October 25, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board initiated Draft Addenda II and III to Amendment 3 of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring to consider strengthening spawning protections in Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) and extending spawning protections to Area 3 (off of Cape Cod and Georges Bank). This action responds to the results of the 2018 Benchmark Stock Assessment which showed reduced levels of recruitment and spawning stock biomass over the past five years, with 2016 recruitment levels the lowest on record.

Currently, the Board uses a series of closures to protect spawning aggregations in the Gulf of Maine. These closures, which were implemented through Amendment 3, extend for four to six weeks; their timing is informed by samples which are used to project the start of spawning. Recent analysis by the Atlantic Herring Technical Committee found that while the current spawning closure system was significantly improved under Amendment 3, the protocol could continue to be strengthened by considering when, and for how long, a closure is initiated. Specifically, the analysis showed, under the current protocol, spawning closures are initiated when there are approximately 25% spawners in the fishery; greater protection could be provided by initiating a closure when a lower percentage of the population is spawning and extending the closure for a longer time. As a result, the Board initiated Draft Addendum II to consider these modifications to the Gulf of Maine spawning closure protocol.

In addition, the Board initiated Draft Addendum III to consider the establishment of a spawning protection program in Area 3. This management area encompasses Georges Bank and the back side of Cape Cod. While both are recognized as important spawning areas for herring, they do not currently have protections specific to spawning. By initiating this addendum, the Board seeks to protect spawning in this region in order to promote stock rebuilding.

Finally, to support future management of the stock, the Commission’s Executive Committee allocated funds to carry out sampling of the Atlantic herring fishery. This sampling will focus on investigating spatial and temporal spawning patterns in Georges Bank and Nantucket Shoals. For more information, please contact Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mware@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.