Long Branch, NJ – The Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board set the 2023 total allowable catch (TAC) at 233,550 mt, which is an approximate 20% increase from the 2021-2022 TAC based on the positive stock status of the resource under ecological reference point-based management. According to Technical Committee analysis, this increase has a less than 40% probability of exceeding the target set by the ecological reference points (ERPs) adopted in 2020. Given the positive results of the 2022 Stock Assessment Update, the Board approved this modest increase to provide additional fishing opportunities, while maintaining a conservative risk level of exceeding the ERP target.
The Board also approved Addendum I to Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden. The Addendum changes the allocations for the commercial fishery. It creates a three-tiered system for minimum allocations to the states, with Pennsylvania receiving 0.01%; South Carolina, Georgia, Connecticut, Delaware, North Carolina, and Florida receiving 0.25%; and the remaining states continuing to receive a minimum of 0.5%. Furthermore, the Addendum allocates the remainder of the TAC, excluding the 1% reserved for the Episodic Event Set Aside (EESA) Program, on a state-by-state basis based on landings history of the fishery from 2018, 2019, and 2021. Regarding the Incidental Catch/Small-Scale Fishery (IC/SSF) provision, the Addendum codifies the ability for states to elect to divide their quotas into sectors, enabling individual sectors to enter into the provision at different times. Additionally, the Addendum removes purse seines as a permitted small-scale directed gear, thereby, prohibiting them from harvesting under the IC/SSF provision. Finally, the Addendum counts IC/SSF landings against the TAC and if IC/SSF landings cause the TAC to be exceeded, then the Board must take action to modify one or both of permitted gear types and trip limits under the provision.
The Board initiated Draft Addendum I in August 2021 in response to the recommendations of a Board Work Group charged with evaluating provisions of the current management program and providing strategies to refine those provisions. Under the EESA Program, 1% of the TAC is reserved at the start of the fishing year and Northeastern states from Maine to New York who can demonstrate a large influx of menhaden and have caught their state quota may apply to harvest during the event to reduce discards and prevent fish kills. Additionally, after a state quota allocation is met, the state may enter into the IC/SSF provision where certain small-scale directed gears and non-directed gears may continue to harvest menhaden at a reduced trip limit.
Since Amendment 3 was adopted in 2017, the EESA and IC/SSF provisions have been impacted by recent trends in landings. The impacts have been most notable in New England, where states rely on the EESA to keep their commercial fisheries open while working to secure quota transfers. An increasing abundance of menhaden in New England has led to a rise in landings under the IC/SSF provision once commercial quotas have been met. Addendum I aligns state quotas with recent landings and resource availability while maintaining access to the resource for all states, reduce dependence on quota transfers, and minimizing regulatory discards.
The new TAC and allocations are effective January 1, 2023; all remaining measures will become effective May 1, 2023. States implementation plans must be submitted by January 1, 2023 for Board review at the Winter Meeting. The Addendum will be available by the end of November on the Commission website at http://www.asmfc.org/species/atlantic-menhaden under Management Plans and FMP Reviews.
For more information, please contact James Boyle, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at jboyle@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.