2018 Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Specifications

February 28, 2018

Effective Date: April 2, 2018

Bulletin |

New England/Mid-Atlantic

NOAA Fisheries has approved updated squid and butterfish specifications for the 2018 through 2020 fishing years. Atlantic mackerel specifications for 2018 remain unchanged, as previously implemented.

Get the full summary of information about mackerel, squid, and butterfish fishery regulations.

2018 Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Specifications (lb)
Specifications	Mackerel	Butterfish	*Illex*	Longfin
Allowable Biological Catch	43,867,581	39,244,487	52,910,943	51,588,169
Annual Catch Limit	24,270,690	39,244,487	N/A	N/A
Commercial Annual Catch Target (ACT)	20,489,317	37,282,263	N/A	N/A
Recreational ACT/Recreational Harvest Limit	1,353,638	N/A	N/A	N/A
Domestic Annual Harvest (DAH, or annual quota)	20,231,151	26,659,600	50,518,927	50,556,406
Tier 3 Mackerel Allocation (7% of DAH)	1,416,180	N/A	N/A	N/A
Butterfish Mortality Cap in longfin squid fishery		8,562,754
River herring/shad catch cap in the mackerel fishery	180,779

The longfin squid DAH is allocated into trimesters as follows:

Trimester	Percent	lb
I (Jan-Apr)	43	21,739,255
II (May-Aug)	17	8,594,589
III (Sep-Dec)	40	20,222,562

Projected 2019 and 2020 Specifications

The Illex and longfin squid 2019 and 2020 specifications will remain the same as those specified for the 2018 fishing year (see above). The butterfish mortality cap will also remain the same for the 2019 and 2020 fishing years. The table below shows the projected 2019 and 2020 butterfish specifications. The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council may revise the projected 2019 and 2020 specifications for all species based on an annual review of available data.

Projected Butterfish Specifications (lb)
Specifications	2019	2020
Allowable Biological Catch	59,762,910	70,686,815
Annual Catch Limit	59,762,910	70,686,815
Commercial Annual Catch Target	55,280,692	63,618,134
Domestic Annual Harvest (DAH, or annual quota)	44,226,067	52,363,410