1% set-aside for NE ‘episodic’ events
ALEXANDRIA, VA – Atlantic menhaden are prized by lobstermen in New England as a reliable bait alternative to herring. But few people probably ever imaged that these oily little fish – commonly called pogies – would become as strictly regulated as almost every other species in the Northeast.
Yet that’s exactly what has happened. Now, for the first time ever, each coastal state along the Atlantic seaboard has a menhaden total allowable catch (TAC). And, once an individual state’s TAC is reached, fishermen there will be restricted to a bycatch allowance (more on this below).
The new program was established through Amendment 2 to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) interstate menhaden plan, which the commission’s menhaden board approved last December.
Following months and months of highly contentious debate…
Read the rest and much, much more in the July issue of Commercial Fisheries News. Read online
immediately and download for future reference.
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