Report Run on: 2021-11-23
Quota Year: 2021 (January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021)


Area Quota (mt) Cumulative Catch (mt) Percent Quota Caught
1A 2,579 2,882.8 111.8%
1B 239 0.4 0.2%
2 652 181.7 27.9%
3 2,181 2,221.5 101.9%
Overall ACL 5,128 5,286.4 103.1%

A 2,000 pound Atlantic herring possession limit was implimented for herring Management Area 1A on November 11, 2021 effective through December 31, 2021. Management Area 3 was closed to directed herring fishing effective April 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021.


The final 2021 Atlantic Herring Specifications were published through Framework Adjustment 8 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan (April 1, 2021; 86 FR 17081). Data from Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans indicated that the New Brunswick Weir Fishery landed less than 3,012 metric tons from January 1,2021 to October 1,2021, allowing 1000 metric tons to be reallocated from the Management Uncertainty buffer to the Area 1A sub-ACL (October 29, 2021; 86 FR 59872). The 1A sub-ACL above does not include the 30 metric tons for the fixed gear set aside. The Research Set Aside (RSA) program is cancelled for 2021-2023.


The Atlantic herring fishery is monitored using data provided by herring-permitted vessels (VMS catch reports and VTRs) and Federal/state dealer data. VMS catch reports will be used to verify and determine catch when VTR and/or dealer records are unavailable, but VTR and dealer reports, once received, will determine final catch by area.


Catch reporting requirements are as follows: Limited access herring vessels report catch daily via VMS and all herring-permitted vessels submit VTRs weekly. Failure to submit reports has resulted in vessels being referred to the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement for investigation. 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 click here.



These data are the best available to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) when this report was compiled. Data for this report are supplied to NMFS from vessels via the Vessel Monitoring System. Data may be preliminary. Discrepancies with previous reports are due to corrections made to the database.