River Herring Management Information

 River Herring Annual Update

An Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Atlantic coastwide stock assessment update for River Herring was completed in August 2024, with data through 2021. The North Carolina portion of the assessment includes the Albemarle Sound Blueback Herring stock only. The status of River Herring in other parts of the state are currently listed as unknown due to the lack of data. The stock assessment update indicated the North Carolina Albemarle Sound stock was not experiencing overfishing but remains overfished. The spawning stock biomass remains below 40% of the amount necessary to replace itself in the complete absence of fishing. River Herring are managed under the 2022 Information Update to the FMP, which continued the Amendment 2 management strategies. The next comprehensive review of the N.C. River Herring FMP is scheduled to begin in 2027. However, the division is requesting the DEQ Secretary approve transitioning River Herring management from Amendment 2 to the N.C. River Herring FMP exclusively to the N.C. IJ FMP, which adopts, by reference, FMPs approved by the ASMFC or federal councils (e.g., ASMFC Amendment 2 to the Interstate FMP for Shad and River Herring). Transitioning management solely to the N.C. IJ FMP does not alter the current approach to River Herring management, nor the authority delegated to the MFC or further delegated to the division director to manage River Herring. Transitioning management creates efficiencies by removing redundancies between the ASMFC Interstate FMP and two separate N.C. FMPs. Additionally, any future plans to allow river herring harvest in N.C. must be developed through an ASMFC Sustainable Fishery Plan, (e.g. the NCDMF Sustainable Fishery Plan for American Shad) so the additional state FMP for River Herring is no longer needed.