Contact: Scott Smullen FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(301) 713-2370 7/21/95
The Commerce Department's National Marine Fisheries Service today implemented a fisheries management plan that will allow U.S. fishermen in the Northeast to sell Atlantic herring to foreign processing vessels in U.S. waters in the Atlantic.
The action, which authorizes the first joint venture for the U.S. fishing industry in federal waters in the Northeast since 1991, will provide business opportunities for Georges Bank fishermen who have lost revenue because of regulations that ban fishing for groundfish.
The plan, known formally as the Secretarial Preliminary Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring, was requested by the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils in April.
"The Council's request for a joint venture on such a tight time frame was extremely ambitious considering our staff's current workload," said Andrew Rosenberg, director of the Northeast Region of the fisheries service. "We couldn't have put the plan in place so quickly without the help of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the Massachusetts Department of Natural Resources, and especially the Maine Department of Marine Resources. This is an example of how the fisheries management process can and should operate -- all parties working together toward the common goal of assisting fishermen and the industry."
The plan specifies three management areas for the Atlantic herring fishery in state and federal waters, from the U.S.- Canadian border south through North Carolina. Depending on the area, joint venture operations may be restricted in federal waters if a specified processing allocation is reached or to allow herring to spawn undisturbed.
According to fisheries service officials, the total fishable stock biomass of Atlantic sea herring was estimated at roughly 2.8 million metric tons in 1992. The herring stock is considered underutilized and all indications are that stock biomass will continue to grow.
For a copy of the plan or accompanying environmental assessment, please write to Dr. Andrew A. Rosenberg, Regional Director, Northeast Region, National Marine Fisheries Service, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930.