Atlantic Herring

The Commission manages Atlantic herring under Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan, which was approved for management in February 2016 and implemented on June 1, 2016. The Amendment refines the spawning closure system and modifies the fixed gear set-aside. The Amendment consolidates prior amendments (and associated addenda) and recent management decisions into a single document; it is now the comprehensive document for Atlantic herring management in state waters.

Because herring can be found in state and federal waters, there are complementary management plans between the Commission and New England Fishery Management Council (Council) which set annual quotas, called annual catch limits (ACL), for three management areas and two sub-areas. The ACLs for these areas are set based on the maximum sustainable yield that allows for a sustainable harvest but leaves enough herring for fish, birds and marine mammals. While the plans for state and federal waters share management boundaries, there are a few differences between the plans. The Council prohibits mid-water trawling from June 1 – September 30 in Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine). The Commission plan includes spawning closures and a “days out” provision. During a spawning closure or a “day out” of the fishery, vessels participating in other fisheries may possess no more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip. In addition, all vessels traveling through Area 1A must have all gear stowed.

In May 2017, the Commission approved the continued use of the GSI-based forecast system to predict when the population will be spawning and when spawning closures should be set based on the development of herring gonads (reproductive organs) in Area 1A. GSI stands for gonadosomatic index, the ratio of the weight of a female herring’s ovaries to her body weight. As female fish get ready to spawn, their ovaries become heavier and the GSI increases. Scientists use the observed rate of increase in the GSI to predict when spawning will occur and when the fishery should be closed.

In April 2019, the Board approved Addendum II to strengthen spawning protections in Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) by initiating a closure when a lower percentage of the population is spawning (from approximately 25% to 20%), and extending the closure for a longer time (from four weeks to six weeks). The Addendum also modifies the trigger level necessary to reclose the fishery, with the fishery reclosing when 20% or more of the sampled herring are mature but have not yet spawned. These changes to spawning protections are in response to the results of the 2018 Benchmark Stock Assessment which showed reduced levels of recruitment and spawning stock biomass over the past five years, including the lowest levels of recruitment on record.

In May 2025, the Board approved specifications for the 2026 fishing year as recommended by the New England Fishery Management Council and later implemented by NOAA Fisheries. The 2026 total ACL is set at 9,134 metric tons (20.1 million pounds). By area, the Area 1A sub-ACL is 2,640 metric tons (5.8 million pounds); Area 1B sub-ACL is 393 metric tons (0.86 million pounds); Area 2 sub-ACL is 2,539 metric tons (5.6 million pounds); and Area 3 sub-ACL is 3,562 metric tons (7.8 million pounds).

Current Days Out Provisions

Days out is the primary effort control measure for the Area 1A fishery. States involved in the Atlantic herring fishery are able to extend the fishery by controlling fishing effort (fishing days) through landing restrictions. The goal is to provide a consistent supply of herring to the market by controlling landings, particularly early in the season when herring may be localized in Area 1A.

Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts continue to modify days out of the fishery during the season to prolong the fishery in Area 1A, making herring available during peak demand. The Board established the following seasonal allocations for the 2025 Area 1A sub-ACL: 72.8% available for season 1 (June 1 – September 30) and 27.2% available for season 2 (October 1 – December 31).

The 2026 Area 1A Season 1 days out measures are as follows:

• Landing days will be set at zero (0) from June 1 until the start of the fishery on Sunday, July 19, 2026 at 6:00 p.m.
• Landing days begin on Sunday of each week at 6:00 p.m. starting Sunday, July 19.
• Vessels with an Atlantic herring Limited Access Category A permit that have declared into the Area 1A fishery may land herring five consecutive days a week. The week shall begin at 6:00 p.m. on Sundays and conclude at 6:00 p.m. on Fridays. One landing per 24 hour period. Vessels are prohibited from landing or possessing herring caught from Area 1A during a day out of the fishery.
• Small mesh bottom trawl vessels with an Atlantic herring Limited Access Category C or Open Access D permit that have declared into the fishery may land herring six consecutive days a week. The week shall begin at 6:00 p.m. on Sundays and conclude at 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays.
• Vessels with an Atlantic herring Category A permit may harvest up to 240,000 lbs. (6 trucks) per harvester vessel, per week starting Sunday, July 19, 2026 at 6:00 p.m.

Current Spawning Closure Regulations

The three inshore Atlantic herring spawning areas of eastern Maine, western Maine, and Massachusetts-New Hampshire have independent closures during the fall that may begin on the default dates of August 28, September 23 and September 23, respectively. Actual closure effective dates are determined using the GSI-based forecast system.

This method was developed by the Technical Committee, then tested and evaluated for effectiveness during the 2016 fishing season. The GSI-based spawning monitoring system tracks reproductive maturity to align the timing of spawning area closures with the onset of spawning. The modeling efforts to forecast the spawning closures are available at https://massmarinefisheries.net/herring/

The 2026 Eastern Maine spawning area will be closed beginning on the default date of August 28 through October 8, 2026.

Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) are oceanic, plankton-feeding fish that occur in large schools and inhabit coastal and continental shelf waters from Labrador to Virginia. Juveniles (called sardines) undergo seasonal inshore-offshore migrations. Sardines are abundant in shallow, inshore waters during the warmer months of the year. Adults (age three and older) migrate south from summer and fall spawning grounds in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank to spend the winter in Southern New England and the Mid-Atlantic.

Herring spawn as early as August in Nova Scotia and eastern Maine and during October and November in the southern Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and Nantucket Shoals. Spawning habitat consists of rock, gravel, or sand bottoms, ranging in depth from 50-150 feet. Females can produce between 30,000 and 200,000 eggs each. Schools can produce so many eggs that the ocean bottom is covered in a dense carpet of eggs several centimeters thick. Eggs hatch in 10-12 days depending on water temperature. By their fourth year, fish are about 10” in length and may grow to about 15” (1 ½ pounds) by 15 to 18 years old. Herring are filter feeders preying entirely on plankton. They usually feed at night following the massive vertical migrations of zooplankton that inhabit deep waters by day and surface waters by night.