December 15, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Section members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts revised the effort control measures for the 2017 Area 1A Trimester 3 (October 1 – December 31). Section members, with input from industry, agreed to seven consecutive landing days until 92% of the Area 1A sub-ACL is projected to be harvested. Vessels may only land once every 24-hour period.
· Beginning on December 18, 2017: Vessels in the State of Maine, New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts may land herring starting at 12:00 a.m. on seven (7) consecutive days a week.
Trimester 3 landings will be closely monitored and the directed fishery will close when 92% of the Area 1A sub-ACL is projected to be reached. Fishermen are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip once the fishery is closed. For more information, please contact Toni Kerns, ISFMP Director, at 703.842.0740 or tkerns@asmfc.org.
A copy of the announcement can be found here –http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file//5a340dfdAtlHerringDaysOutTri3Changes_Dec2017.pdf.