July 1, 2025 — The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition has responded to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s claims of industrial menhaden fishing contributing to a “total population collapse” of osprey on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
This comes after a May survey by the College of William and Mary’s Center for Conservation Biology reported a 90% nesting osprey population decline in recent decades.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) cites prey scarcity as the main factor, pointing the finger at Omega Protein’s annual 100 million pound-plus menhaden harvests.
Omega Protein denies claims it impacted osprey populations, saying it has cooperated with menhaden stock assessments and monitoring for decades.