Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Herring Fishery; Adjustments to 2018 Management Area Annual Catch Limits

In accordance with the regulations implementing the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan, this action adjusts the 2018 catch limits in the four herring management areas (Areas 1A, 1B, 2, and 3) to account for underages and overages in those areas during 2016. In order to ensure that the carryover of underages do not cause overfishing of the herring resource, management area-specific carryover does not increase the stock-wide annual catch limit. This action is necessary to ensure that NOAA Fisheries accounts for herring catch consistent with the requirements of the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan.