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…
Press Releases
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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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The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts met November 19 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 1,783 metric tons (mt) due to the reallocation of 1,000 mt to the Area 1A sub-ACL based on catch information from the Canadian New Brunswick weir fishery.
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The Commission’s Horseshoe Crab Management Board is convening a stakeholder engagement process to inform revisions to the Delaware Bay Horseshoe Crab Adaptive Resource Management (ARM) Framework, including a series of three educational webinars and an in-person stakeholder workshop. The process will be facilitated by Compass Resource Management with the goal of identifying stakeholder values and perspectives in order to develop clear, actionable recommendations for revising core functions of the ARM Framework that reflect stakeholder priorities.
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Section to Set Fishery Specifications
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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.
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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.
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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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