October 30, 2019 — Set along the northern-most section of Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay is a town called Reedville, a fishing community established in the 1870’s. Though quaint and scenic, the heart pumping life into Reedville is a fish processing plant owned by Omega Protein.
Omega Protein harvests and processes a small, oily fish called menhaden for various commercial uses that include fish oil and fish meal, which is used as food ingredients and animal feed. It’s a good business for Reedville’s economy, but there are others who say this business is bad for the bay.
One of those people is Allen Girard of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, a watchdog group that fights for the health and restoration of the bay.
“Menhaden are an incredible species,” says Girard. “A link in the food chain to the whole food web to the Chesapeake Bay.”
A close eye is kept on that link by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries.
“The menhaden issue is a very complex issue the commission is currently facing,” says Toni Kerns, ASMFC’s director of Interstate Fisheries Management Program and Policy Development.
The ASMFC is a group that, under federal law, manages and oversees coastal fisheries including the menhaden species. Essentially, the ASMFC has regulatory authority.