Age Determination Methods for Northwest Atlantic Species
This manual documents age determination techniques used by staff at the Woods Hole Laboratory to…
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U.S. wild-caught Atlantic herring is a smart seafood choice because it is sustainably managed and responsibly harvested under U.S. regulations.
Significantly below target population level. A rebuilding plan is being developed for the Atlantic herring stock.
At recommended levels.
Fishing gears used to harvest Atlantic herring have minimal impacts on habitat.
Regulations are in place to minimize bycatch.
Last updated by NOAA Fisheries on 12/29/2021
Last updated by NOAA Fisheries on 12/29/2021
|
Original 2021 Specifications (mt) |
Adjusted 2021 Specifications (mt) |
Overfishing Limit |
23,423 |
23,423 |
ABC |
9,483 |
9,483 |
Management Uncertainty |
4,669 |
3,669a |
Optimum Yield/Annual Catch Limit (ACL) |
4,814 |
5,128b |
Domestic Annual Harvest |
4,814 |
4,814 |
Border Transfer |
0 |
0 |
Domestic Annual Processing |
4,814 |
4,814 |
U.S. At-Sea Processing |
0 |
0 |
Area 1A Sub-ACL (28.9 %) |
1,391 |
2,609c |
Area 1B Sub-ACL (4.3 %) |
207 |
239d |
Area 2 Sub-ACL (27.8 %) |
1,338 |
652e |
Area 3 Sub-ACL (39%) |
1,877 |
2,181f |
Fixed Gear Set-Aside |
30 |
30 |
Research Set-Aside |
0 percent of each sub-ACLg |
0 percent of each sub-ACLg |
a On October 29, 2021, we subtracted 1,000 mt from the management uncertainty buffer because data showed the New Brunswick weir fishery landed less than 3,012 mt of herring through October 1.
b On October 29, 2021, we added 1,000 mt to the ACL because data showed the New Brunswick weir fishery landed less than 3,012 mt of herring through October 1.
c On March 29, 2021, we increased the Area 1A sub-ACL by 218 mt due to carryover from an underage in 2019. On October 29, 2021, we increased the Area 1A sub-ACL by 1,000 mt because data showed the New Brunswick weir fishery landed less than 3,012 mt of herring through October 1.
d On March 29, 2021, we increased the Area 1B sub-ACL by 32 mt due to carryover from an underage in 2019
e On March 29, 2021, we decreased the Area 2 sub-ACL by 686 mt due to an overage in 2019.
f On March 29, 2021, we increased the Area 3 sub-ACL by 294 mt due to carryover from an underage in 2019
g Because the RSA participant will not be pursuing RSA, we will not deduct it from the sub-ACLs. RSA will be revisited for 2023-2025 specifications.
Up to 3 percent of the stock-wide herring ACL can be set aside for use in research.
2021 Research Set-Aside
The herring Research Set-Aside will be revisited for the 2023-2025 fishing years.
Vessels fishing for herring that are less than 165 feet in length overall, less than 750 gross registered tons, or less than 3,000 shaft horsepower may receive one of the herring permits listed below. Herring vessels exceeding the size and horsepower restrictions may receive a herring at-sea processing permit.
Permit Category | Description | Possession Limit* |
A | All Areas Limited Access | Unlimited in all areas |
B | Areas 2/3 Limited Access | Unlimited in Areas 2/3 |
C | Incidental Catch Limited Access | 55,000 lb per trip/day in all areas |
D | Open Access** | 6,600 lb per trip/day in all areas |
*Applicable unless an area’s sub-ACL or the overall herring ACL has been harvested. No vessel may possess more than 2,000 lb of herring per trip/day after notification that either herring management area’s 1A or 1B, or the overall herring fishery ACL, has been harvested. The following closure triggers apply to herring management areas 2 and 3:
**Any vessel issued a limited access mackerel permit can be issued this herring open access permit
Slippage in the Atlantic herring fishery means discarded catch from a vessel issued an Atlantic herring permit that is carrying a NOAA Fisheries-certified observer or monitor prior to the catch being brought on board or prior to the catch being made available for sampling and inspection by a NOAA Fisheries-certified observer or monitor after the catch is on board. Slippage also means any catch that is discarded during a trip prior to it being sampled portside by a portside sampler on a trip selected for portside sampling coverage by NOAA Fisheries. Slippage includes releasing catch from a codend or seine prior to the completion of pumping the catch aboard and the release of catch from a codend or seine while the codend or seine is in the water. Fish that cannot be pumped and remain in the codend or seine at the end of pumping operations are not considered slippage. Discards that occur after the catch is brought on board and made available for sampling and inspection by a NOAA Fisheries-certified observer or monitor are also not considered slippage.
Midwater trawl herring vessels carrying an observer may not slip catch and must bring all catch aboard the vessel to make it available for sampling by an observer. Vessels may make test tows without pumping catch on board, provided that all catch from test tows is available to the observer when the next tow is brought aboard.
Limited Access herring vessels (Category A, B, C) may slip catch if:
If a vessel issued any limited access herring permit slips catch, the vessel operator must report the slippage event on the Atlantic herring daily VMS catch report and indicate the reason for slipping catch. Additionally, the vessel operator must complete and sign this released catch affidavit form: (1) The vessel name and permit number; (2) the VTR serial number; where, when, and the reason for slipping catch; (3) the estimated weight of each species brought on board or slipped on that tow. A completed affidavit must be submitted to NOAA Fisheries within 48 hr of the end of the trip.
If a vessel issued a Category A or B Herring permit slips catch for any of the reasons described in the section above (see “Exceptions for Slippage Prohibitions”), the vessel operator must move at least 15 nm from where the slippage event occurred before deploying any gear again, and must stay at least 15 nm away from the slippage event location for the remainder of the fishing trip.
If catch is slipped by a vessel issued Category A or B Herring permit for any reason not described in the section above, the vessel operator must immediately terminate the trip and return to port. No fishing activity may occur during the return to port.
If you are fishing with midwater trawl gear in the groundfish closed areas or your limited access herring vessel is carrying a NOAA Fisheries observer, you must bring all catch aboard the vessel and make it available to the observer for sampling.
Not applicable.
The use of midwater trawl gear is prohibited in Area 1A from June 1 to September 30.
Vessels may use pelagic gillnets to catch herring for use as bait. Pelagic gillnet gear is defined as a single gillnet not longer than 300 ft and not greater than 6 ft deep, with a maximum mesh size of 3 inches. The pelagic gillnet must be attached to the vessel and fished in the upper two-thirds of the water column.
Vessels fishing for tuna may not have on board purse seine, midwater trawl, pelagic gillnet, sink gillnet, or bottom trawl gear for catching herring as bait. Tuna vessels can purchase herring for bait without a herring permit provided they do not have these herring gears on board.
A vessel issued a herring permit may possess herring roe provided that the carcasses of the herring from which it came are not discarded at sea.
Each vessel working cooperatively in the herring fishery, including vessels pair trawling, purse seining, and transferring herring at-sea, must be issued a valid herring permit to fish for, possess, or land Atlantic herring and are subject to the most restrictive herring possession limit associated with the permits issued to vessels working cooperatively.
Atlantic herring carrier vessels operating under a letter of authorization or an Atlantic herring carrier VMS trip declaration may not possess, transfer, or land any species other than Atlantic herring, except that they may possess Northeast multispecies transferred by vessels issued either Category A or B Herring Permit, consistent with the applicable possession limits for such vessels.
Last updated by NOAA Fisheries on 12/29/2021
Last updated by NOAA Fisheries on 12/29/2021
The Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery Management Plan prohibits fishing with small-mesh bottom trawl gear, except seasonally in specific exemption areas. These exemption areas are described in the table and map below and indicate where and when vessels may fish with small-mesh bottom trawl gear.
Atlantic herring and Atlantic mackerel may be retained by vessels fishing with small-mesh bottom trawl gear in the exemption areas, provided vessels comply with all season, area, and gear requirements, possession limits, and are issued a whiting (Category K Open Access Northeast Multispecies) permit or a limited access Northeast multispecies permit. Specific requirements for each area can be found on the linked webpages within the table below. River herring and shad may not be retained when fishing with small-mesh bottom trawl gear in these exemption areas, with the exception that alewife may be retained in the Gulf of Maine Grate Raised Footrope Trawl Exemption Area.
A Letter of Authorization (LOA) is required to participate in some of these exemption areas. Permits and LOAs can be obtained from our Permits Office at (978) 282-8438, or online by visiting our Forms and Applications webpage. If you have questions about these exemption areas, please call the Sustainable Fisheries Division at (978) 281-9315.
Area Name | Season | LOA Required? |
---|---|---|
Gulf of Maine Grate Raised Footrope Trawl Whiting Fishery Exemption Area | July 1 - November 30 | No |
Cultivator Shoal Whiting Fishery Exemption Area | June 15 - October 31 | Yes |
Small-Mesh Exemption Areas 1 & 2 |
Small-Mesh Area 1: July 15 - November 15 Small-Mesh Area 2: January 1 - June 30 |
No |
Raised Footrope Trawl Exempted Whiting Fishery Areas (Cape Cod) |
September 1 - November 20 September 1 - December 31 |
Yes |
Last updated by NOAA Fisheries on 12/29/2021
NOAA Fisheries will begin selecting vessels with Category A or B herring permits fishing on declared herring trips for industry-funded monitoring (IFM) coverage of trips departing on or after July 1, 2021. Vessels issued a Category A or B Atlantic herring permit will be required to secure and pay for at-sea monitoring coverage on trips that are selected for IFM coverage. The IFM coverage target for the herring fishery is 50 percent of trips.
Vessels must follow all Pre-Trip Notification System (PTNS) requirements for the herring fishery. For more information on notification and reporting requirements, please see the Notification, Reporting, and Monitoring Requirements for the Atlantic Herring Fishery bulletin from March 31, 2020. For more information about PTNS, please contact the PTNS team at nefsc.ptns@noaa.gov or (855) 347-4371.
In April 2020, NOAA Fisheries approved four companies to provide IFM services to herring vessels in 2020 and 2021. Please see the IFM in the Northeast webpage for a list of approved providers, services provided, and contact information.
Vessels issued a Category A or B Atlantic herring permit must log into their PTNS web account to review the list of approved providers in PTNS and rank them in order of preference. Vessels should rank their providers in PTNS by June 20, 2021.
For more information about ranking preferred providers, please contact the PTNS team at nefsc.ptns@noaa.gov or (855) 347-4371.
A vessel may fish with midwater trawl gear inside certain Groundfish Closed Areas on a herring trip if:
If the vessel is issued a coverage waiver for the trip for any reason, the vessel is not permitted to fish inside a Groundfish Closed Area during that trip.
Midwater trawl vessel owners may purchase observer coverage to satisfy the requirement of carrying an observer to access Groundfish Closed Areas. Vessels carrying an IFM at-sea monitor are not allowed to fish with midwater trawl gear inside the Groundfish Closed Areas. For more information about purchasing observer coverage, please contact the PTNS team at nefsc.ptns@noaa.gov or (855) 347-4371.
Some herring vessels chose to use EM and portside sampling instead of at-sea monitoring to satisfy IFM coverage requirements in 2021. EM coverage will be provided by Saltwater Inc. through a contract with NOAA Fisheries. Participating vessels will be required to secure portside sampling services from an approved provider on trips that are selected for IFM coverage. Participating vessels will also be required to land at a NOAA Fisheries-approved sampling station on trips that are selected for portside sampling. Consistent with the NOAA Fisheries COVID-19 protocols for deploying human observers and monitors, vessels participating in the midwater trawl herring EM EFP will temporarily not be assigned Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology (SBRM) coverage. For questions about the EFP, please contact Carrie Nordeen at carrie.nordeen@noaa.gov or (978) 281-9272.
For more information and past updates on the herring IFM program, please see the following resources:
Fishermen: Contact Carrie Nordeen, Sustainable Fisheries, (978) 281-9272; Maria Fenton, Sustainable Fisheries, (978) 281-9196
Last updated by NOAA Fisheries on 12/29/2021
The herring fishery is managed by a stock-wide annual catch limit (ACL) that is allocated to four distinct management areas (sub-ACLs, also known as management area quotas).
Herring is managed in federal waters by the New England Fishery Management Council and NOAA Fisheries. Herring is managed in state waters by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and individual states. Individual states may set different regulations, such as possession/landing restrictions or spawning area closures. If state regulations differ from federal regulations, herring permit holders must adhere to the more restrictive regulations.
January 1 – December 31
Specifications are set every three years for the herring fishery. The specifications from the previous year roll over if specifications are not in place at the start of the fishing year.
September 16, 1999
Area 1A – Inshore Gulf of Maine
Area 1B – Offshore Gulf of Maine
Area 2 – South Coastal Area
Area 3 – Georges Bank
The fishery generally follows herring as they migrate. Fishing in the southern portion of herring’s range (especially off of New Jersey) is common in the winter, while fishing on Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine is more common between May and November.
Herring are distributed from North Carolina to Maine and from inshore to offshore waters to the edge of the continental shelf. The species is most abundant north of Cape Cod and become increasingly scarce south of New Jersey. The majority of the harvest comes from federal waters.
Adult Atlantic herring are found in shallow inshore waters, 20 meters deep, to offshore waters up to 200 meters deep.
Trawls (bottom and mid-water, single and paired), purse seines, gillnets, and weirs are the primary gears used by the commercial herring fishery.
1972-1976 – Herring is managed by the International Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries
1976-1978 – NOAA Fisheries regulates international fishing through a preliminary fishery management plan
1978 – United States adopts its own management plan to manage herring stocks on Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine, achieve higher levels of spawning biomass and stable recruitment, and rebuild the juvenile herring resource and sardine fishery in the Gulf of Maine
1982 – NOAA Fisheries rescinds the 1978 management plan because of conflicts between state and federal regulations
1982 – Herring is placed on prohibited species list, eliminating directed fisheries for the species by international fleets within the U.S. federal waters and requiring any herring bycatch be discarded
1983 – Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission adopts Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring
Mid-1980s – Georges Bank herring population begins to rebuild
1994 – Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission adopts a management plan for herring to address the growth of the herring resource and interest in Internal Water Processing operations
1999 – Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission adopts Amendment 1 to the herring management plan to complement the federal management plan in development at the time by the New England Fishery Management Council
2000 – NOAA Fisheries implements Federal Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan in conjunction with the New England Fishery Management Council
2006 - Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission adopts Amendment 2 to complement Amendment 1 in development at the time by the New England Fishery Management Council.
2007 – Amendment 1 implemented a limited entry for herring vessels, a seasonal purse seine/fixed gear only area in the inshore Gulf of Maine, a three-year specification process, and addressed other management measures for herring.
2008 – Amendment 2 implemented the Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology as a part of an Omnibus Amendment.
2011 – Amendment 4 implemented annual catch limits and accountability measures in the herring fishery.
2011 – Herring Regulatory Amendment implemented daily catch reporting for limited access herring vessels using vessel monitoring systems, weekly fishing vessel trip report reporting, and other catch reporting measures.
2013 – Framework 2 allowed the Council to split annual catch limits seasonally for the four Atlantic herring management areas, and carryover up to 10 percent of unharvested catch for each area's ACL.
2014 – Amendment 5 implemented measures revising fishery management program provisions (reporting, definitions, etc.); expanding vessel requirements associated with observer sampling; minimizing slippage; addressing the incidental catch and bycatch of river herring; and revising the criteria for midwater trawl vessel access to Groundfish closed areas.
2014 – Framework 3 established a process for setting river herring and shad catch caps in the herring fishery.
2015 - Amendment 6 established standards of precision for bycatch estimation for all New England and Mid-Atlantic fisheries.
2016 – Framework 4 implemented measures addressing slippage in the herring fishery.
2018 – Amendment 3 updated measures to protect Essential Fish Habitat for all federally managed species. This amendment modified some Groundfish Closed Areas, in some cases allowing the herring fishery greater access to these grounds.
2020 – The Industry-Funded Monitoring (IFM) Amendment established industry-funded monitoring for the herring fishery and established a 50 percent combined monitoring coverage target for vessels issued Category A or B herring permits (IFM coverage +SBRM coverage = 50%).
2020 – Framework 6 established allowable 2020-2021 herring harvest levels and river herring and shad catch caps, consistent with the Atlantic Herring FMP. The specifications and management measures are necessary to meet conservation objectives while providing sustainable levels of access to the fishery.
2021 – Amendment 8 implemented measures to provide a long-term ABC control rule for the Atlantic herring fishery that will explicitly account for herring’s role in the ecosystem and to address the biological and ecological requirements of the Atlantic herring resource. Amendment 8 also included measures to address potential localized depletion and user conflicts with possible detrimental biological and socioeconomic impacts on predators of herring and other user groups.
2021 - Framework 8 reduced the Atlantic herring quotas for 2021-2023 as compared to 2020.This action modified in-season management measures to allow the Atlantic herring fleet more access to the Atlantic mackerel fishery.
2019 – Framework 7 - The Council has initiated a framework action to address spawning on Georges Bank.
2021 – Framework 9 - The Council has initiated a framework action to implement a rebuilding plan for herring and adjust accountability measures when catch limits are exceeded.
Last updated by NOAA Fisheries on 12/29/2021
Framework 6 to the Herring Fishery Management Plan(currently being drafted) would update the overfished and overfishing definitions for the herring fishery to make them more consistent with the most recent stock assessment in 2018. The current overfished and overfishing definitions are as follows:
If stock biomass is equal or greater than BMSY, overfishing occurs when fishing mortality exceeds FMSY. If stock biomass is below BMSY, overfishing occurs when fishing mortality exceeds the level that has a 50 percent probability to rebuild stock biomass to BMSY in 5 years (FThreshold). The stock is in an overfished condition when stock biomass is below ½ BMSY and overfishing occurs when fishing mortality exceeds FThreshold. These reference points are thresholds and form the basis for the control rule.
The control rule also specifies risk-averse fishing mortality targets, accounting for the uncertainty in the estimate of FMSY. If stock biomass is equal to or greater than 1/2BMSY, the target fishing mortality will be the lower level of the 80 percent confidence interval about FMSY. When biomass is below BMSY, the target fishing mortality will be reduced consistent with the five-year rebuilding schedule used to determine FThreshold.
In June of 2018, a new Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Workshop (SAW), reviewed by the Stock Assessment Review Committee (SARC), for herring was completed. The assessment concluded that although herring was not overfished and overfishing was not occurring in 2017, the stock was declining due to poor recruitment. The stock assessment estimated that recruitment had been at historic lows during the most recent 5 years (2013–2017).
View the 65th Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Workshop (65th SAW) Assessment Summary Report
The assessment projected that poor recruitment of herring would likely result in a substantial decline in biomass, but that the biomass should increase after reaching a low in 2019 if recruitment returns to historic average levels. The SAW/SARC concluded that catch reductions would be necessary during 2018–2021 in prevent overfishing and to lower the risk of the stock becoming overfished. Based on stock assessment projections, NOAA Fisheries reduced the 2018 ACL to 49,900 mt to lessen the risk of overfishing (Table 3). This reduction was based on a 50 percent probability of preventing overfishing in 2018. NOAA Fisheries set this level based on the newly projected overfishing limit (OFL) for 2018 out of precaution to prevent overfishing while allowing the fishery to achieve optimum yield (OY).
The new specifications for the 2019–2021 fishing years were not yet in place January 1, 2019, so the amended 2018 specifications rolled over and became effective for 2019. Because the catch limits that rolled over were in excess of the OFL, the New England Council recommended and NOAA Fisheries enacted an inseason adjustment that reduced the rolled-over 2018 limits to acceptable levels for 2019. The adjustments reduced the OFL and ABC to 30,668 mt and 21,266 mt respectively for the 2019 fishing year, and reduced the ACL to 15,065 mt. These specifications will remain in place until Framework 6 (which includes the 2019–2021 specifications) becomes effective (expected in early 2020).
At their September 2018 meeting, the New England Council approved an ABC control rule in Amendment 8 to the Herring FMP that, if approved by NOAA Fisheries, would be used to set specifications for the herring fishery in future years. This control rule is a more conservative management approach than the interim control rule (used in previous specification cycles) because a portion of the available catch would be set aside to explicitly account for the role of herring as forage in the ecosystem. The ABC control rule would cap overall fishing mortality at 80 percent of the maximum sustainable yield (known as FMSY). Under previous control rules, herring harvest could occur at 100% of the FMSY.
Amendment 8 would also set up an inshore buffer that would disallow any midwater trawl vessels from fishing within 15 miles of shore in any water east/north of a perpendicular line extending due south from the border between Rhode Island and Connecticut. In addition, midwater trawl vessels would not be able to fish in boxes (i.e. 30 minute squares) surrounding Cape Cod (boxes 99, 100, 114, 115, and 123). Amendment 8 has not yet been reviewed or approved by NOAA Fisheries, but that decision is expected in late 2019.
The Northeast Fishery Science Center has scheduled the next stock assessment workshop for Atlantic herring in June 2020. This stock assessment will inform development of the specifications for 2021–2023. It is anticipated that the 2021–2023 specifications will be completed and become effective in early 2021, and will thus replace the last year of the 2019–2021 specifications that are currently being finalized in Herring Framework 6.
Future stock assessments are schedule to continue on a biennial basis. As such, specification will continue to be developed every two years, although they will continue to set catch limits on a 3-year cycle. Changes to the third year of the specification cycle will be considered based on the results of the stock assessment.
Last updated by NOAA Fisheries on 12/29/2021
This manual documents age determination techniques used by staff at the Woods Hole Laboratory to…
Last updated by NOAA Fisheries on 12/29/2021