Atlantic States
Marine Fisheries

Commission

Press Releases

  • Patrick Keliher Named 2025 Captain David H. Hart Award Recipient

    Patrick Keliher Named 2025 Captain David H. Hart Award Recipient

    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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    Atlantic Croaker Stock Assessment Workshop Scheduled for March 2-6, 2026 in Arlington, VA

    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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    Atlantic Herring Area 1A Fishery Moves to Zero Landing Days on December 24, 2025 at 12:01 a.m.

    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…

  • ASMFC Schedules Delaware Bay Horseshoe Crab Management Stakeholder Workshop for January 29 & 30, 2026

    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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    Update on 2025 Atlantic Herring Area 1A Fishery Season 2 Days Out Measures — December 2025

    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…

  • Northern Shrimp Section Maintains Moratorium Through 2028

    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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    Atlantic Herring Area 1A Fishery Season 2 Days Out Measures — November 2025

    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.

  • ASMFC Schedules Educational Webinars for Delaware Bay Horseshoe Crab Management Stakeholder Process

    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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