New York, NY – The Commission’s Spiny Dogfish Management Board approved the following coastwide commercial quotas for the 2019-2021 fishing seasons (May 1-April 30): 20,522,832 pounds for 2019/2020; 23,194,835 pounds for 202/2021, and 27,421,096 pounds for 2021/2022 (state-specific allocations are provided in table below). The quotas are consistent with the measures recommended to NOAA Fisheries by the Mid- Atlantic Fishery Management Council. The Board also established a 6,000 pound commercial trip limit for the northern region states of Maine through Connecticut, while New York through North Carolina have the ability to set state-specific trip limits based on the needs of their fisheries. The Commission’s actions are final and apply to state waters (0-3 miles from shore). The Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils will forward their recommendations for federal waters (3 –200 miles from shore) to NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Administrator for final approval.
Spiny Dogfish State Allocations (in pounds) for the 2019-2021 Fishing Seasons
| Northern Region (ME-CT) | NY | NJ | DE | MD | VA | NC | |
| Possession Limit | 6,000 | To be specified by the individual southern region states | |||||
| Allocation | 58% | 2.707% | 7.644% | 0.896% | 5.92% | 10.795% | 14.036% |
| 2019/20 | 11,903,243 | 555,716 | 1,568,900 | 183,893 | 1,214,957 | 2,215,484 | 2,880,640 |
| 2020/21 | 13,453,004 | 628,069 | 1,773,165 | 207,835 | 1,373,141 | 2,503,932 | 3,255,689 |
| 2021/22 | 15,904,236 | 742,507 | 2,096,248 | 245,704 | 1,623,336 | 2,960,166 | 3,848,898 |
* Any overages in the above quotas will be deducted from that region’s or state’s quota allocation in the subsequent year. Similarly, any eligible rollovers from one season can be applied to that region’s or state’s quota allocation the following year.
The quotas are based on the 2018 Stock Assessment Update, which indicates that while the population is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring, biomass has declined, requiring an approximate 46% reduction in the 2019-2020 quota to ensure that overfishing does not occur. The next benchmark stock assessment is currently scheduled for completion in 2021. For more information, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at krootes-murdy@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.