Atlantic States
Marine Fisheries

Commission

Press Releases

  • ASMFC Sciaenids Board Approves Red Drum Addendum II

    ASMFC Sciaenids Board Approves Red Drum Addendum II

    The Commission’s Sciaenids Management Board approved Addendum II to Amendment 2 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Red Drum. The Addendum updates red drum management, with the goal of improving efficiency, flexibility, and timeliness in implementation of new regulations and providing assessment advice. In addition, the Addendum modifies the fishing mortality for the southern stock (South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida) to end overfishing and aligns red drum recreational regulations in Virginia, Maryland, and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission (PRFC) given their shared water bodies.

  • ASMFC Atlantic Striped Bass Board Approves Addendum III Without Reductions in Fishery Removals

    ASMFC Atlantic Striped Bass Board Approves Addendum III Without Reductions in Fishery Removals

    The Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board approved Addendum III to Amendment 7 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic Striped Bass. The Addendum modifies requirements for commercial tagging programs, implements a standard method of measuring total length for size limit regulations, and allows Maryland to change its Chesapeake Bay recreational season baseline if the state so chooses.

  • ASMFC Atlantic Menhaden Board Reduces 2026 TAC by 20% and Initiates Addendum for Chesapeake Bay Cap

    ASMFC Atlantic Menhaden Board Reduces 2026 TAC by 20% and Initiates Addendum for Chesapeake Bay Cap

    The Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board received the results of the single-species assessment update and the 2025 Ecological Reference Points (ERPs) Assessment and Peer Review Reports and accepted the ERPs Assessment and Peer Review Report for management use. The single-species assessment indicates the stock is not overfished nor experiencing overfishing relative to the ERPs developed through the benchmark assessment. However, fishing mortality (F) was above the ERP F target and fecundity (a measure of the number of eggs the stock can produce in a year) was below the ERP fecundity target. Therefore, the Board set the 2026 total allowable catch…

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    Zero Landing Days Continue for Season 2 of the 2025 Atlantic Herring Area 1A Fishery

    This is an update on Season 2 (October 1 – December 31) of the 2025 Area 1A fishery for Atlantic herring. In September 2025 (Memorandum 25-81), the Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts decided the fishery would be set at zero landing days from October 1 through November 4 and would only open for landing days on November 5 if one or both of the following quota adjustments occur: reallocation of 1,000 metric tons based on landings from the Canadian New Brunswick weir fishery and/or revised quotas implemented by NOAA Fisheries. Due to the lapse…

  • Tautog Regional Assessments Update Shows Varied Stock Status by Region

    Tautog Regional Assessments Update Shows Varied Stock Status by Region

    The Commission’s American Lobster Management Board received the results of the 2025 American Lobster Benchmark Stock Assessment and Peer Review Report, which presents contrasting results for the two American lobster stocks in US waters. The Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank (GOM/GBK) stock is not depleted but has declined 34% since peak levels in 2018, and overfishing is occurring. The Southern New England (SNE) stock remains significantly depleted with record low abundances for all life stages in recent years.

  • American Lobster Benchmark Stock Assessment Finds GOM/GBK Stock Not Depleted but Experiencing Overfishing & SNE Stock Significantly Depleted but Not Experiencing Overfishing

    American Lobster Benchmark Stock Assessment Finds GOM/GBK Stock Not Depleted but Experiencing Overfishing & SNE Stock Significantly Depleted but Not Experiencing Overfishing

    The Commission’s American Lobster Management Board received the results of the 2025 American Lobster Benchmark Stock Assessment and Peer Review Report, which presents contrasting results for the two American lobster stocks in US waters. The Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank (GOM/GBK) stock is not depleted but has declined 34% since peak levels in 2018, and overfishing is occurring. The Southern New England (SNE) stock remains significantly depleted with record low abundances for all life stages in recent years.

  • Horseshoe Crab Board Sets Male-Only Bait Harvest Specifications for Horseshoe Crabs of Delaware Bay-Origin for 2026 and 2027

    Horseshoe Crab Board Sets Male-Only Bait Harvest Specifications for Horseshoe Crabs of Delaware Bay-Origin for 2026 and 2027

    The Commission’s Horseshoe Crab Management Board approved bait harvest specifications for horseshoe crabs of Delaware Bay-origin. Taking into consideration the output of the Adaptative Resource Management (ARM) Framework, the Board set an annual harvest limit of 500,000 male horseshoe crabs and zero female Delaware Bay-origin horseshoe crabs for 2026 and 2027. Addendum IX was approved in May 2025 and allows the Board to set multi-year specifications for male-only harvest.

  • Daniel McKiernan Elected ASMFC Chair

    Daniel McKiernan Elected ASMFC Chair

    Member states of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission thanked Joseph Cimino of New Jersey for a successful two-year term as Chair and elected Daniel McKiernan of Massachusetts to succeed him.

  • ASMFC Initiates Stakeholder Engagement Process to Inform Revisions to the Utility, Reward, and Harvest Policy Functions of the ARM Framework

    ASMFC Initiates Stakeholder Engagement Process to Inform Revisions to the Utility, Reward, and Harvest Policy Functions of the ARM Framework

    The Commission’s Horseshoe Crab Management Board is initiating a collaborative stakeholder process to inform revisions to the Delaware Bay Horseshoe Crab Adaptive Resource Management (ARM) Framework. Stakeholders that would like to participate in this important conversation on the management of the Delaware Bay horseshoe crab resource are invited to apply. Applications should be submitted here by October 3, 2025.

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