Saving Seafood

Scientists did not recommend a 54 percent cut to the menhaden TAC

December 4, 2025 — In the weeks following the 2025 Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) annual meeting, a wave of statements from environmental and recreational fishing groups has told the public that Atlantic menhaden scientists “recommended” a 50 to 54 percent cut to the coastwide total allowable catch (TAC). According to a detailed 14-page analysis from the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition, that claim is not only inaccurate- the meeting record itself contradicts it.

Instead, the Coalition says ASMFC’s Technical Committee and Ecological Reference Point (ERP) Working Group did exactly what managers asked: they provided risk-based projections across a range of TAC scenarios, without recommending any one option. “There were no recommendations of preferred TAC made,” the Coalition reports. “The Technical Committee and the ERP Working Group supply projections and risk information; the commissioners decide policy.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Federal government decides it won’t list American eel as species at risk

December 4, 2025 — The federal government has decided against listing the American eel under the Species at Risk Act, a move that comes after more than a decade of indecision and years of chaos and controversy in the lucrative Maritime fishery for juvenile eels, also known as elvers.

The decision is being both welcomed and criticized, with the commercial elver sector noting that listing the eel as a species at risk would have shut down the industry, while other observers have urged for it to be protected for conservation reasons.

American eel was first assessed as a species of “special concern” in 2006 by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife. In 2012, the advisory group designated it as threatened, but for 13 years the federal government would not decide whether to formally list it as a species at risk.

In a news release issued Tuesday, the federal government said it came to its decision after considering “the best available scientific and socioeconomic data,” and comments from Indigenous groups, provinces, stakeholders and the Canadian public.

Read the full article at CBC

EU Commission proposes 2019 TACs for Atlantic, North Sea

November 9, 2018 — The European Commission has proposed new 2019 quotas for 89 separate stocks in the east Atlantic and North Sea.

The new quotas will see total allowable catch (TAC) increased or maintained for 62 stocks, while 22 stocks have seen a decrease in TAC — five of which have a proposed TAC of zero, indicating that the reduced stocks should no longer be targeted at all.

Some of the biggest quota gains belonged to North Atlantic haddock, which had a proposed TAC of 10,469 metric tons, up 103% from 2018; horse mackerel off the west coast of Spain, with a proposed quota of 94,017t, up 69%; and Norwegian lobster west of Sweden, up 65% to a new TAC of 19,424t.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

ASMFC Atlantic Menhaden Board Sets 2017 TAC at 200,000 MT & Approves Draft Amendment 3

October 31st, 2016 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission: 

The Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board approved a total allowable catch (TAC) forthe 2017 fishing season of 200,000 mt, a 6.45% increase from the 2016 TAC. According to Technical Committee analysis this increase has a zero percent probability of resulting in overfishing. The TAC will be made available to the states/jurisdictions based on the state‐by‐state allocation established by Amendment 2 (see accompanying table).

“Given the healthy condition of the resource, this modest increase provides additional fishing opportunities while the Board proceeds with the development of Draft Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan.” stated Board Chair Robert Ballou from Rhode Island.

Additionally, the Board approved the Public Information Document (PID) for Draft Amendment 3 for public comment. As the first step in the amendment process, the PID provides stakeholders with an opportunity to inform the Commission about changes observed in the fishery and provide feedback on potential management measures as well as any additional issues that should be included in the Draft Amendment. Specifically, the PID presents a suite of tools to manage the menhaden resource using ecological reference points as well as options to allocate the resource among the states, regions, and user groups.

The PID will be available on the Commission website, www.asmfc.org, early next week. It is anticipated that the majority of states will be conducting public hearings over the next couple months. A subsequent press release to provide the details of those hearings.  For more information, please contact Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mware@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

View the full release at: http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/58113785pr32AtlMenhaden2017TAC.pdf 

Lawsuit: NOAA prioritized recreational snapper

December 31, 2015 — Twenty-six fishermen, fish markets and industry groups have again sued the US government alleging that regulators are allowing recreational fisherman to deplete scarce red snapper stocks in the Gulf of Mexico.

The lawsuit, filed against commerce secretary Penny Pritzker, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and its parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) comes in the wake previous litigation that has seen the commercial fishing industry succeed in challenging regulators’ red snapper management policies.

Previously, courts ruled that regulators did not have enough enforcement measures in place to ensure that recreational fishermen did not exceed their total allowable catch (TAC) of red snapper, a species under strict management because it is considered to be “overfished.”

The lack of adequate controls on recreational fishing violated provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and prompted regulators to develop new measures for recreational fishing. However, in the lawsuit filed Dec. 28, commercial fishermen argue that a new regulatory proposal to “reallocate” a portion of future red snapper TAC from recreational to commercial use violates existing federal law.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Canadian government stands ground on surf clam review

December 24, 2015 — The Canadian government will not back down on a decision to order further review of a plan to expand harvesting in the country’s offshore surf clam fishery, the Chronicle-Herald reported.

The recently elected government of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau is reconsidering the previous government’s plans to increase the Arctic surf clam quota for 2016, and allow new firms to enter the fishery.

In July, months before the October defeat of previous prime minister Stephen Harper, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) said science supported the expansion of the country’s offshore Atlantic surf clam fishery, with a potential increase to the total allowable catch (TAC) from 2015’s 38,756 metric tons to 52,655t, plus bycatch, in 2016.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Directed Atlantic Herring Fishery Closure for Management Area 1A Effective 1200 Hours-Noon on November 2, 2015

October 30, 2015 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC):

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) projected 92% of the total allowable catch (TAC) allocated to Management Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) for Trimester 3 (October-December) will be harvested by November 2, 2015. The Area 1A directed fishery will close effective 1200 hours-Noon on November 2, 2015 and remain closed until further notice. Vessels that have entered port before 1200 hours-Noon on November 2, 2015, may land and sell, from that trip, more than 2,000 pounds of herring from Area 1A.

Vessels participating in the herring Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program may continue to fish in Area 1A for the remainder of the fishing year, and land, subject to state landing restrictions, greater than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring provided they are on a declared herring RSA trip.

States are reminded that in accordance with Amendment 2 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring, once a closure has been announced by the Greater Atlantic Regional Office Regional Administrator, states must prohibit the landing of herring from a closed area and prohibit directed fishing for Atlantic herring in state waters of a closed area. 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, all vessels traveling through Area 1A must have all fishing gear stowed.

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

Read a PDF version of the release