Arlington, VA – The Commission’s Spiny Dogfish Management Board approved a coastwide commercial quota for the 2026/2027 and 2027/2028 fishing seasons (May 1-April 30) of 9.2 million pounds (state-specific allocations are provided in table below), pending approval by NOAA Fisheries. The quota is consistent with the measures recommended to NOAA Fisheries by the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils (Councils). The Board also maintained the commercial trip limit in state waters of 7,500 pounds for the northern region states of Maine through Connecticut. The states of New York through North Carolina have the ability to set state-specific trip limits…
Press Releases
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Arlington, VA – The Commission’s Winter Flounder Management Board received the results of the 2025 Stock Assessment Updates for the Gulf of Maine (GOM) and Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic (SNE/MA) winter flounder stocks and set specifications for the 2026-2028 fishing years. For the GOM stock, it is unknown if the stock is overfished. However, the exploitation rate is estimated to be 19% of the overfishing exploitation threshold proxy, indicating the stock is not experiencing overfishing. The commercial fishery has experienced sharp declines in landings since the peak in 1982 at just over 6 million pounds. Landings declined steadily to approximately 770,000…
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At its Winter Meeting in Arlington, Virginia, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) presented Patrick Keliher, former Commissioner with the Maine Department of Marine Resources (ME DMR), the Captain David H. Hart Award for 2025 for his longstanding contributions to and exceptional leadership towards the sustainable management of marine resources along the Eastern Seaboard. Since becoming Commissioner with ME DMR and Administrative Commissioner to the ASMFC in 2012, Pat has worked tirelessly to support marine fisheries stakeholders, both in Maine and along the Atlantic coast. His unwavering work ethic extended well beyond the Commission table. He is a consummate…
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Arlington, VA – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will hold the Atlantic Croaker Benchmark Stock Assessment Workshop at the Commission’s office, 1050 N. Highland Street, Suite 200 A-N, Arlington, VA. The stock assessment will evaluate the health of Atlantic croaker stocks and inform management of this species. The Commission’s stock assessment process and meetings are open to the public, with the exception of discussions of confidential data*, when the public will be asked to leave the room. The Stock Assessment Workshop will focus on evaluation of models and analyses developed to estimate stock status. The Commission welcomes the submission…
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The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts met December 15 via webinar to set effort control measures for the 2025 Area 1A fishery for Season 2 (October 1 – December 31) following an increase in available quota for Area 1A. The 2025 Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (sub-ACL) is now 2,317 metric tons due to implementation of the new 2025-2027 specifications package. After accounting for the fixed gear set-aside, 2025 landings so far from Area 1A, and the 8% buffer (Area 1A closes at 92% of the sub-ACL), there are…
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The Commission’s Horseshoe Crab Management Board is holding a stakeholder workshop January 29-30, 2026, in the Spinnaker Room at the Courtyard by Marriott Ocean City Oceanfront, Two 15th Street, Ocean City, Maryland. The workshop is the central event in an ongoing stakeholder engagement process to inform revisions to the Delaware Bay Horseshoe Crab Adaptive Resource Management (ARM) Framework.
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The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts met December 15 via webinar to set effort control measures for the 2025 Area 1A fishery for Season 2 (October 1 – December 31) following an increase in available quota for Area 1A. The 2025 Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (sub-ACL) is now 2,317 metric tons due to implementation of the new 2025-2027 specifications package. After accounting for the fixed gear set-aside, 2025 landings so far from Area 1A, and the 8% buffer (Area 1A closes at 92% of the sub-ACL), there are…
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The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section (Section) maintained the current moratorium on northern shrimp fishing for another three years through the 2028 fishing year, with no sampling program in 2026. This action responds to the northern shrimp stock remaining at low biomass levels over the past decade despite the fishing moratorium, first implemented in 2014.
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This memorandum announces closure dates for the Western Maine and Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning areas; and days out measures for the 2025 Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) Atlantic herring fishery for Season 2 (October 1 – December 31).
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