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Originally Posted by Iwannakeeper
Does anyone have the numbers for example.
1. How many pounds of herring are harvested by the recreational fisherman during the entire season?
2. How many pounds of herring are harvested by commercial fisherman during the season?
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According to the ASMFC in 1999, "Recreational landings of
Atlantic herring are currently so small as to make regulation of this fishery unnecessary at this time."
The most recent landings data for Atlantic Herring from NMFS totals 2003 landings at 95,225.2 metric tons.
As for river herring (alewives and blueback herring), the landings data can be found here:
http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/sos/spsyn/af/herring/ Even if you shoot a quick look towards the graph and nothing else, you can tell that landings have taken a nosedive. There is no data on recreational catch, however. According to the ASFMC in 1998, "There are extensive recreational fisheries for river herring in many rivers along the East Coast. While some are hook and line fisheries (i.e., Delaware River), many states permit various types of dip nets and seines. The total quantity of fish landed by these recreational netters for personal use (i.e., bait and consumption) may be quite large. All of these landings are unreported and thus, represent a large potential error in recorded recreational river herring harvests."
It seems to me that the FMPs for both Atlantic herring and river herring need some review, as there have been no addendums to the plans since the late 90s. If stocks have declined so much in the past few years, it's definitely due. And find a way to get the recreational catch data, for chrissake!