Arlington, VA – The States of Maine and New Hampshire, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have scheduled their hearings to gather public input on Draft Addendum II to Amendment 3 of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring. An additional hearing will also be conducted via webinar. The details of the hearings are attached.
Currently, the Board uses a series of closures to protect spawning aggregations in the Gulf of Maine. These closures, which were implemented through Amendment 3, use biological samples to annually project the start of spawning. The closures are initially implemented for four weeks but can be extended by two additional weeks if samples indicate the continued presence of spawning herring. Recent analysis by the Atlantic Herring Technical Committee found that while the current spawning closure system was significantly improved under Amendment 3, the protocol could continue to be strengthened by considering when, and for how long, a closure is initiated. Specifically, the analysis showed, under the current protocol, spawning closures are initiated when there are approximately 25% spawners in the fishery; greater protection could be provided by initiating a closure when a lower percentage of the population is spawning and extending the closure for a longer time. As a result, Draft Addendum II considers extending the length of the spawning closures as well as altering the point at which closures are triggered in order to provide greater protection to the stock.
Fishermen and others interested in Atlantic herring management are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Addendum by attending state public hearings, participating in the webinar hearing, or providing written comment. The Draft Addendum is available here. It can also be obtained via the Commission website (www.asmfc.org) under Public Input. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on April 4, 2019 and should be forwarded to Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Senior FMP Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St., Suite 200 A-N, Arlington, Virginia 22201; 703.842.0741 (fax) or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Herring Draft Addendum II). For more information, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy at krootes-murdy@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.