Proposed changes on Atlantic menhaden fishing limits

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) held a public hearing Wednesday in Dover to discuss proposed changes in the amount of Atlantic Menhaden Fisherman are allowed to catch in a day.

Currently, fishermen are permitted no more than 6,000 lbs. of menhaden, which are of the herring family, per vessel/per day.  However, many of the fisherman prefer to go out together on the same boat to save on costs, which limits their catch since the limitations are on the vessel and not the fishermen or permit.

Now, representatives from the ASMFC are going from Maine to Florida to speak with the public about giving fishermen more flexibility. Megan Ward, a Fishery Management Plan Coordinator says “this is one of the things we were looking into is how can we add flexibility to the bycatch allowance to allow for cooperative fishing in different sectors of the fishery.”

Ward tells 47ABC the board will consider a final action on this regulation in the first week of August, and will then set a timeline for the states to adopt the measures.