The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has reduced the amount of Atlantic herring Rhode Island and South Coast fishermen can catch this year due to an updated stock assessment that shows the fish’s population is in decline.
The assessment reveals there are less baby herring in the ocean, and their numbers have reached historic lows over the past five years.
NOAA Fisheries is cutting back the region’s original 2018 catch limit of about 68.6 million pounds to about 18 million pounds to prevent overfishing.
Meghan Lapp, spokeswoman for the Rhode Island-based commercial fishing company Seafreeze Ltd., said fishermen in the area only catch Atlantic herring during the winter. She said federal regulators set the new catch limit with that time restraint in mind.
“It’s restrictive but it’s also enough to let the fishery at least operate on a general level at that time of year,” Lapp said.
She said generally, fishermen she’s worked with are ok with these reductions because they care about the health of the fishery.
“Just like any business, you want to have stability for multiple years in a row, you don’t want to be bouncing all around like a yo-yo,” Lapp said.
Lapp said the company hopes by taking reductions this year, cuts in the future won’t be as drastic.
The new catch limit went into effect last Wednesday, but NOAA Fisheries will be accepting public comment on the rule before it is finalized.
