Atlantic Herring Management Board members from the states of Maine, New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will meet via webinar on July 17, 2026 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., to discuss the start date for the 2026 Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) fishing season. The Board members previously set the start date for July 19 at 6:00 p.m. as part of days out measures discussed in April 2026 (press release here). However, the State of Maine requested another days out call after hearing from industry about significant increase in bait from the menhaden fishery, which is very active in Maine, and the Canadian weir fishery, which is importing herring to Maine. As a result, there are concerns about the possibility of a surplus of bait at the dock, lack of storage capacity for herring, a crash of the bait market, and general waste if the fishery were to open on July 19.
Atlantic Herring Days Out Meeting
Friday, July 17
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
You can join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone at the following link https://v.ringcentral.com/join/290248184. 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 290248184 when prompted. The webinar will start at 12:50 p.m., 10 minutes early, to troubleshoot audio as necessary.
Please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 for more information.