Council Herring Discussions Complex

Back in September, the Council asked NMFS to develop an in-season adjustment to set 2019 catch limits for the Atlantic herring fishery, recognizing that NMFS would be able to act more quickly to reduce the probability of overfishing in light of sobering news from a recent stock assessment. The Council asked NMFS to consider several factors when setting 2019 specifications, including that the agency use the new acceptable biological catch (ABC) control rule that the Council adopted in Amendment 8 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. Details about the control rule and the Council’s request are outlined in Council Approves Amendment 8 With New ABC Control Rule, Buffer Zone; Asks NMFS to Set 2019 Specs.

NMFS followed up on the Council’s vote and published a proposed rule on November 30, 2018 containing three alternatives for 2019 specifications: no action; the Council-recommended approach; and the NMFSproposed alternative. The Council-recommended approach utilizes the Amendment 8 ABC control rule while the NMFS-proposed alternative does not. NMFS expressed concern about using a control rule that had not been finalized in regulation yet. Instead, the agency proposes to set the ABC equal to the overfishing limit (OFL), whereas the Council’s approach reduces the ABC as called for under the new control rule. The Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee used the new control rule and recommended an ABC of 21,266 metric tons (mt) in 2019 (see blue highlights in table below). All other specifications, including area-by-area catch limits, flow down from the ABC.

The Council expressed serious concern over the NMFS-proposed alternative, noting that, while catch limits for fishermen would be higher in 2019 than under the Council’s approach, the economic impacts of both alternatives are severe. Meanwhile, the NMFS alternative poses a much higher risk of overfishing in 2019 and does not account for scientific uncertainty in the new assessment as does the Council’s approach.

It also may result in an even lower ABC in 2020, which would impose further economic hardships on the industry. For these and many other reasons, the Council voted to reiterate its support for the original rationale it provided in September when it first asked NMFS to develop an in-season adjustment to set 2019 specifications. This rationale included using the Amendment 8 ABC control rule, which is biomass based. When biomass declines, the allowed amount of fishing mortality – and, in turn, catch limits – also is reduced. The Council emphasized that this approach lowers the probability of overfishing and helps the stock to rebuild more quickly.

The Council is working on a herring specification package for fishing years 2020 and 2021 and may revisit OFL and ABC specifications depending on the outcome of the 2019 decision. Also, the Council will consider the results of a new assessment for herring in 2020, which may impact 2021 specifications.

NOTE: As part of the 2019 proposed rule, NMFS also is soliciting public comment on Herring Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program awards for 2019–2021 and the issuance of Exempted Fishing Permits for projects. The Herring RSA Program annually allocates up to 3% of each management area sub-annual catch limit (sub-ACL) to support compensation fishing that funds herring-related research consistent with RSA priorities identified by the Council. Herring RSA proposals for 2019 are currently under review. Selections are expected soon, and RSA compensation fishing may be allowed as early as January 2019. Read the proposed rule for details.

Additional Documents and a Presentation are Available at https://www.nefmc.org/library/december-2018-herring-committee

The comment deadline on the 2019 proposed rule is December 31, 2018. Details about how to comment are described in the Federal Register Notice at https://s3.amazonaws.com/nefmc.org/1_Proposed-Rule-for-2019-herring-specifications.pdf