Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; 2025-2027 Atlantic Herring Fishery Specifications

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

Proposed specifications, request for comments.

NMFS proposes new 2025 harvest specifications and river herring and shad catch caps for the Atlantic herring fishery, and projects specifications and catch caps for 2026 and 2027, as recommended by the New England Fishery Management Council. This action also proposes to update the target rebuilding date for Atlantic herring. This action is necessary to respond to updated scientific information from a 2024 management track assessment and to achieve the goals and objectives of the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan, including preventing overfishing, helping rebuild an overfished stock, and achieving optimum yield on a continuing basis.

Public comments must be received by July 10, 2025.

A plain language summary of this proposed rule is available at https://www.regulations.gov/​docket/​NOAA-NMFS-2025-0049. You may submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2025-0049 by the following method:

Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Visit https://www.regulations.gov and type NOAA-NMFS-2025-0049 in the Search box. Click on the “Comment” icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.

Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on https://www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying information ( e.g., name, address, etc.), ( printed page 26956) confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter “N/A” in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous).

Copies of the 2025-2027 herring specifications action, including the Supplemental Information Report (SIR) and the Regulatory Impact Review (RIR) prepared by the New England Fishery Management Council in support of this action, are available from Dr. Cate O'Keefe, Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. These documents are also accessible via the internet at https://www.nefmc.org/​management-plans/​herring or http://www.regulations.gov.