Gulf of Maine Herring and Atlantic Mackerel Stop Seine/Weir Fishery - MMPA List of Fisheries

U.S. fisheries are classified under the Marine Mammal Protection Act according to the level of interactions that result in incidental mortality or serious injury of marine mammals.

New England/Mid-Atlantic

Current Classification on the List of Fisheries

Category	III
Estimated Number of Participants	>1
Target Species	Herring, Atlantic mackerel
Applicable Take Reduction Plans	N/A
Observer Coverage	N/A
Marine Mammal Species/Stocks Killed or Injured	Harbor porpoise, GME/BF Harbor seal, WNA Minke whale, Canadian east coast Atlantic white-sided dolphin, WNA

^ Number of participants estimates are based on state and federal fisheries permit data. The estimated number of participants is expressed in terms of the number of active participants in the fishery, when possible. If this information is not available, the estimated number of vessels or persons licensed for a particular fishery is provided. If no recent information is available on the number of participants, then the number from the most recent LOF is used. NOAA Fisheries acknowledges that, in some cases, these estimations may be inflating actual effort.

*Observer coverage levels include the latest information reported in the most current final Stock Assessment Report (SAR).

¹ Indicates the stock or species is driving the classification of the fishery.

Basis for Current Classification

Season length and gear type suggest a remote likelihood of marine mammal interactions. No new information has been received which would change or confirm placement as Category III. If interactions with harbor porpoises occur, it is likely that mortality and serious injury would be <1% PBR.

Distribution

Most U.S. commercial catches of herring occur between May and November in the Gulf of Maine. The harvest is widely distributed between Maine and North Carolina. Concentrations of catch occur on the continental shelf southeast of Long Island, NY and east of the Delmarva Peninsula.

Gear Description

Stop nets are used in coastal embayments to close off the opening to a small cove or bight to harvest schooling fish. Fishermen sometimes harvest the schools with beach seines after they are in the stop net. Weirs consist of a fence or multiple fences constructed to intercept schools of feeding or migrating fish. The fences form successive enclosures of the heart, the pound, and the pocket into which fish are directed by a leader.

Management

Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan and Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring, Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan.

Historical Information

Original Category (Year added to the LOF)	III (1989)
Original Number of Participants	50
Basis for Original Classification	season length and gear type suggest a remote likelihood of marine mammal interactions
Past Names	N/A
Species/stocks historically documented as killed or injured (but not currently on the list)	Gray seal, WNA Humpback whale, WNA North Atlantic right whale, WNA

Timeline of Changes

2015	Removed gray seal, WNA from the list of species incidentally killed/injured.
2013	Estimated number of vessels/persons updated from “unknown” to >1.
2011	Estimated number of vessels/persons operating changed to “unknown”.
2005	Removed North Atlantic right whale, WNA, and Humpback whale, WNA from the list of species incidentally killed/injured because interactions have not been documented in recent years. Added Atlantic white-sided dolphin, WNA to list of species incidentally killed/injured.