Saving Seafood

More Rockfish Catch Reductions? Public Hearings to be Held in MD, VA

September 9, 2025 — East Coast fishery managers are seeking public feedback this month on options for cutting the catch of Atlantic striped bass to help rebuild its depleted population. There are in-person and virtual hearings planned for Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. as well.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which represents state fishery managers from along the coast as well as federal agencies, voted in August to proceed with a plan to impose a 12% reduction in 2026 on both the recreational and commercial catch of the prized species.

If finalized later this year, the plan would trim the commercial harvest quota by that amount. To curb recreational catch, it would require East Coast states to shorten their striped bass fishing season or adjust the size limits for legally catchable fish.

Read the full article at the Bay Journal

Public input sought for 2026 striped bass harvest restrictions

September 8, 2025 — East Coast fishery managers are seeking public feedback this month on options for cutting the catch of Atlantic striped bass to help rebuild its depleted population.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which represents state fishery managers from along the coast as well as federal agencies, voted in August to proceed with a plan to impose a 12% reduction in 2026 on both the recreational and commercial catch of the prized species.

If finalized later this year, the plan would trim the commercial harvest quota by that amount. To curb recreational catch, it would require East Coast states to shorten their striped bass fishing season or adjust the size limits for legally catchable fish.

Striped bass, or rockfish, are found in the Atlantic from Maine to the Carolinas, but the Chesapeake Bay is the primary spawning and nursery ground for 70% to 90% of the entire stock.

Read the full article at the Bay Journal

Atlantic Herring Area 1A Days Out Meeting Scheduled for September 18, 2025

September 5, 2025 — The following was released by Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Atlantic Herring Management Board members from the states of Maine, New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will meet via webinar on September 18, 2025 from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m., to discuss Season 2 (October 1 – December 31) days out measures for the 2025 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
Thursday, September 18, 2025
9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
 
This webinar will use the RingCentral meeting platform. You can join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone at the following link: https://v.ringcentral.com/join/849020017.  If you are new to RingCentral, you can download the app ahead of time (click here) or you can join from a web browser. 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 650.419.1505 and enter access code 849-020-017 when prompted. The webinar will start at 8:45 a.m., 15 minutes early, to troubleshoot audio as necessary.
 
The 2025 Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (sub-ACL) is 783 metric tons (mt). This does not take into account the possible reallocation of 1,000 mt to the Area 1A sub-ACL based on catch information from the Canadian New Brunswick weir fishery, nor does it take into account potential revised quotas that may be implemented by NOAA Fisheries.
 
Landings from Area 1A have exceeded the sub-ACL and are at an estimated 936 mt as of early September and therefore the fishery is closed. Without a change in the quota from one of the mechanisms listed above, the Area 1A fishery will remain closed with a 2,000-pound possession limit. 
 
For more information, please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 or efranke@asmfc.org.
 

States Schedule Public Hearings on Atlantic Striped Bass Draft Addendum III

August 28, 2025 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic coastal states of Maine through Virginia have scheduled hearings to gather public input on Draft Addendum III to Amendment 7 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass, which considers management measures to support rebuilding the stock by 2029. The Draft Addendum also addresses commercial tagging programs, a coastwide definition of total length for size limit regulations, and changes to the Maryland recreational season baseline.

Some hearings will be conducted in-person, and some hearings will be conducted via webinar, or in a hybrid format. Ifyou are unable to participate in your state’s scheduled hearing, you are welcome to participate in any of the virtual or hybrid hearings. The public hearing details follow:

Date and Hearing Format State/Agency  Contact
Monday, September 8

In-Person Hearing

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

 New Hampshire Fish and Game Dept.

 

Hearing Location:

Urban Forestry Center

45 Elwyn Road, Portsmouth, NH

 Renee Zobel

603.868.1095
Tuesday, September 9

In-Person Hearing

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

 Maine Dept. of Marine Resources

 

Hearing Location:

Yarmouth Town Hall Community Room

200 Main Street, Yarmouth, ME

 Megan Ware

207.446.0932
Tuesday, September 9

In-Person Hearing

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

 Virginia Marine Resources Commission

 

Hearing Location:

Virginia Marine Resources Commission

380 Fenwick Rd, Building 96

Fort Monroe, VA

 Joe Grist

757.247.8193

 
Wednesday, September 10

Webinar Hearing

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

 Maine Dept. of Marine Resources

 

The webinar registration link is available here, and additional webinar instructions are below.  

 Megan Ware

207.446.0932
Monday, September 15

In-Person Hearing

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

 Connecticut Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection

 

Hearing Location:

CT DEEP Marine Headquarters

Boating Education Center (“Back Building”)

333 Ferry Road, Old Lyme, CT

 Matt Gates

860.876.4393
Tuesday, September 16

Hybrid Hearing

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

 Rhode Island Dept. of Environmental Management

 

Note: This is a hybrid meeting (both in-person and virtual). The webinar registration link is available here, and additional webinar instructions are below. 

 

Hearing Location:

University of Rhode Island Bay Campus

Corless Auditorium

215 South Ferry Road, Narraganset, RI

 Jason McNamee

401.222.4700
Tuesday, September 16

In-Person Hearing

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

 New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection 

 

Hearing Location:

Stafford Township Fire Co.

133 Stafford Ave, Manahawkin, NJ

 Joe Cimino

609.439.1681

 
Wednesday, September 17

Hybrid Hearing

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

 New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation

 

Note: This is a hybrid meeting (both in-person and virtual). The webinar registration link is available here, and additional webinar instructions are below. 

 

Hearing Location:

NYSDEC Division of Marine Resources

123 Kings Park Blvd (inside Nissequogue River State Park), Kings Park, NY

 Marty Gary

631.444.0430
Thursday, September 18

Hybrid Hearing

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

 Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife

 

Note: This is a hybrid meeting (both in-person and virtual). The webinar registration link is available here, and additional webinar instructions are below. 

 

Hearing Location:

Little Creek Hunter Education Training Center

3018 Bayside Drive, Dover, DE

 John Clark

302.739.9108
Monday, September 22

In-Person Hearing

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

 New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation

 

Hearing Location:

NYSDEC Region 3 Headquarters

21 South Putt Corners Road, New Paltz, NY

 Gregg Kenney

845.256.3199
Tuesday, September 23

In-Person Hearing with Virtual Listen-Only

5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

 Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources

 

Note: This is an in-person hearing with a listen-only option. The listen-only link will be posted in a subsequent press release.

 

Hearing Location:

TBD in Annapolis area. Venue will be posted in a subsequent press release.

 Michael Luisi

443.758.6547

 

 

 
Wednesday, September 24

In-Person Hearing

7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

 Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission

 

Hearing Location:

Silver Lake Nature Center

1306 Bath Road, Bristol, PA

 Tyler Grabowski

610.847.2442
Thursday, September 25

Webinar Hearing

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

 Potomac River Fisheries Commission &

District of Columbia Dept. of Energy and Environment

 

The webinar registration link is available here, and additional webinar instructions are below.  

 Ron Owens (PRFC)

804.224.7148

Daniel Ryan (DC)

202.727.7539
Thursday, September 25

In-Person Hearing 

with Virtual Listen-Only

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

 Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries

 

Note: This is an in-person hearing with a listen-only option available via webinar at thislisten-only link.

 

Hearing Location: 

TBD in Woburn area. Venue will be posted in a subsequent press release.

 Nichola Meserve

978.290.1672
Monday, September 29

Webinar Hearing

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

 General Public Hearing Webinar

 

The webinar registration link is available here, and additional webinar instructions are below.  

 Emilie Franke

703.842.0716
Tuesday, September 30

In-Person Hearing 

with Virtual Listen-Only

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

 Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries

 

Note: This is an in-person hearing with a listen-only option available via webinar at thislisten-only link.

 

Hearing Location:

Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Admiral’s Hall

101 Academy Drive, Buzzards Bay, MA

 

 Nichola Meserve

978.290.1672

The Board initiated the Draft Addendum in response to stock projections indicating a low probability of meeting the 2029 stock rebuilding deadline. The most recent stock projections estimate an increase in fishing mortality in 2025 due to the above average 2018 year-class entering the current recreational ocean slot limit. There is also concern about the lack of strong year-classes behind the 2018 year-class.

This proposed action is intended to increase the probability of rebuilding the stock by reducing fishery removals by 12% with management measures implemented in 2026. For the commercial fishery, the Draft Addendum proposes a commercial quota reduction. For the recreational fishery, the Draft Addendum considers season closures and/or size limit changes. For Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay recreational fishery, the Draft Addendum also proposes changing the recreational baseline season to simplify Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay regulations, which could improve compliance and enforcement, and to re-align fishing access based on stakeholder input and release mortality rates.

For commercial tagging, the FMP currently allows states to choose whether to tag commercially harvested fish at the point of harvest or point of sale. To address concerns that waiting to tag harvested fish until the point of sale could increase the risk of illegal harvest, the Draft Addendum considers commercial tagging at the point of harvest or by the first point of landing intended to improve enforcement and compliance.

There is also concern that inconsistent methods of measuring the total length of striped bass for compliance with size limits undermines the intended conservation, consistency, and enforceability of the coastwide size limits. To address this, the Draft Addendum considers a coastwide definition of total length for both sectors.

Webinar Instructions

For all virtual or hybrid hearings (except for Rhode Island), please note that in order to comment during virtual webinar hearings you will need to use your computer or download the GoToWebinar app for your phone. Those joining by phone only will be limited to listening to the presentation and will not be able to provide input. In those cases, you can send your comments to staff via email or U.S. mail at any time during the public comment period. To attend the webinar in listen only mode, dial 914.614.3221 and enter access code 242-254-069. If you are unable to participate in your state’s scheduled hearing, you are welcome to participate in any of the virtual or hybrid hearings.

For all virtual or hybrid hearings (except for Rhode Island), please click HERE and select the hearing(s) you plan to attend from the dropdown menu to register for a public hearing webinar. Hearings will be held via GoToWebinar, and you can join the webinar from your computer, tablet or smartphone. If you are new to GoToWebinar, you can download the software by (clicking here) or via the App store under GoToWebinar. We recommend you register for the hearing well in advance of the hearing since GoToWebinar will provide you with a link to test your device’s compatibility with the webinar. If you find your device is not compatible, please contact the Commission atinfo@asmfc.org (subject line: GoToWebinar help) and we will try to get you connected. We also strongly encourage participants to use the computer voice over internet protocol (VoIP) so you can ask questions and provide input at the hearing.

For virtual participation at the hybrid Rhode Island public hearing, the September 16 RI Zoom meeting link is available here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

 For listen-only mode at the Massachusetts public hearings, the September 25 MA Zoom listen-only link is available here, and the September 30 MA Zoom listen-only link is available here.

For listen-only mode at the Maryland public hearing, the listen-only link will be posted in a subsequent press release.

 Hearing Presentation Recording

For those who cannot attend any in-person or virtual hearings, the Commission will also post a recording of the hearing presentation on the Commission’s YouTube page so that stakeholders may watch the presentation and submit comment at any time during the comment process. This recording will be available by early September.

Submitting Comments

The public is encouraged to submit comments at any time during the public comment period but no later than 11:59 PM (EST) on October 3, 2025. The Draft Addendum is available at
https://asmfc.org/resources/management-actions/draft-addendum-iii-to-amendment-7-to-the-interstate-fishery-management-plan-for-atlantic-striped-bass-for-public-comment/ or via the Commission’s website at Atlantic Striped Bass Action Tracker.

There are four ways to submit comments:

  1. Written comments via Atlantic Striped Bass Action Tracker or comments@asmfc.org
  2. The public comment form, which was developed to facilitate the gathering of input on the Draft Addendum’s specific options
  3. Mailed written comments addressed to Emilie Franke, FMP Coordinator, at 1050 N. Highland St., Suite 200 A-N, Arlington, Virginia 22201
  4. Verbal comments provided at any of the scheduled public hearings

If your organization is planning to release an action alert in response to the Draft Amendment, please contact Emilie Franke at efranke@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740, so she can work with you to develop a unique subject line to enable us to better organize and summarize incoming comments for Board review. For more information, please contact Emilie Franke at efranke@asmfc.org.

Atlantic Striped Bass Benchmark Stock Assessment Data Workshop Scheduled for October 6-9, 2025, in Arlington, VA Data Submission Deadline: September 30

August 25, 2025 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic Striped Bass Stock Assessment Data Workshop will be conducted October 6-9, 2025 at the Hyatt Centric Arlington, 1325 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA. The Data Workshop is the first in a series of workshops to develop the next Atlantic striped bass benchmark stock assessment. The assessment will evaluate the condition of the Atlantic striped bass stock from Maine to North Carolina and inform the management of that stock. The workshop will review all available data sources for Atlantic striped bass and identify data sets that will be incorporated in the stock assessment. The Workshop is open to the public, with the exception of discussions of confidential data*.

 
The Commission welcomes the submission of data sources that will contribute to the goals of the assessment. This includes, but is not limited to, data on landings and discards, catch per unit effort, biological samples (length or age frequency), and life history information (growth, maturity, fecundity, natural mortality). For data sets to be considered at the workshop, data must be sent in with accompanying methods description by September 30, 2025.  All available data will be reviewed and vetted by members of the Atlantic Striped Bass Technical Committee and Stock Assessment Subcommittee for possible use in the assessment.    
 
It is anticipated there will be two stock assessment workshops – one in Winter 2026 and another in Summer 2026. The benchmark stock assessment will be peer-reviewed in Spring 2027. The details of the assessment workshops and peer review will be released as they become available. For more information on submitting data, including the appropriate format, please contact Katie Drew, Stock Assessment Team Leader (kdrew@asmfc.org). For information on attending the Data Workshop (space is limited), please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, atefranke@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.
 
* Each state and federal agency is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of its data and deciding who has access to its confidential data. In the case of our stock assessments and peer reviews, all analysts and, if necessary, reviewers, have been granted permission by the appropriate agency to use and view confidential data. When the assessment team needs to show and discuss these data, observers to our stock assessment process are asked to leave the room to preserve confidentiality.                 
 

New Restrictions Proposed for Striped Bass

August 21, 2025 — With hopes for improvement in the striped bass population fading, officials are looking to further tighten fishing restrictions. This is Don Rush. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is looking at a further 12% reduction in both the commercial catch and for recreational anglers. In a weekly series of Bay Journal, we talk with associate editor and senior writer Tim Wheeler.

“And they saw a big jump last year, particularly in the recreational catch that worried them a little bit and it made them concerned that they were not going to meet their target for rebuilding the stock by 2029 to what these fisheries experts consider a sustainable level. They’ve been looking at various options for requiring further reductions. And the commission’s striped bass management board when it met August 6th, agreed on an addendum to the fishery management plan for the East coast. That would require about a 12% reduction in overall catch for both recreational and commercial sectors starting next year,” Wheeler said.

So what are they looking at there?

Read the full article at Delmarva Public Media

Meeting Summaries and Motions from the Joint Meeting of the MAFMC and ASMFC ISFMP Policy Board, Bluefish Board, and Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Board

August 20, 2025 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The meeting summaries and motions from the joint meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Commission’s ISFMP Policy Board, Bluefish Board, and Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Board are now available and can be found here. Presentations, briefing materials, and webinar recordings are available athttps://www.mafmc.org/briefing/august-2025.

More catch restrictions due in 2026 to help struggling striped bass

August 18, 2025 — Amid signs that a hoped-for recovery of Atlantic striped bass may be faltering, East Coast fisheries managers are moving to further tighten already restricted catch limits on the popular but beleaguered migratory fish.

At a meeting on Aug. 6 in Arlington, VA, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s striped bass management board voted to proceed with a plan to impose a 12% reduction in 2026 on both recreational and commercial catch of the prized species.

The plan, if adopted later this year, would trim the commercial harvest quota by that amount, while it would require East Coast states to curb the recreational catch by shortening the fishing season or adjusting the size limits for legally catchable fish.

Striped bass are found in the Atlantic from Maine to the Carolinas, but the Chesapeake Bay, where they’re also called rockfish, is the primary spawning and nursery ground for 70% to 90% of the entire stock.

The coastwide striped bass population is currently struggling to recover from years of being overfished, a problem exacerbated by poor reproduction in the Bay — for six straight years in Maryland waters and for the past two years in Virginia. Striped bass spawning tends to vary year to year, but it has never been this low for this long, and scientists aren’t sure why.

The fisheries commission ordered catch restrictions in the Bay and along the coast in 2020 and again in 2024 to halt overfishing and rebuild the stock. But higher-than-expected recreational fishing in 2024, mainly along the Mid-Atlantic coast, cast a shadow over the projected recovery, lowering the odds the stock could reach a healthy level by 2029, as federal law requires.

Read the full article at the Bay Journal

Lobstermen Seek Injunction to Fight a New Rule

August 14, 2025 — Since 1997, lobstermen along the Eastern seaboard have had to throw back lobsters with a “V-notch” — a triangular cut in the tail of an egg-bearing female that establishes it as uncatchable breed stock.

Until last month, the notch rules differed depending upon whether a fisherman had a federal permit or a state one. Federal permits allow lobstermen to fish farther offshore but have a tighter notch size restriction. Federal permit holders could harvest only lobsters with notches measuring 1/8-inch or less — the idea being that these lobsters had more time to grow, molt, and reproduce by the time they were taken. State permit holders could take lobsters with notches of up to ¼-inch.

As of July 1, an addendum to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) lobster management plan calls for the smaller notch size for all lobster permit holders.

The change is meant to expand protection of the spawning stock, according to the text of the addendum. The measure also seeks to “resolve discrepancies between the regulations for state and federal permit-holders,” the document says.

But the Outer Cape’s lobstermen who hold state permits say that the rollover to the federal permit holders’ rule should not apply to them. That’s the majority of lobstermen here: there are 64 commercial lobster permits issued to Outer Cape fishermen, and 41 are state-only permits, according to Julia Hopkins, a spokesperson for the Mass. Dept. of Fish & Game.

Outer Cape lobstermen say they worked out an exception years ago that promised them that V-notching would be optional for fishermen working in this area in exchange for their having a larger minimum size requirement. They say this was agreed with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission because it made for better conservation in local waters.

Read the full article at The Provincetown Independent

New Chesapeake striped bass fishery plan sparks debate

August 11, 2025 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved Addendum III for public comment, introducing a new plan aimed at rebuilding the Chesapeake Bay’s striped bass population by 2029.

The management plan includes updated commercial quotas and recreational fishing regulations designed to protect the species, which has shown signs of decline, particularly among younger fish in the Chesapeake Bay.

Mike Luisi of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources said the plan focuses on increasing the population of young striped bass, which spend their early years in the bay before joining the migratory adult population offshore.

Read the full article at WBOC