Interstate Fisheries Management

Tautog, Tautoga onitis, rank among the top recreational species caught throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic, and have grown in popularity over the last few years as a commercially harvested species, particularly in the live fish market. Slow growth and reproduction and a tendency to congregate around wrecks and rock piles make tautog particularly susceptible to overfishing. The 2005 stock assessment of tautog (ASMFC 2005) and external peer review (ASMFC 2006) concluded that total biomass and recruitment for tautog remain at very low levels. The Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Tautog primarily focuses on reducing fishing mortality through interim and final fishing mortality targets. The FMP also outlines a number of research and monitoring needs that are essential to ensuring better management of the tautog stock, including a better understanding of the relationship between stock size and recruitment, more extensive size and age composition data and surveys to determine discard mortality rates. Addenda IV & V to the FMP, approved January 2007, established target and threshold biomass reference points and lowered the fishing mortality rate from 0.30 to 0.20. The provisions from this Addendum went into effect January 1, 2008. <species profile> <stock status> <habitat fact sheet>

Contacts Christopher M. Vonderweidt, FMP Coordinator Management Board Dr. David Pierce Technical Committee Chair, Jason McNamee Advisory Panel		Management Plans & Actions Fishery Management Plan for Tautog (March 1996) Tautog Addendum V (August 2007) Addendum IV (January 2007) Addendum III (February 2002) Addendum II (November 1999) Addendum I (May 1997) * Previous plans and addenda can be found at Fishery Management Reports or by contacting the Commission at (202)289-6400.
Upcoming Meetings		Annual Reports FMP Reviews 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 Stock Assessment Reports Tautog Stock Assessment for Peer Review Report (January 2006) Terms of Reference & Advisory Report to the Tautog Stock Assessment Peer Review (January 2006) Law Enforcement Reports 2007 2006
Pending Actions for Public Input		Meeting & Minutes Summaries
Press Releases ASMFC Withdraws New Jersey Tautog Noncompliance Finding (March 27, 2008) ASMFC Finds New Jersey Out of Compliance with the Tautog FMP (February 7, 2008) ASMFC Tautog Board Approves Addendum V to the FMP: State Reduction Plans Approved (August 15, 2007) ASMFC Tautog Board Initiates Draft Addendum V: Draft Addendum Proposes State Flexibility in Achieving Required Reductions (May 8, 2007) ASMFC Tautog Board Approves Addendum IV: Addendum Establishes Stock Rebuilding Program (January 30, 2007) States Schedule Hearings on Tautog Draft Addendum IV (November 8, 2006) ASMFC Tautog Board Approves Draft Addendum IV for Public Comment: Addendum to Address Stock Rebuilding (October 25, 2006) Tautog Board Initiates Addendum to Rebuild Stock (August 17, 2006) Tautog Stock Assessment Indicates Abundance Remains at Low Levels and Overfishing is Occurring (February 21, 2006)