The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has initiated benchmark stock assessments for spot, Atlantic croaker, and red drum to be completed in 2024. The goals of the assessments are to evaluate the health of stocks along the Atlantic coast and inform management of these species. The Commission’s stock assessment process and meetings are open to the public, with the exception of discussions of confidential data. The Commission welcomes the submission of data sources that will contribute to the goals of the assessments. This includes, but is not limited to, data on growth, maturation, migration, tagging, natural mortality, environmental impacts, abundance/biomass,…
Press Releases
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The Atlantic coastal states of Maine through New York have scheduled hearings to gather public input on Draft Addendum XXVII to Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Lobster, which considers measures to increase protection of the Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank (GOM/GBK) spawning stock.
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Arlington, VA – The Commission’s Spiny Dogfish Management Board approved a coastwide commercial quota for the 2023/2024 fishing season (May 1-April 30) of 12 million pounds (state-specific allocations are provided in table below). The quota is consistent with the measures recommended to NOAA Fisheries by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) and New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC). 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 based on the…
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Arlington, VA – The Commission’s Winter Flounder Management Board reviewed the results of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s (NEFSC) management track stock assessments* for the Gulf of Maine (GOM) and Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic (SNE/MA) winter flounder stocks. These assessments found GOM winter flounder is not experiencing overfishing while the SNE/MA winter flounder stock is not overfished nor experiencing overfishing. The overfished status for the GOM stock remains unknown. The management track assessments for both stocks include data through 2021. SNE/MA winter flounder experienced a change in stock status from overfished to not overfished due to a change in the years…
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Addendum Considers Measures to Increase Protection of Spawning Stock Biomass of the Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank Stock
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The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Black Drum Benchmark Stock Assessment will be peer‐reviewed over three days from January 18‐20, 2023 at the Commission’s office in Arlington, VA (1050 N. Highland Street, Suite 200A‐N, Arlington, VA 22201). The assessment evaluates the status of the black drum population along the Atlantic coast and will inform the management of this species. This is the second coastwide stock assessment for black drum on the Atlantic coast and the first to incorporate new, improved recreational catch and effort data released by the Marine Recreational Information Program. This is also the first time the assessment…
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Long Branch, NJ – The Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board set the 2023 total allowable catch (TAC) at 233,550 mt, which is an approximate 20% increase from the 2021-2022 TAC based on the positive stock status of the resource under ecological reference point-based management. According to Technical Committee analysis, this increase has a less than 40% probability of exceeding the target set by the ecological reference points (ERPs) adopted in 2020. Given the positive results of the 2022 Stock Assessment Update, the Board approved this modest increase to provide additional fishing opportunities, while maintaining a conservative risk level of exceeding…
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Long Branch, NJ – The Commission’s Horseshoe Crab Management Board approved harvest specifications for horseshoe crabs of Delaware Bay-origin. Taking into consideration the recommendations of the Adaptative Resource Management (ARM) Framework Revision, the Board set a harvest limit of 475,000 male horseshoe crabs and zero female Delaware Bay-origin horseshoe crabs for the 2023 season. “The ARM Framework Revision represents a considerable advancement in the science upon which we manage horseshoe crabs in the Delaware Bay Region,” stated Board Chair John Clark of Delaware. “ASMFC is very proud of this effort and the improvements that have been made to the model…
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The Commission’s Horseshoe Crab Management Board approved harvest specifications for horseshoe crabs of Delaware Bay-origin. Taking into consideration the recommendations of the Adaptative Resource Management (ARM) Framework Revision, the Board set a harvest limit of 475,000 male horseshoe crabs and zero female Delaware Bay-origin horseshoe crabs for the 2023 season.
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