July 31, 2014 — Experts still aren't sure what killed thousands of dead menhaden that local fishermen reported floating in a long line near the northern stretch of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel over the weekend.
And they say they might never know.
The state Department of Environmental Quality said Thursday that water samples turned up nothing irregular, nor were there signs of a fish disease. Meanwhile, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission said no commercial fishing operation reported a net spill.
Beyond that, there's not much either agency can do.
Such fish spills aren't illegal in Virginia, experts say, and reporting them isn't mandatory. In any event, neither agency has the authority to investigate potential negligence by commercial fishing operations that leads to a menhaden spill.
While the VMRC has management authority over every other fishery in Virginia, the lucrative menhaden fishery is the only one over which the General Assembly retains control.
And while a recreational angler can be penalized by VMRC's Marine Police for catching an undersized rockfish, there is no law against a commercial boat dumping dead menhaden by the thousands.
"We're not sure why the fish died or actually where it originated," said Roger Everton, water monitoring manager in DEQ's Virginia Beach office. Once the DEQ tested the water Tuesday for oxygen levels, pH and water quality and determined it wasn't pollution related, he said, the investigation concluded.
And VMRC spokeswoman Laurie Naismith said the agency's sole authority over menhaden is to police the catch quota. As far as spills, it relies on commercial boats to report them.
Read the full story at the Newport News Daily Press