RHS Herring Quota Monitoring

Catch Cap	Quota (mt)	Cumulative Catch (mt)	Percent Quota Caught
Cape Cod Mid-water Trawl	32.4	36.2	111.7%
Gulf of Maine Mid-water Trawl	76.7	0.0	0.0%
Southern New England Bottom Trawl	122.3	0.6	0.5%
Southern New England Mid-water Trawl	129.6	0.0	0.0%

The river herring and shad (RH/S) catch caps are monitored based on the Atlantic herring fishing year (January 1-December 31). Once a RH/S catch cap is harvested, a 2,000 pound Atlantic herring possession limit goes into effect for that Catch Cap Area and gear type for the remainder of the fishing year. Trips landing greater then 6,600 lb of herring will be included in the catch cap monitoring program.

The method for estimating RH/S catch by Atlantic herring vessels is similar to the method for estimating RH/S catch in the Atlantic mackerel fishery. This method replaces estimated pounds with observed pounds where available. The cumulative method uses catch from the entire year to estimate a RH/S catch ratio for each RH/S catch cap area and gear type. The RH/S catch ratio is calculated for a catch cap area and gear type by dividing observed RH/S catch for the year by the observed kept all (total amount of all species) for the year. RH/S pounds per unobserved trip are then estimated by multiplying the catch ratio by the kept all from unobserved Atlantic herring vessels fishing in that RH/S catch cap area with that gear type.More information on this methodology can be found in the following summary document link.

For questions regarding Atlantic herring management, please contact the Sustainable Fisheries Division at 978-281-9315. For guidance on the most recent notification and reporting requirements please visit the following website by clicking here.

The data used to produce this report are the best available to NOAA Fisheries at the time the report was generated. Data for this report are primarily from data received through various NOAA Fisheries data collection programs, which include data from our partner organizations, such as: Vessel Monitoring Systems; Vessel Trip Reports; Dealer Purchase Reports; and the Northeast Fisheries Observer Program. As part of its data quality assurance/quality control program, NOAA Fisheries routinely audits and corrects data, which may lead to differences between quota monitoring reports.