting announcement can also be found at http://www.asmfc.org/files/AtlHerring/AtlHerringSep2021DaysOutMeetingNotice.pdf

Atlantic Herring Eastern Maine Spawning Closure in Effect Starting August 28, 2021 through October 9, 2021

August 23, 2021 — 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 Addendum II default closure dates, the Eastern Maine spawning area will be closed starting at 12:01 a.m. on August 28, 2021 extending through 11:59 p.m. on October 9, 2021. 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.

For more information, please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 or efranke@asmfc.org.

The closure announcement can also be found at http://www.asmfc.org/files/AtlHerring/M21-98AtlHerring_EM_SpawningClosure_Aug2021.pdf

Maine herring area 1A shuts for two months

August 11, 2021 — With 92 percent of its seasonal allocation projected to have been landed, the inshore Gulf of Maine herring area 1A officially closed at midnight Aug. 3, with zero landing days until Sept. 30, according to Maine state officials and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

As prescribed in Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring, vessels participating in other fisheries may not possess more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip per day harvested from Area 1A.

In addition, all vessels traveling through Area 1A must have all seine and mid-water trawl gear stowed.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Herring fishing in Gulf of Maine to shut down for about 2 months

August 9, 2021 — Commercial fishing for herring will all but shut down in the inshore Gulf of Maine for about two months to help conserve the species.

Atlantic herring are an important bait fish that are harvested extensively off New England. The fishery has been limited by new restrictions in recent years because of concerns about the health of the fish’s population.

Interstate regulators said herring fishing will essentially be shut down in inshore areas off Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire until Sept. 30. They said that’s because fishermen are approaching their limits for the quota of the fish.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Gloucester Daily Times