Intrafish, Jeanine Stewart — October 19, 2012 — 167,000 metric tons menhaden business is at stake in this year's quota amendment proposal.
Omega Protein’s east coast operations could shut down if the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) decides to adopt the 50 percent drop in quota now on the table.
The commission is considering a draft version of Amendment 2, which proposes placing varying degrees of limits on the fishery, ranging from zero change to 50 percent. The public has until Nov.16 to give input, as Omega’s fate hangs in the balance.
“It is really an opportunity for them to act very conservatively in terms of fisheries management,” Ben Landry, director of public affairs for Omega Protein, the United States’ largest producer of fishmeal and fish oil, told IntraFish.
The outcome is very much unknown, but in a worst case scenario, “ASMFC could choose to impose harvest limits that are so strict we would have to close our facility,” Landry said. Omega Protein employs 300 people and has a $90 million economic impact on the surrounding area through its menhaden fishery operations in Virginia. From that location, it sources fish from the waters up and down the east coast, harvesting 167,000 metric tons a year, which is 30 percent of its total menhaden catch. It also fishes in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Amendment 2 draft proposal do not stop at the overall quota reduction. Perhaps even more worrying for Omega is the possibility that its share of the overall quota could be cut as well.
According to the ASMFC, the fishery currently has just 8 percent of the maximum spawning potential and is being overfished. But the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides two conflicting statements on the issue – it says that while some overfishing is occurring, the species is not being overfished based on the current reference point to evaluate stock condition.
Landry concedes some reduction may be necessary but said it would not be reasonable to go much beyond 10 percent.
Menhaden is the only forage species in the Chesapeake Bay that is also a major commercial fishery—the species is the largest fishery, by volume, in the Chesapeake Bay. More pounds of menhaden are landed each year than of any other fish in the United States, other than pollock.
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