NOAA Fisheries announces 2026 Atlantic herring fishery specifications consistent with recommendations by the New England Fishery Management Council. This action is necessary to implement previously projected 2026 Atlantic herring specifications, including river herring and shad catch caps, published in the Federal Register on December 11, 2025 (90 FR 57376). This action is intended to achieve the objectives of the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan by preventing overfishing, helping rebuild an overfished stock, and achieving optimum yield on a continuing basis.
Table 1. 2026 Atlantic Herring Specifications.
| Specifications | Amount in Metric Tons |
| Overfishing Limit | 23,491 |
| Acceptable Biological Catch | 13,165 |
| Management Uncertainty | 4,031 |
| Annual Catch Limit/Optimum Yield | 9,134 |
| Domestic Annual Harvest | 9,134 |
| Border Transfer | 0 |
| Domestic Annual Processing | 9,134 |
| US At-Sea Processing | 0 |
| Area 1A Sub-ACL (28.9%) | 2,640 |
| Area 1B Sub-ACL (4.3%) | 393 |
| Area 2 Sub-ACL (27.8%) | 2,539 |
| Area 3 Sub-ACL (39%) | 3,562 |
| Fixed Gear Set-Aside | 30 |
| Research Set-Aside | 0% |
| If New Brunswick weir landings are less than 2,600 mt through October 1, then 1,000 mt will be subtracted from the management uncertainty and reallocated to the Area 1A sub-ACL and the ACL. | |
Table 2. 2026 River Herring and Shad Catch Caps
| Catch Cap | Amount in Metric Tons |
| Gulf of Maine Midwater Trawl | 76.7 |
| Cape Cod Midwater Trawl | 32.4 |
| Southern New England Midwater Trawl | 129.6 |
| Southern New England Bottom Trawl | 122.3 |
All vessels participating in the herring fishery must comply with notification and reporting requirements. For more information, please visit our Atlantic Herring Quota Monitoring webpage.
This bulletin serves as a Small Entity Compliance Guide, complying with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.
