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Halibut Harvesters,

This notice is to let you know that ME DMR is delaying the issuance of 2025 halibut licenses and tags until the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) takes final action on the 2025 halibut quota. Halibut licenses typically become available November 1 for the following fishing year. However, in December, the NEFMC will take final action on FY 2025-2027 quotas for several groundfish stocks, including halibut.

The halibut quota will be set in response to the 2024 stock assessment, released earlier this month. Currently, there is significant uncertainty regarding the resulting halibut quota allocated for state water fisheries. This is due to uncertainties in the appropriate level of quota needed to account for Canadian catch, which has been quite variable over the past five years, and the amount of quota which will be allocated to the state vs. federal fisheries. Therefore, ME DMR has decided to delay the availability of 2025 halibut license and tags until the NEFMC takes final action in the first week of December. The Department will provide additional information following the December NEFMC meeting.

The NEFMC conversation on halibut quota is occurring through development of the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Framework 69. You can follow Framework 69 progress in several ways.


* The next Groundfish Committee meeting will take place November 25 in New Bedford, MA. Information on the meeting, including how to participate via webinar, can be found *HERE [ [link removed] ]*.
* The New England Fishery Management Council meeting will take place December 3-5 in Newport, RI. Information on the December Council meeting, including links to livestream or participate remotely, will be posted *HERE [ [link removed] ]* when available.

If you have questions, please contact either:

Corrin Flora at [email protected] or 207-446-8126 or

Megan Ware at [email protected] or 207-446-0932.

 

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