Atlantic Herring Management Board members from the states of Maine, New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will meet via webinar on April 17, 2026 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., to discuss days out measures for the 2026 Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) fishing season. Days out measures can include specification of the number of consecutive landings days, weekly landings limits, and restrictions on at-sea transfers. The webinar and call information are included below:
Atlantic Herring Days Out Meeting
Friday, April 17
1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
You can join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone at the following link https://v.ringcentral.com/join/979432908. If you are new to RingCentral, you can join from a web browser or you can download the app ahead of time (click here). For audio, the meeting will be using the computer voice over internet (VoIP), but if you are joining the webinar from your phone only, you can dial in at +1 (650) 419-1505 and enter access code 979432908 when prompted. The webinar will start at 12:45 p.m., 15 minutes early, to troubleshoot audio as necessary.
Federally-permitted Herring Category A vessels must declare into the Area 1A fishery at least 45 days prior to the start of the fishing season. Small-mesh bottom trawl vessels with a federal Herring Category C or D permit must declare into the Area 1A fishery by June 1, 2026. Vessels should check with each state of landing regarding their notification procedures.
The 2026 Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (sub-ACL) is 2,640 metric tons (mt). After adjusting for the 30 mt fixed gear set-aside and the 8% buffer (Area 1A closes at 92% of the sub-ACL), the Area 1A sub-ACL is 2,401 mt. There is no research-set-aside for 2026.
In October 2025, the Board established the following seasonal allocations for the 2026 Area 1A sub-ACL: 72.8% available from June 1 – September 30 and 27.2% available from October 1 – December 31. Fishermen are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per day harvested from Area 1A until June 1, 2026.
Please contact Caitlin Starks, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 or cstarks@asmfc.org for more information.