This rule implements Amendment 8 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. This amendment specifies a long-term acceptable biological catch control rule for herring and addresses localized depletion and user group conflict. It also establishes an acceptable biological catch control rule that accounts for herring's role in the ecosystem and prohibits midwater trawling in inshore federal waters from the U.S./Canada border to the Rhode Island/Connecticut border. Amendment 8 supports sustainable management of the herring resource and seeks to ensure that herring is available to minimize possible detrimental biological impacts on predators of herring and associated socioeconomic impacts on other user groups.