Atlantic herring spawning areas close in western Maine and Massachusetts/New Hampshire through Nov. 3

Directed Atlantic herring fishing is shut in two Gulf of Maine spawning areas as of 12:01 a.m. today. An Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission memorandum dated Sept. 18, 2026, from Fisheries Policy Director Toni Kerns, closes the Western Maine and the Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning areas through 11:59 p.m. Nov. 3, 2026. Managers did not have enough samples from either area. Under Addendum II, the closure falls back to those default dates when the usual forecast — at least three samples, each with at least 25 female herring in gonadal stages III–V — cannot be made.

The Western Maine area is the water inside these corners: the Maine coast at 43° 30’ N; 43° 30’ N, 68° 54.5’ W; 43° 48’ N, 68° 20’ W; then north to the Maine coast at 68° 20’ W. The Massachusetts/New Hampshire area is the water bounded by the Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine coasts and by 43° 30’ N and 70° 00’ W.

Vessels in the directed herring fishery cannot take, land, or possess Atlantic herring caught in either area during the closure, and they must have all fishing gear stowed while transiting. Boats in non-directed fisheries that are fishing inside those areas may keep an incidental bycatch of up to 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip per day. This is the western Maine and Massachusetts/New Hampshire action, not the earlier Eastern Maine spawning closure. Questions go to Emilie Franke, fishery management plan coordinator, at 703-842-0740 or efranke@asmfc.org.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: ASMFC memorandum M26-79 — Western Maine and Massachusetts/New Hampshire herring spawning closures (PDF) (Sept. 18, 2026).