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     Recent Atlantic Herring Information   

Links to PDF files below may require Adobe Acrobat or the free Adobe Reader (download here) to view or print.

• Annual catch: The U.S. commercial Atlantic herring fishery annually catches ~100,000 metric ton (<50% of current MSY)
• 2006 State of Maine Landings were ~51,000 metric ton, worth ~ $10.6 Million (http://www.maine.gov/dmr/commercialfishing/documents/Herring.pdf, 2 pages )
• Stock Assessment Summary
  • Herring are assessed by a Trans-boundary Resource Assessment Committee (TRAC) which is composed of State, Federal, Canadian, and independent scientists
  • 2006 TRAC recommendations
    • Herring are not overfished and overfishing is not occurring
    • Herring biomass is well above target levels
    • A Maximum Sustainable Yield or catch (MSY) of 220,000 metric tons
    • TRAC summary stock status report at http://www.mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/trac/TSRs%5CTSR_2006_01_E.pdf (6 pages)
• Herring are important for forage and predation which are accounted by scientists and managers in two ways:
  • An assumed natural mortality (M) of 0.2 (~18%)
    • The TRAC recommended looking at a higher level for the next assessment
  • Setting precautionary quotas that are lower than the MSY
• Management: Herring are managed by two separate processes:
  • NEFMC- The New England Fishery Management Council
  • ASMFC- The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
• Recent NEFMC management changes implemented in 2007:
  • A lowering of the inshore herring quota; 50 MT in 2007, 45 MT in 2008 and 2009 (http://www.nero.noaa.gov/nero/nr/nrdoc/07/07herring07-09specs.pdf, 2 pages)
  • A ban on mid-water trawling in the inshore Gulf of Maine (June 1st –Sept. 30th)
  • A Limited entry provision to cap licenses and effort (http://www.nero.noaa.gov/nero/nr/nrdoc/07/07hernewpermit.pdf, 8 pages)
• Recent ASMFC management changes implemented in 2007:
  • A ban on fishing and landing herring from the spawning areas during closures (http://www.asmfc.org/speciesDocuments/herring/fmps/am2TechnicalAddendumI.pdf, 3 pages)
• Recent announcements
• Data and Monitoring Protocols:
  • Fishery Catch, Landings, and Biological Sampling Methods
    • Interactive Voice Reports (IVR) - Weekly harvester reports for quota monitoring
    • Vessel Trip Reports (VTR)- Monthly trip level harvester reports for assessment
    • SAFIS- Weekly Dealer Reporting for economic information and landings
    • Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) - satellite system for tracking vessel position & enforcement
    • Area quotas (or TACs) are monitored using a combination of IVR and SAFIS reports (http://www.nero.noaa.gov/ro/fso/reports/reports_frame.htm, select Atlantic Herring at the left)
    • Maine DMR conducts biological catch sampling to evaluate size, age, and maturity for assessment and management purposes
• By-catch Issues: While the Plan Development Team has determined that the current observer coverage is not sufficient to make estimations, two monitoring systems are used to examine by-catch and to address concerns of River Herring and Groundfish incidental catch. (http://nefmc.org/herring/planamen/final_herring_a1.htm)
  • Federal at sea observers
  • Maine DMR’s Portside Bycatch Samplin

For more information, contact Matt Cieri.

Last updated July 10, 2009

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