December 19, 2024 — NOAA Fisheries has announced a significant reduction in Atlantic herring catch limits for 2025, effective January 1, 2025, in response to a recent stock assessment indicating that the herring biomass is approximately 25 percent of the level needed to support maximum sustainable yield.
The revised 2025 specifications are as follows:
- Overfishing Limit (OFL): Reduced from 40,727 metric tons (mt) to 18,273 mt.
- Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC): Decreased from 28,181 mt to 6,741 mt.
- Annual Catch Limit (ACL): Lowered from 23,961 mt to 2,710 mt.
- Area 1A Sub-ACL: Reduced from 6,925 mt to 783 mt.
- Area 1B Sub-ACL: Decreased from 1,030 mt to 117 mt.
- Area 2 Sub-ACL: Lowered from 6,661 mt to 753 mt.
- Area 3 Sub-ACL: Reduced from 9,345 mt to 1,057 mt.