(continued from previous page)

As a consequence, herring from the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank have been combined for assessment purposes into a single coastal stock complex. This approach has many advantages over the separate stock approach, but also poses a number of technical and management challenges.

Total landings for the coastal stock complex have changed substantially since the 1960s. Landings averaged 94,500 mt from 1992 to 1996, whereas three decades ago they exceeded 300,000 mt. Recreational landings have been negligible.

Changes in commercial landings trends are best understood by examining changes in regional fisheries that exploit the stock complex.

The fishery in the Gulf of Maine consists of fixed and mobile gear fisheries in coastal waters. Landings in the coastal fishery have averaged 79,700 mt over the last two decades. There has been a great deal of annual variability in the landings, but there is little evidence of any long-term trend.

However, there have been changes in the distribution of landings between the two principal gear types: mobile and fixed gear. Over the past five years, more than 90 percent of Maine herring landings were taken by mobile gear, compared with less than 50 percent during the 1970s.

This shift appears to be related to reduced availability of herring to the fixed-gear fisheries. In addition, mobile gear landings include increasing catches made by mid-water trawlers. Due to recent declines in export markets for adult herring, a significant proportion of the catch has not been used for human consumption.

The herring fishery on Georges Bank was initiated in 1961 by distant-water fleets. Landings peaked in 1968 at 373,600 MT and subsequently declined to only 43,500 MT in 1976 as the fishery collapsed.  There has been no directed fishery for Atlantic Herring on George's Bank since that time.

Estimates of the stock biomass (all ages) for the coastal stock complex were in excess of 1 million MT before the collapse associated with the Georges Bank fishery.  After the collapse, stock size estimates declined to less than 100,000 MT.  In the early 1980's, fishing by distant-water fleets ended and the stock complex began to rebuild.

Stock biomass has increased significantly in recent years, primarily due to increased spawning first on Nantucket Shoals and later on Georges Bank.  The offshore spawning component, which represents the largest historic component of the stock complex, appears to have recovered from its collapse during the early 1970's. 

Stock biomass is expected to remain high in the near future, as recent recruitment appears to have been strong.

A management plan has been adopted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) which provides guidance on the allocation of herring to internal waters processing operations and regulations concerning spawning closures.

A Preliminary Management Plan is also in force which provides guidance on the development of joint venture processing in the exclusive economic zone.  A Fishery Management Plan is being developed by the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) in coordination with the ASMFC (Atlantic States Marine Fishery Council).