|
NOAA Fisheries is implementing Atlantic herring fishery specifications for 2023-2025, as recommended by the New England Fishery Management Council.
This action reduces the 2023 overfishing limit (OFL) relative to the default 2023 specifications that were implemented in 2021 through Framework Adjustment 8 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan (FMP), but increases the 2023 acceptable biological catch (ABC), annual catch limit (ACL), and management area sub-ACLs. These 2023-2025 specifications were generated by applying the Council’s ABC control rule, which is consistent with the herring rebuilding plan and accounts for herring’s important role in the ecosystem as a forage species.
This action maintains the fixed gear set-aside at 30 mt and maintains zero research set-aside for 2023-2025.
This rule also:
- Adjusts 2023 herring fishery specifications to account for catch overages and carryover of unharvested catch from 2021
- Removes 2,000-lb possession limits in Herring Management Area 1B and Area 3
- Extends the target rebuilding date for herring from 2026 to 2028 to reflect the results of updated analyses
- Removes regulations implementing the inshore midwater trawl gear restricted area in order to comply with a court order
- Corrects an error in the coordinates for the Western Gulf of Maine Habitat Management Area
- Fixes an incorrect citation in the herring regulations pertaining to measures to address slippage
- Restores general recordkeeping and reporting requirements that were unintentionally removed from the Code of Federal Regulations
For more information, including instructions for submitting public comments, read the interim final rule as filed in the Federal Register or the bulletin posted on the web.
|
