Maine will have a roughly 17.8-million-pound Atlantic menhaden quota in 2027 and a 16.2-million-pound quota in 2028 after an interstate board lowered the coastwide catch limit, the state Department of Marine Resources said Nov. 12. The state's figures are based on its allocation of the coastwide limit.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Atlantic Menhaden Management Board set the coastwide total allowable catch at 170,000 metric tons for 2027 and 155,000 metric tons for 2028. In a statement, DMR Commissioner Carl Wilson said that is a 9% reduction in 2027 from the 2026 limit of 186,840 metric tons, and another 9% reduction in 2028. The commission calls it a 17% cut from the 2026 limit over two years and 34% from the 2025 limit.
Wilson called the topic "very divided," given the importance of menhaden for bait and forage. The lobster fishery advocated for status quo, he said. A motion for status quo, which Maine supported, did not pass. Other motions would have cut the 2027 limit by 39%, or phased in a 30% reduction across 2027 and 2028. Wilson called the adopted outcome "a significantly better alternative" for the state's bait industry than those other motions.
The commission said projections show the limits carry a 0% chance of overfishing in 2027 and 2028 but would still leave a high probability that fishing mortality exceeds the ecological reference point target. It said the board weighed the ecosystem benefits of leaving more menhaden in the water against the socioeconomic harm of tighter limits, including to fisheries that rely on menhaden for bait. The 2027 limit takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.
The board also approved an addendum that lowers the Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery cap to 37,123 metric tons in 2027 and 33,847 metric tons in 2028, tying it to 21.8% of the coastwide limit, with a 51,000-metric-ton maximum. That cap takes effect May 1, 2027. Board Chair Joe Cimino of New Jersey said the board received more than 48,000 comments from stakeholders on both sides of the issue.
A reallocation question is still open. On the meeting's second day, the board briefly began a discussion on re-allocation, Wilson wrote. A motion not to re-allocate, which Maine did not make, was postponed until the board's winter meeting.
DMR said it will keep exploring management actions to offset the economic impacts of the lower coastwide limit, will work with other states to request quota transfers, and will work with industry this winter on in-state management of Maine's quota and on access to bait for lobstermen "when it is most needed." Wilson noted that the board approved a 20% reduction a year ago.
