ASMFC will consider Chesapeake Bay menhaden cap cut and striped bass benchmark update at November meeting in Newport
The ASMFC 84th Annual Meeting runs November 9-12 at Hotel Viking in Newport, RI. The menhaden board will consider Addendum II for final approval; the addendum proposes to reduce the Chesapeake Bay industrial harvest cap by up to 50%. The striped bass board gets a 2027 benchmark assessment progress update on November 11. The scup and black sea bass board meets November 12.
The ASMFC 84th Annual Meeting runs November 9 through 12 at Hotel Viking in Newport, Rhode Island. The menhaden board will consider Addendum II to the Atlantic Menhaden Fishery Management Plan for final approval. The addendum, currently in public comment, proposes to reduce the Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery cap by up to 50%.
The Bay cap limits industrial menhaden harvest inside the Chesapeake Bay. The current cap is 51,000 metric tons, first established in 2006. Draft Addendum II would reduce that cap, with options ranging up to a 50% cut and redistribution of the cap among states. The ASMFC already reduced the 2026 coastwide total allowable catch to 186,840 metric tons, a 20% decrease from prior years, after a 2025 stock assessment found coastwide menhaden biomass lower than previously estimated. The 2027-2029 specifications and a commercial quota reallocation review are also on the menhaden board agenda for this meeting.
Menhaden are the primary forage species for striped bass, bluefish, false albacore, and bluefin tuna along the East Coast. The Chesapeake Bay is the main nursery for East Coast menhaden. A lower Bay cap is intended to keep more bait inside the Bay corridor during the critical early years for juvenile fish. The connection between Bay menhaden abundance and predator recruitment involves more variables than the cap alone, but forage availability is the stated conservation rationale. The menhaden explainer on this site covers the broader forage and management context.
The striped bass board meets November 11 for approximately one hour. The primary item is a progress update on the 2027 benchmark stock assessment. The stock was declared overfished in the 2023 benchmark. A new benchmark will produce updated overfishing limits and target reference points; those will inform any future management changes under Amendment 7. Current 2026 regulations remain in place until a new addendum clears the full board process and state implementation. A Stock Assessment Subcommittee Check-In is scheduled as a public webinar on October 19; the ASMFC striped bass page carries registration details.
The summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass board meets November 12. The scheduled items are sending a scup winter addendum to public comment and reviewing black sea bass commercial quota allocation performance. No summer flounder or black sea bass addendum is on the November agenda. The tautog board is not meeting in November; Draft Addendum I to the Tautog FMP, which addresses overfishing conditions in the NJ-NY Bight and Delmarva stocks, remains pending public comment at a future meeting.
Menhaden Addendum II public comment is open now; the ASMFC menhaden page at asmfc.org/species/atlantic-menhaden carries the comment form and public hearing dates. The full November meeting agenda is at asmfc.org/events/2026-annual-meeting/. Board decisions pass into effect through state regulatory processes; the practical earliest effect for most November items would be the 2027 season.
On the water: Rules and conditions can change quickly. Confirm current regulations and official marine forecasts for your exact trip.