Saving Seafood

MARYLAND: Maryland ASMFC Delegates Once Again Claim “No Menhaden” — But Baltimore Fish Kills Show Otherwise

September 29, 2025 —  For the second year in a row, Maryland’s top delegates to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) claimed menhaden were absent from Maryland’s upper Chesapeake Bay, blaming Virginia’s commercial fishermen for intercepting the fish. Yet within weeks of their irresponsible statements, tens of thousands of menhaden turned up dead in a series of massive fish kills in Baltimore Harbor, directly contradicting their testimony.

At the August 7, 2025 ASMFC Atlantic Menhaden Management Board meeting, Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Director Lynn Fegley and veteran waterman Russell Dize painted a bleak picture. About menhaden, Fegley told fellow commissioners that “they just are meeting maybe an outsized gauntlet” of concentrated harvest and “are in the Bay … but they were not where we are,” warning of “lower availability” and “intensive effort” that she said was “creating less escapement for these fish to get through to these small-scale gears.” Dize reinforced the point, saying, “There’s a reason why the menhaden aren’t coming in the Bay, and we need to find [it].”

These 2025 comments closely echoed their testimony a year earlier. At the August 2024 ASMFC summer meeting, Dize flatly asserted, “In Maryland, this year we have no menhaden, none… One half a bushel, Maryland has no menhaden,” while Fegley added, “There are no menhaden in Maryland. The artisanal stationary gears that Maryland watermen fish are not capturing bait for our crab fisheries.”

Yet in both years, nature quickly told a different story.

Baltimore Fish Kills Prove Menhaden Are Present
Just weeks after the 2025 meeting, Baltimore experienced three major fish kills, each comprised largely of menhaden. According to the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), about 61,000 fish died on August 22, at least 120,000 on August 28, and another 25,000 on September 24 from Canton to Locust Point (CBS Baltimore). Eyewitness posts on Reddit and YouTube confirm that menhaden were the species involved.

Blue Water Baltimore’s Leanna Frick told WBAL Radio, “One silver lining is that if there aren’t fish in the harbor, you don’t see them in a fish kill … there are a lot of menhaden in the harbor, which are food species for other animals.”

The same pattern emerged after the 2024 ASMFC meeting. In early September 2024, about 24,000 dead menhaden surfaced in Baltimore Harbor; coverage of the fish kill included Chesapeake Bay Magazine, What’s Up? Media, and National Fisherman. This was followed in October 2024 by a Maryland DNR juvenile striped bass survey reporting near-record menhaden abundance, contradicting the commissioners’ “no menhaden” statements.

Blaming Virginia Fishermen While Overlooking Home Waters

Fegley and Dize have repeatedly suggested, absurdly, that Virginia’s menhaden reduction fleet, comprised of just six fishing vessels, is intercepting all the fish before they reach Maryland. But environmental experts point to Maryland’s own water-quality failures as a more direct culprit. The EPA has found zero progress on stormwater runoff, according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Gussie Maguire, who warned that “pollution from stormwater has outpaced any management improvements due to increased development pressure and more intense rainfall from climate change” (What’s Up? Media).

National Fisherman likewise reported Maguire’s statement that “Maryland’s failure to adequately conduct stormwater management means pollution continues to degrade the waterway,” compounding problems for wildlife and fisheries (SeafoodSource / National Fisherman).

Bottom line: For two consecutive years, Maryland’s own ecological events and scientific surveys have contradicted their ASMFC delegates’ dishonest narrative that menhaden are absent. While Maryland delegates blame Virginia fishermen, the state’s unaddressed water-quality crisis continues to have negative effects on the menhaden in their waters, which the fish kills and surveys demonstrate are present in force.

About the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition
The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition (MFC) is a collective of menhaden fishermen, related businesses, and supporting industries. Comprised of businesses along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition conducts media and public outreach on behalf of the menhaden industry to ensure that members of the public, media, and government are informed of important issues, events, and facts about the fishery.

LOUISIANA: Menhaden Industry Steps Up for Local Communities in Wake of Hurricanes

September 22, 2025 — With the 20th anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita upon us, Louisianians are thinking back to that devastation and remembering all those who helped us get through those difficult times. When hurricanes batter the Gulf Coast, the menhaden industry—often seen only for its fishing fleet and processing plants—has taken on a different role: a committed neighbor ready to step up in times of crisis.

In September 2021, after Hurricane Ida tore through southeastern Louisiana, Omega Protein quickly mobilized relief for hard-hit Terrebonne Parish. The company delivered 550 gallons of gasoline, 3 pallets of water (252 cases), and a pallet of hand sanitizer from its plant in Abbeville to St. Joseph Church in Chauvin. Through social media, the company directed its followers to local charities to help get the community back on its feet. Company employees also partnered with relief organization Bayou Boys Community Helpers to distribute over 1,000 meals to residents who had been impacted by the hurricane in neighboring Lafourche Parish.

A year earlier, when Hurricane Laura devastated Cameron Parish with 150-mph winds, the destruction was staggering. In the days immediately after the storm, Omega Protein stepped in, despite having closed its Cameron facility in 2013.

Read the full article at NOLA.COM

VIRGINIA: Ocean Harvesters welcome new menhaden seiner

September 18, 2025 — Omega Shipyard Inc. of Moss Point, Miss., recently delivered a new, state-of-the-art menhaden seiner, F/V Tangier Sound, to Ocean Harvesters in Reedville, Va.

The 165’x40’x12’ steel hull vessel will be fished in Chesapeake Bay and in the Mid-Atlantic region. The vessel’s hull was originally used as an offshore oil supply vessel (OSV) and was about to be scrapped when it was purchased by Ocean Harvesters for $250,000. Omega Shipyard Inc. has done a $9 million conversion on the vessel.

Ocean Harvesters CEO Monty Diehl said OSV hulls make good menhaden steamer platforms. For many decades the industry used scrapped steel hull World War II freighter vessels for “fish steamer” conversions. The use of the term goes back to the days when large purse seine fishing boats were powered by steam engines.

Even though steam engines have long ago been replaced with diesel engines, the 150-foot plus diesel powered vessels on Chesapeake Bay are today still referred to as fish steamers. Before steam engines, sail powered schooners, bugeyes and pungies were used in the bay’s menhaden purse seine fishery that goes back to the late 1860s.

Omega Shipyard Inc.’s previous OSV hull conversions that have come to the Chesapeake have all been powered by rebuilt and reused Caterpillar or Detroit Diesel engines pulled out of old fishing boats. Tangier Sound has two new Cummins KTA38 model, 12 cylinder, 38-liter diesel engines, rated at 1350 h.p. that will push the vessel 13 knots, burning 55 gals. of fuel an hour.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Scientists baffled by disturbing behavior shift in tuna — here’s what you need to know

August 21, 2025 — A researcher at the University of Maine’s Pelagic Fisheries Lab conducted a study about Atlantic bluefin tuna and observed surprising changes in the fish’s diet.

This prized species of fish is shifting away from eating herring and now consuming menhaden as its primary prey.

What’s happening?

As the university shared on Phys.org, researcher Sammi Nadeau published the study in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series.

Atlantic herring in the Gulf of Maine have been dramatically declining in population. Without ample herring to eat, Atlantic bluefin tuna began eating another fatty pelagic fish, menhaden.

Menhaden is not only a primary food source now for Atlantic bluefin tuna but also an essential ingredient in commercial fish oils. Understanding how vital menhaden have become commercially and in the natural food chain, scientists are recommending fishing limits to reduce the burden on menhaden populations.

Read the full article at The Cool Down

Menhaden not key forage for other Gulf species, study says

August 19, 2025 — A study by Mississippi-based researchers found that menhaden are not a primary food source for Gulf of Mexico predator species like red drum, summer flounder, and spotted sea trout.

“The study provides a comprehensive understanding of the Gulf food web and charts the trophic interactions that structure it,” according to a summary from the University of Southern Mississippi. “The findings have fishery management implications for several of the species evaluated in the study. Most notably, Gulf menhaden was not found to be a primary food source for any of the predator species studied.”

The question of menhaden’s role in the Gulf ecosystem is a perennial, hot-button issue in fisheries management. The impact of the region’s commercial menhaden fleet is routinely challenged by recreational and other user groups.

The project, funded by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS) combined the latest in stable isotope analysis “and an extensive meta-analysis of hundreds of published stomach content studies dating back to the 1950s” from Gulf fisheries research.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ONE ANGLER’S VOYAGE: THERE ARE NO “MOST IMPORTANT” FISH IN THE SEA

August 4, 2025 — Seventeen years ago, author H. Bruce Franklin published a book.  It was titled The Most Important Fish in the Sea:  Menhaden and America, and it caught the public’s attention.  A blurb advertising the book declares, in part, that

“…Today, one company—Omega Protein—has a monopoly on the menhaden ‘reduction industry.’  Every year, it sweeps billions of fish from the sea, grinds them up, and turns them into animal feed, fertilizer, and oil used in everything from linoleum to health food supplements.

“The massive harvest wouldn’t be such a problem if menhaden were only good for making lipstick and soap.  But they are crucial to the diet of bigger fish and they filter the waters of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, playing an essential dual role in marine ecology perhaps unmatched anywhere on the planet.  As their numbers have plummeted, fish and birds dependent on them have been decimated, toxic algae have begun to choke our bays and seas.  In Franklin’s vibrant prose, the decline of a once ubiquitous fish becomes an adventure story, an exploration of the U.S. political economy, a groundbreaking history of America’s emerging ecological consciousness, and an inspiring vision of a growing alliance between environmentalists and recreational anglers.”

The book was very well written.  A lot of people read it, and a lot of people believed everything that Franklin wrote, even though he had no scientific background at all.  His academic degree was in English, which he first taught as an assistant professor, later associate professor, at Stanford University.  He was also something of a radical, who helped to set up a European network of deserters from the U.S. military during the Viet Nam war, founded a group that later became the Revolutionary Communist Party, and was ultimately fired from Stamford after inciting students to shut down the school’s computer facility and encouraging them to “resist police efforts.”

Both his lack of scientific training and his radical background arguably colored his book which, in my view, contained a few factual errors and definitely had anti-corporate undertones.  But those flaws seem to have only made some of his readers more fervent, and helped to create what I might deem “The Cult of the Menhaden,” a group of people who truly believe that menhaden really are “the most important fish in the sea,” and who are inclined to blame any decline in fish, bird, or marine mammal populations on a menhaden shortage, and then blame such alleged shortage in the menhaden reduction fishery, even though the last stock assessment, released three years ago, found that the Atlantic menhaden population is above the target reference point, and an October 2024 assessment revealed that the Gulf menhaden stock was also doing well.

Read the full article by Charles Witek

ASMFC 2025 Summer Meeting Final Supplemental Materials Now Available

August 1, 2025 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Final supplemental materials for the Commission’s 2025 Summer Meeting are now available at https://asmfc.org/events/2025-summer-meeting/ for the following Boards. Links can be found under Supplemental 2 (following the respective Board’s agenda).

 
American Lobster Management Board – Public Comment   
 
Atlantic Menhaden Management Board – Public Comment
 
Webinar Information
Meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning Tuesday, August 5 at 10 AM and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 11:45 AM on Thursday, August 7). To register for the webinar, please go to: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8127397986650630485 (Webinar ID: 230-697-115). If you are joining the webinar but will not be using VoIP, you may also call in at +1 (914) 614-3221, access code 949-913-944. A PIN will be provided to you after joining the webinar. For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in to the audio portion only, press the # key when asked for a PIN.
 
Each day, the webinar will begin 15 minutes prior to the start of the first meeting so that people can troubleshoot any connectivity or audio issues they may encounter.  If you are having issues with the webinar (connecting to or audio related issues), please contact Chris Jacobs at 703.842.0790.
 
Meeting Process
Board chairs will ask both in-person and virtual board members if they wish to speak. In-person members can simply raise their hands at the meeting without logging on to the webinar, while virtual members will raise their hands on the webinar. The chair will work with staff to compile the list of speakers, balancing the flow of questions/comments between in-person and virtual attendees. The same process will be used for public comment. Depending upon the number of commenters, the board chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.
 
We look forward to seeing you at the Summer Meeting.

Omega Protein and Ocean Harvesters Urge Science-Based Review Before Imposing New Menhaden Restrictions

July 29, 2025 — The following was released by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition:

In a letter submitted to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), Peter Himchak, Senior Scientific Advisor to Omega Protein, warned that “there has been an inordinate amount of focus on menhaden generally, and the reduction fishery in particular” in discussions about recent osprey declines in the Chesapeake Bay.

Omega Protein, which processes menhaden into fishmeal, fish oil, and related nutritional products, is supplied by Ocean Harvesters under a long-term harvesting agreement. Himchak submitted the letter on behalf of the company ahead of the ASMFC’s Summer Meeting.

Himchak, who served for 39 years as a fisheries biologist with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife and as a long-time advisor to both the ASMFC and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, sat on the ASMFC’s Atlantic Menhaden Technical Committee and Stock Assessment Sub-Committee from 1988 until 2006.

In the letter, Himchak criticized the ASMFC’s Work Group on Precautionary Management in Chesapeake Bay for proposing “draconian management recommendations ‘without determining if there is or is not an adequate supply of menhaden to support predatory demand in the Bay.’” He warned that moving forward with such actions without first determining whether there are, in fact, fewer menhaden in the Bay or whether the fishery has any impact on osprey “risks gravely impacting a more than 150-year-old industry and hundreds of jobs while doing nothing to improve the osprey situation.”

Himchak wrote that the ASMFC’s Technical Committee (TC) already has a significant workload in advance of the Commission’s Annual Meeting, but raised four areas of scientific inquiry the TC could investigate that would provide the Board with more complete information. 1) He asked whether “the phenomenon of reduced osprey production [is] confined to the times and areas in which the menhaden reduction fishery operates,” referencing USGS data showing declines in osprey abundance in coastal areas of multiple states—not just the Chesapeake—and increases in interior regions. He also noted that the fishery does not begin fishing until May or later—after migrant ospreys arrive in the region from late February to early March and begin building nests from mid-March to mid-April—raising questions about how the fishery could influence osprey’s months-earlier decisions about where to nest.

2) He wrote that there have been sizable increases in populations of multiple menhaden-dependent predators since at least the turn of the century, and that a stomach contents analysis of striped bass, which are only somewhat dependent on menhaden, indicated they “are not starving and would be considered healthy.” Therefore, he asked, “is it more likely that ospreys are being outcompeted or that the reduction fishery uniquely impacts osprey?”

3) Regarding eagle-osprey interactions, he noted a recent Maryland DNR release announcing “large increases in the state’s bald eagle population.” He referenced myriad studies finding that bald eagles are “kleptoparasitic”—a term used to describe their well-documented habit of attacking hunting osprey to steal their food or prey on adults, young, and eggs. Citing a study from Voyageurs National Park, he wrote that “increased numbers of eagles were associated with a reduction in the numbers of osprey nests, their nesting success and heronry size,” and asked whether “issues of competition and depredation [can] be ruled out as a cause of osprey’s lack of breeding success.” He further pointed to “significant scientific and anecdotal evidence of the dominant and adverse impacts eagles have on osprey.”

That concern was echoed in a newly released Saving Seafood special report titled “Bald Eagle Recovery in Chesapeake Bay Raises Red Flags for Osprey.” The report compiled over three decades of peer-reviewed research, field observations, and published accounts documenting instances in which eagles had a negative impact on osprey populations. In one study, researchers found “eagle abundance was negatively associated with nest reuse (i.e., persistence) and success of ospreys.” Significantly, the researchers found “little evidence of bottom-up limitations,” such as poor weather or declining fish stocks, and emphasized the role of eagle aggression, including harassment and food theft. While this body of research does not prove the resurgence of bald eagles in the Chesapeake to be the cause of osprey reproduction issues, it does indicate it is a possibility deserving of further investigation.

The full report is available at: https://www.savingseafood.org/science/bald-eagle-recovery-in-chesapeake-bay-raises-red-flags-for-osprey

4) Himchak also asked the Technical Committee to consider whether osprey foraging success is being affected by climate-driven environmental changes, including storm frequency, shoreline hardening, warming waters, or hypoxia. Citing a 2024 study by Bryan Watts, he noted that “deliveries of all forage species to osprey nests declined steadily from 1974 to 2021,” and asked whether “ospreys’ apparent lack of foraging success is tied to changes in local conditions that are impacting either local abundance of forage or osprey’s hunting success.”

He concluded the letter by writing, “The commission must be guided by science. Precipitous actions, taken in the name of precaution, are not always harmless. Neither Ocean Harvesters nor Omega Protein can survive without the current low level of access to the menhaden resource in the Bay. There simply are not enough ‘fishable days’ – that is, days where the weather and sea conditions allow vessels to operate – in a year to safely conduct a profitable fishery solely in the ocean. The menhaden fishery is managed in the most conservative manner in its 150 year or so history, and the reduction fishery is operating at its lowest sustained levels – in the Bay and overall – for as long as we have reliable records (i.e., since the 1950s). Precaution is already the policy. Before taking actions that could cause irreversible economic harm to this historic fishery, the Board should ensure that all reasonable avenues of inquiry into the issues facing osprey are explored.”

About the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition
The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition (MFC) is a collective of menhaden fishermen, related businesses, and supporting industries. Comprised of businesses along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition conducts media and public outreach on behalf of the menhaden industry to ensure that members of the public, media, and government are informed of important issues, events, and facts about the fishery.

Column: Distortions unfairly malign Virginia menhaden fishery

July 21, 2025 — Steve Atkinson’s July 13 guest column (“Halt menhaden harvest until studies determine its effects”) is riddled with distortions about the menhaden fishery. While it claims to advocate for a “precautionary” approach, it would harm Virginia workers and undermine marine science, all to elevate recreational priorities over commercial fishermen’s livelihoods.

Atkinson demands that menhaden fishing be halted “until it can prove” it causes no harm. This is a classic “our fishing is more important than your fishing” argument. Recreational striped bass fishing has been linked to overfishing and high mortality, particularly from catch-and-release practices. Would sport fishermen agree to halt striper fishing until it’s proven not to contribute to the stock’s overfished condition? They haven’t thus far.

We don’t seek to end recreational fishing, because we recognize its economic and social value. It would be arrogant to suggest that because the bay is our workplace — and merely the playground of recreational fishermen — that our fishing is more important. We do not argue that waters exist only for us. We believe the bay and ocean should be equitably shared.

Read the full article at The Virginian Pilot

How a Small Gulf Fish is Transforming Pet Health

June 9, 2025 — From grain-free kibble to gourmet treats, the pet food aisle has transformed dramatically in the past decade. Pet owners are reading labels more closely than ever, seeking natural, nutritious ingredients that support their pets’ long-term health. Surprisingly, one of the most valuable ingredients behind many top-tier pet foods doesn’t come from a lab or a farm. It comes from the Gulf.

Meet Gulf menhaden, a small, oily fish caught off Louisiana’s coast. Processed into nutrient-rich oil and high-protein fishmeal, menhaden is a foundational ingredient in premium pet foods across the U.S. and beyond. While not a household name, the benefits it brings to millions of dogs and cats are profound—and growing.

Menhaden’s Nutritional Superpowers

Menhaden is prized for its natural abundance of omega-3 fatty acids, particularly DHA and EPA. These long-chain omega-3s are essential for joint health, immune function, and brain development in pets. Because pets can’t produce these nutrients on their own, their diets must supply them—making menhaden oil a critical source.

The benefits are wide-ranging. Omega-3s support shiny coats, healthy skin, cardiovascular health, and reduced inflammation. They are especially beneficial for aging pets and developing puppies and kittens. In fact, pet food manufacturers increasingly prioritize ingredients that promote specific health outcomes, making menhaden fishmeal and oil a go-to for functional formulas.

Read the full article at NOLA.com