09-17-2007, 05:10 PM
New Hampshire Fish and Game's Marine Fisheries Division has
announced two additional days of closure to restrictions on the take of<br />
Atlantic herring. Commercial fishermen currently are not allowed to land<br />
Atlantic herring taken from Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission<br />
Management Area 1A (in the western half of the Gulf of Maine) on Fridays,<br />
Saturdays and Sundays. The restriction applies from 12:01 a.m. on Fridays to<br />
midnight on Sundays. Under the new restrictions, the closure will also be in<br />
effect on Thursday, September 20, and Thursday, September 27, 2007, from<br />
12:01 a.m. to midnight each day. These restrictions will remain in effect<br />
until December 31, 2007, or until further amended.
The closure is in accordance with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries<br />
Commission (ASMFC) Atlantic Herring Management Plan. One of the provisions<br />
of the plan addresses the need to control "effort" (fishing days) in the<br />
fishery to prevent commercial fishermen from exceeding the total allowable<br />
catch for each management area and to prevent management areas from having<br />
to be closed early.
The additional closure is intended to protect the Atlantic herring resource<br />
and to ensure that the total allowable catch is not harvested before peak<br />
market demands abate before late autumn. An exception to the rule is that<br />
any vessel may land herring taken as an incidental catch in ASMFC Management<br />
Area 1A, up to a maximum of 2,000 pounds.Â
For more information about the closure, call N.H. Fish and Game's Region 3<br />
office in Durham at (603) 868-1095.Â
The N.H. Fish and Game Department is the guardian of the state's fish,<br />
wildlife and marine resources and their habitats. The Department's Marine<br />
Fisheries Division is located in Durham, N.H. Visit N.H. Fish and Game at<br />
http://www.FishNH.com.
announced two additional days of closure to restrictions on the take of<br />
Atlantic herring. Commercial fishermen currently are not allowed to land<br />
Atlantic herring taken from Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission<br />
Management Area 1A (in the western half of the Gulf of Maine) on Fridays,<br />
Saturdays and Sundays. The restriction applies from 12:01 a.m. on Fridays to<br />
midnight on Sundays. Under the new restrictions, the closure will also be in<br />
effect on Thursday, September 20, and Thursday, September 27, 2007, from<br />
12:01 a.m. to midnight each day. These restrictions will remain in effect<br />
until December 31, 2007, or until further amended.
The closure is in accordance with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries<br />
Commission (ASMFC) Atlantic Herring Management Plan. One of the provisions<br />
of the plan addresses the need to control "effort" (fishing days) in the<br />
fishery to prevent commercial fishermen from exceeding the total allowable<br />
catch for each management area and to prevent management areas from having<br />
to be closed early.
The additional closure is intended to protect the Atlantic herring resource<br />
and to ensure that the total allowable catch is not harvested before peak<br />
market demands abate before late autumn. An exception to the rule is that<br />
any vessel may land herring taken as an incidental catch in ASMFC Management<br />
Area 1A, up to a maximum of 2,000 pounds.Â
For more information about the closure, call N.H. Fish and Game's Region 3<br />
office in Durham at (603) 868-1095.Â
The N.H. Fish and Game Department is the guardian of the state's fish,<br />
wildlife and marine resources and their habitats. The Department's Marine<br />
Fisheries Division is located in Durham, N.H. Visit N.H. Fish and Game at<br />
http://www.FishNH.com.