NOAA Fisheries Announces the 2024 2026 Small Mesh Multispecies Fishery Specifications

NOAA Fisheries announces 2024 and projected 2025-2026 specifications for the small-mesh multispecies fishery, based in part on the New England Fishery Management Council's recommendations and the 2023 stock assessment. A summary of the final catch limits for all species are provided below.

Final Small-Mesh Multispecies Specifications for Fishing Years 2024-2026 (metric tons), with the Percent Change in the Annual Catch Limits from Fishing Year 2023.

	Overfishing Limit	Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC)	Annual Catch Limit (ACL)	TAL	ACL Percent Change
Northern Red Hake	Unknown	3,129	2973	1,274	-9%
Northern Silver Hake	79,473	40,868	38,825	31,347	+100%
Southern Red Hake	Unknown	1,370**	1,301	234	-9%
Southern Whiting*	35,419	20,149	19,142	13,881	-51%

_{*Southern whiting includes both southern silver hake and offshore hake.}

_{** The Council recommended ABC was 1,826 mt, a 21-percent increase from 2023.}

The Council's recommended catch limits would increase annual quotas for northern silver hake and decrease the quota for southern whiting and both red hake stocks. In addition to the Council's recommended catch limits, we are implementing an ABC for southern red hake that complies with the requirements outlined in Framework Adjustment 62 to the Northeast Multispecies FMP. Framework 62 established a rebuilding plan for southern red hake that requires the ABC be set to 75 percent of the fishing mortality rate at maximum sustainable yield (F_MSY). However, the overfishing limit (OFL) for red hake has been unknown since the spring of 2020, therefore, the Council set the current 2021-2023 specifications to reduce the ABC to equal 75-percent F_MSY. The specifications for fishing years 2025 and 2026 are projected to be the same as the 2024 limits.

For more information, please read the noticeas filed in the Federal Register.

Questions?

Contact Shannah Jaburek at [email protected], (978) 282-8456

This bulletin serves as a Small Entity Compliance Guide complying with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.

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