We have adjusted the herring specifications for 2018 to account for the carryover and overharvest of catch from 2016. Adjusted 2018 annual catch limits (ACLs) are;
2018 sub-ACLS, Adjusted for Catch in 2016
| Management Area | 2018 Catch Limit (mt) |
| Area 1A | 31,962 |
| Area 1B | 3,649 |
| Area 2 | 31,137 |
| Area 3 | 43,853 |
| Stock-wide | 100,969* |
* The stockwide ACL cannot be increased by carryover, so it does not equal the sum of the four area’s catch limits.
We have provided the details and explanation of the adjustment in a table on the back of this letter.
For More Information on Herring Catch and Catch Limits:
We track herring catch against herring catch limits and post that information weekly on the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office website under “Quotas, Landings.” Please visit this webpage during the fishing year to check how much herring catch is available in a particular management area.
Explanation of Herring sub-ACLs, Catch, and Carryover (mt) for 2018
| Area 1A | Area 1B | Area 2 | Area 3 | Stockwide | |
| (a) We start with the 2018 sub-ACLs, including the Research Set-Aside ( RSA) … | 30,300
| 4,500 | 29,100 | 40,900 | 104,800 |
| (b) Then subtract the 2018 RSA (3 percent of sub-ACL)… | 909 | 135 | 873 | 1,227 | 3,144 |
| (c) And here are the 2018 sub-ACLs minus RSA… | 29,391 | 4,365 | 28,227 | 39,673 | 101,656 |
| (d) To calculate the 2018 adjusted sub-ACLs, we start with the 2106 adjusted sub-ACLs… | 30,397 | 2,941 | 32,100 | 43,832 | 101,656* |
| (e) And subtract the final 2016 Catch… | 27,826 | 3,657 | 13,456 | 18,580 | 63,519 |
| (f) And here are the catch underages and overages from 2016… | 2,571 | -716 | 18,644 | 25,252 | 45,751 |
| (g) Underages up to 10% of the 2016 sub-ACLs* can be carryover in 2018… these are those values… | 2,571 | NA | 2,910 | 4,090 | NA |
| (h) We then added the 2016 carryover (row g) to the 2018 sub-ACLs minus RSA (row c) and here are the adjusted sub-ACLs for 2018… | 31,962 | 3,649 | 31,137 | 43,853 | 100,969** |
* Maximum carryover is based on 10 percent of the 2016 sub-ACLs: Area 1A=30,300 mt; Area 1B=4,500 mt; Area 2=29,100 mt; and Area 3=40,900 mt.
** The stockwide ACL cannot be increased by carryover. The 2018 adjusted stock-wide ACL is decreased by the Area 1B overage.
