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In October 2025, the Tautog Management Board initiated an addendum to address changes in stock status for the New Jersey-New York Bight (NJ-NYB) and Delaware/Maryland/Virginia (DMV) regions. The Draft Addendum will also consider allowing the Massachusetts-Rhode Island (MARI) and Long Island Sound (LIS) regions to modify management for precautionary purposes.
The Draft Addendum responds to the results of the 2025 regional stock assessments update, which found stock status varied by region. Tautog were not overfished nor experiencing overfishing in MARI and LIS; not overfished but experiencing overfishing in NJ-NYB; and overfished and experiencing overfishing in DMV.
Stock status remained unchanged for the MARI and LIS regions from the 2021 update but did change for the NJ-NYB and DMV regions. The NJ-NYB region went from being overfished but not experiencing overfishing in the 2021 update to not being overfished but experiencing overfishing in this update. The DMV region was previously not overfished nor experiencing overfishing but was considered overfished and experiencing overfishing in the 2025 update.
Since the 2021 update, recruitment has increased in the LIS and NJ-NYB regions, and MARI shows a slight increase in spawning stock biomass. In the DMV, fishing mortality had been low since 2012 before reaching a peak in 2021 followed by a sharp decline thereafter. Total removals have increased in all regions, driven primarily by increases in recreational harvest.
If the current fishing mortality exceeds the regional threshold level (i.e., overfishing is occurring), Amendment 1 directs the Board to initiate management action, via a management document, within one year of receiving an overfishing determination, with new management measures implemented in the second year.
To inform development of the Draft Addendum, the Board tasked the Technical Committee with providing projection scenarios to determine the harvest levels necessary to achieve the regional fishing mortality targets within 3 and 5 years.
Phase
Status
October 2025: Board initiated Draft Addendum I
Completed
November 2025: Technical Committee develops projections for Board consideration
Completed
2026 Spring Meeting: Board reviews Technical Committee projections and provides guidance to the Plan Development Team to draft the addendum
Completed
May – July 2026: Plan Development Team develops Draft Addendum document for Board consideration for public comment
Completed
2026 Summer Meeting: Board requests delay to update projection data in 2025
Completed
Board reviews updated projections and considers approval of Draft Addendum I for public comment
2027 Winter Meeting
Board considers final approval of Addendum I
2027 Spring Meeting
State Implementation of Addendum I
TBD
Contacts
- James Boyle, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, JBoyle@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740
Action Development Timeline & Documents
October 2025
Board initiates development of Draft Addendum I in response to the results of the 2025 stock assessment update. The Draft Addendum will consider options to address changes in stock status for NJ/NYB and DMV and allow for the MARI and LIS regions to modify management for precautionary or alignment purposes.
May 2026
The Tautog Management Board met to review a Technical Committee (TC) report on the tasks assigned by the Board in response to the 2025 stock assessment update and provide guidance to the Plan Development Team (PDT) on Draft Addendum I.
- Meeting Summary: ASMFC 2026 Spring Meeting Summary for the Tautog Management Board
August 2026
The Board reviewed the Draft Addendum and delayed considering approval for public comment until the harvest projections can be updated to include 2025 data.
- Meeting Summary: 2026 ASMFC Summer Meeting Summary
Next Steps
The Board will meet at the Commission’s 2027 Winter Meeting (January 2027) to review the draft addendum and consider approving it for public comment.