Monkfish

During the early 1990s fishermen and dealers in the monkfish fishery addressed both the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils with concerns about the increasing amount of small fish being landed, the increasing frequency of gear conflicts between monkfish vessels and those in other fisheries and the expanding directed trawl fishery. In response, the Councils developed a joint fishery management plan that took effect in November 1999.

The FMP is designed to stop overfishing and rebuild the stocks through a number of measures, including: limiting the number of vessels with access to the fishery and allocating days-at-sea those vessels; setting trip limits for vessels fishing for monkfish; minimum fish size limits; gear restrictions; mandatory time out of the fishery during the spawning season; and a framework adjustment process. 

Quick Links

• Committee

• Advisory Panel

• Regulations

• Monkfish Profile
  NOAA FishWatch

RESOURCES

• Federal Register Actions
  NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Office

• NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Office Sustainable Fisheries Division

• Fishery Information Sheets
  NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Office

• Weekly Quota and Landing Reports
  NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Office

• Status of Fishery Resources off the Northeastern U.S.
  Northeast Fisheries Science Center

• NOAA FishWatch: U.S. Seafood Facts

• NMFS Fishery Statistics
  (Commercial and Recreational)