Saving Seafood

Daniel McKiernan Elected ASMFC Chair

Dewey Beach, DE – Today, member states of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) thanked Joseph Cimino of New Jersey for a successful two-year term as Chair and elected Daniel McKiernan of Massachusetts to succeed him.
 
“I’m honored to be chosen by my fellow Commissioners to lead our efforts for the next two years. One of my priorities will be to work with my colleagues in the states and federal agencies to seek resources to fund fundamental fisheries data collection and science activities to support our management programs. Other key topics over the next two years will be our ability to adapt to changes in species distribution and availability and how best to respond to the recalibration of recreational fishing effort and harvest data from the Marine Recreational Information Program Fishing Effort Survey,” said Mr. McKiernan.
 
Mr. McKiernan continued, “I want to thank outgoing Chair, Joe Cimino for his leadership in tackling some challenging management issues for species such as American lobster, American eel, Atlantic striped bass, Atlantic menhaden, horseshoe crab, and red drum. He helped support the advancement of fisheries science through the completion of an impressive number of benchmark stock assessments and assessment updates for river herring, red drum, American lobster, horseshoe crab, tautog, Atlantic sturgeon, and Atlantic menhaden (single species assessment update and ecological reference points benchmark assessment). Further, under his leadership, the Commission also strengthened stakeholder engagement in horseshoe crab management by bringing together diverse stakeholders for a Delaware Bay management objectives workshop to provide recommendations for possible revisions to the management process, and by increasing nontraditional stakeholder representation on the Horseshoe Crab Advisory Panel to more equitably balance user group perspectives. Lastly, Mr. Cimino initiated the process to consider possible changes to voting practices and declared interests on species management boards.”
 
Additionally, advances in habitat conservation were made by the Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership (ACFHP) through its funding of five on-the-ground projects, which will open over seven river miles and restore over 110 acres of habitat. These include dam removal projects in New Jersey and Massachusetts, as well as saltmarsh and oyster restoration projects in Maryland and Florida. ACFHP will also be hosting a Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Workshop in 2026 focused on developing a Seed Transfer Best Management Practices Guidance Document.
 
From a data collection and management perspective, the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program (ACCSP) also made progress under Mr. Cimino’s leadership. ACCSP supported 20 partner agency data collection projects and expanded the scope and security of the ACCSP Data Warehouse. ACCSP held a data accountability workshop and extended data validation tools within electronic reporting systems; extended implementation of harvester One Stop Reporting; and made progress on a methodology to more fully use for-hire logbooks in Marine Recreational Information Program’s catch statistics.
 
Mr. McKiernan has directed the Massachusetts Division of Division of Marine Fisheries (MA DMF) since late 2019, where he develops agency policies, represents the Commonwealth in interstate and federal fishery management forums and administers nearly all aspects of the DMF’s in-state management and regulations for fisheries management. He began his professional career as a field biologist for DMF in 1985 and worked closely with the lobster fishery as a sea sampler and an assistant marine biologist. He brought his field experience to DMF’s headquarters and has worked on fisheries management and policy for almost four decades. He has worked diligently to achieve co-existence between endangered right whales and the maritime and fishing industries in Massachusetts.  In 2023, Massachusetts was recognized with the NOAA Fisheries “Partner in the Spotlight” award for exceptional efforts to the conservation and recovery of Northern Right Whales.
 
Mr. McKiernan is practiced in the arenas of federal and interstate fisheries management. As a long-standing representative to the Commission, he has chaired numerous species management boards and was recognized for his management efforts with the Commission’s Award of Excellence in 2018. He is a strong promoter of conservation and accountable fisheries management for commercial fisheries, recreational fisheries, and the seafood industry at large. Mr. McKiernan is a graduate of UMASS-Dartmouth and earned an MS in Fisheries Biology from Auburn University. He received the Massachusetts Pride in Performance Award, as well as the Massachusetts Lobsterman’s Association “Ralph W. Maling” Award of Excellence for dedicated service on behalf of the Commonwealth’s lobster industry.
 
The Commission also elected Doug Haymans, Director of the Georgia Coastal Resources Division, as its new Vice-Chair.

Florida’s Oldest Seafood Trade Group Joins Menhaden Debate, Defending Science-Based Management

October 27, 2025 — The following was released by the Southeastern Fisheries Association:

The Southeastern Fisheries Association (SFA) — established in 1952 and describing itself as Florida’s oldest seafood industry association with members ranging from fishermen and boat owners to processors, markets, bait providers, restaurants, transportation companies, for-hire charter operators, and consumers from North Carolina through Texas — has urged the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Menhaden Management Board to reject drastic new quota reductions and keep management rooted in the fishery’s risk framework and established reference points.

In a formal letter to the Commission, SFA pointed to the most recent ecological reference point (ERP) assessment, which, the group wrote, “again found that the stock is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring,” adding that “management has consistently been more conservative than single-species reference points would have historically prescribed.”

The association said those findings demonstrate that current controls are already protecting the resource.  “The probability of exceeding the ERP F THRESHOLD under current management is low,” the letter states.  Because of that low risk, SFA argued against the sweeping 55-percent harvest cuts being discussed by some commissioners and outside advocates.

Instead, SFA proposed a narrowly precautionary adjustment to the coast-wide total allowable catch (TAC).  “The coastwide TAC should not be reduced by more than a precautionary 10 percent (i.e., no lower than 210,195 metric tons). This would ensure no chance of overfishing in 2026 and only about a 1 percent probability if maintained through 2027–2028.”  The association emphasized that anything more severe would be inconsistent with the science and the Commission’s own risk analysis.

The letter also reminded commissioners of the guiding fairness standard contained in the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Interstate Fisheries Management Program Charter: “Management measures shall be designed to achieve equivalent management results throughout the range of a stock.”  SFA cautioned against using allocation changes to offset or disguise politically motivated quota reductions, arguing that management should remain consistent across jurisdictions.

On Chesapeake Bay issues, SFA advised the Board to hold off on any new restrictions until the recently funded Bay-specific research is complete. “The Board should await this new and relevant science before taking further action.” the association wrote, referring to the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS) study now underway to design a scientifically defensible Bay harvest cap.

SFA concluded that the Commission’s present management already provides a strong, precautionary framework.  By the association’s own assessment, “The probability of exceeding the ERP F THRESHOLD under current management is low,” and therefore, it said, “The coastwide TAC should not be reduced by more than a precautionary 10 percent.”  The group urged commissioners to let those numbers — not politics — guide their decision.

Read the full letter here

Statement of the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition on the Upcoming Atlantic Menhaden Management Board Meeting

October 27, 2025 — The following was released by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition:

Tomorrow, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Menhaden Board is slated to take up several issues which have the potential to gravely impact this historic fishery.  First, it will consider the results of the menhaden and ecological reference points (“ERP”) stock assessment. Despite a lower estimate of menhaden fecundity, the stock status remains not overfished and overfishing is not occurring. The assessment team attributed this to the fact that menhaden “management has consistently been more conservative than single-species reference points would have historically prescribed.”

The second and most immediately consequential decision facing the Board is setting the total allowable catch (TAC) of menhaden for 2026 through 2028. Some are calling for up to 55% cuts to the current TAC, which would devastate not only the 150-year-old reduction fishery, but small-scale bait fishermen all along the Atlantic coast and the lobstermen and crabbers that depend on them. This is wholly unjustified. As the scientists who prepared the ERP assessment noted, even if the current TAC were to be maintained, “the probability of exceeding the ERP FTHRESHOLD [that is, overfishing to the detriment of menhaden predators] is low.” They also affirmed that the fishery has little impact on predators like striped bass because, for one, they mostly rely on younger fish that are not targeted by the fishery and, two, because the “main driver for Atlantic menhaden availability to predators is recruitment success,” which is mostly determined by environmental factors.

That said, the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition supports a precautionary reduction of no more than 15% to the current TAC (or 198,518 metric tons). This level would ensure that there is no chance of overfishing over the next three years and provides fisheries managers confidence that the stock will remain healthy. This is a responsible TAC that promotes conservation and protects families that rely on the fishery.

The third agenda item of concern is the potential for initiating an action to consider reallocation of the TAC among the states. The Coalition does not oppose a review of current allocations. However, any attempt to mitigate the impact of drastic quota cuts by forcing only one or two states to shoulder the burden of conservation is inconsistent with the ISFMP Charter, which requires that “management measures shall be designed to achieve equivalent management results throughout the range of a stock.” As the initial and subsequent allocation systems did, any reallocation should consider current use of and dependence on menhaden. If reductions in the TAC are enacted, the Board should reevaluate the allocation of TAC to states with no fishery.

Finally, the Menhaden Board will address Maryland’s proposal to put new, unjustifiable limits on the precautionary Chesapeake Bay menhaden reduction fishery cap. There is simply no scientific justification for any such new measures. The Science Center for Marine Fisheries, administered by the National Science Foundation and supported by the fishing industry, is undertaking new research, led by the most respected scientists in the field, to investigate issues related to management in the Chesapeake Bay. The Board should await this new and relevant science before taking further action.

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.

Menhaden Misinformation: Four Organizations Push Drastic Cuts that Contradict the Assessment Record and Ecosystem-Based Management

October 27, 2025 — The following was released by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition:

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), American Sportfishing Association (ASA), Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP), and the American Saltwater Guides Association (ASGA) are circulating claims about Atlantic menhaden that don’t match the assessment record or how this fishery is managed.

Managers already have an ecosystem framework in place that ties menhaden harvest to predator needs. The 2025 single-species and Ecological Reference Points (ERP) assessment components (adopted and implemented by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC)) underwent external peer review; under Total Allowable Catch (TAC) levels set since 2021, the stock is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring in an ecosystem context. Risk management is keyed to avoiding the ERP fishing mortality threshold, and not arbitrary percentage cuts.

Claims being circulated, and the record

1) “Striped bass anglers are making big sacrifices that will be wasted unless menhaden quotas are cut by ~50%.”

The record:

  • Rebuilding success depends on keeping striped bass fishing mortality (F) low and hoping for improved recruitment; the few recent strong year classes (e.g., 2015, 2018) were heavily impacted by fishing mortality, and Chesapeake Bay recruitment has been below average for years, issues not caused by a menhaden-forage deficit. The next striped bass amendment must hold F low enough to protect weaker cohorts.
  • Assessment-team reinforcement: the Assessment report indicated that “minor changes in Atlantic menhaden harvest rates are not expected to have major negative effects on most predators”; rather only increasing effort to the “overfishing” level (FTHRESHOLD) “would cause declines in biomass for more sensitive predator species, particularly striped bass.”  “As a result, … the probability of exceeding the ERP FTHRESHOLD under the current TAC is low.”
  • Proposals for cuts up to 55% are not indicated by the risk framework and would devastate the 150-year-old reduction fishery, small-scale bait fishermen along the coast, and the lobstermen and crabbers who depend on them without helping striped bass fishermen.

2) “Striped bass are starving due to a lack of menhaden; severe menhaden cuts are needed to rebuild striped bass.”

The record:

  • Striped bass rebuilding is driven by reducing striped bass mortality within the 10-year plan to 2029; board discussions since 2019 have focused on striped bass controls, not a forage shortage from the menhaden fishery.
  • Chesapeake Bay workgroup monitoring from Virginia and Maryland reported healthy striped bass body condition; the fish are not underfed.
  • Menhaden removals overlap little with what predators eat most: predators primarily consume age-0/1 menhaden, while the reduction fishery targets age-2+ fish.
  • Assessment team reinforcement: the fishery has limited impact on predators like striped bass because they largely rely on younger fish not targeted by the fishery, and recruitment (environment) is the main driver of young menhaden’s availability to predators.

3) “Severe coastwide cuts are necessary to hit a probability of not exceeding the ERP mortality (F) target.”

The record:

  • National Standard 1 (NS1) of the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) and peer-reviewed advice focus on preventing overfishing; the operative risk line in the ERP control rule is the F threshold, not the policy F target. Managers should select TACs that avoid any chance of exceeding the threshold.
  • Assessment team reinforcement: even maintaining the current TAC carries a low probability of exceeding the ERP F threshold; if managers seek extra assurance, a precautionary reduction of no more than 10% (to ~210,195 mt) produces no chance of overfishing in 2026 and only ~1% if held through 2027–2028.
  • ERP-based management already protects predators by capping risk at the ERP F threshold; under this system, menhaden are not overfished, and overfishing is not occurring in an ecosystem context.
  • Adjusting TAC: a ≤10% precautionary reduction (~210,195 mt) provides no chance of overfishing in 2026 and about 1% if held through 2027–2028. Larger cuts are not indicated by the risk framework.

4) “Past TACs were far too high because menhaden abundance was overestimated.”

The record:

  • ERP-era TACs were set conservatively to avoid exceeding ecosystem risk thresholds; under ERP management since 2021, menhaden remain not overfished and overfishing not occurring in an ecosystem context.
  • The 2025 assessment’s natural mortality (M) re-estimation was empirically derived from the Ahrenholtz tag-recapture database and independently reviewed; the single-species and ERP models were externally peer-reviewed (including through NOAA Fisheries’ Center for Independent Experts) and should be treated as authoritative.
  • Assessment team reinforcement: despite a rigorous reevaluation that reduced fecundity estimates, stock status remains “not overfished” and “overfishing is not occurring,” attributed to “management [that] has consistently been more conservative than single-species reference points would have historically prescribed and [which] has continued with a conservative approach even under the 2020 ERPs [i.e., the current TACs].”

5) “Earlier assessments misestimated abundance by ~37%; ‘errors’ require a 55% TAC reduction.”

The record:

  • The “37%” talking point is misstated and does not justify fixed percentage cuts. The current natural mortality (M) (~0.932) is higher than historic values sometimes cited and was endorsed by the Center for Independent Experts after intensive scrutiny of the tag-recapture database. There is no basis to convert M updates into a mandated 55% reduction under ERPs.
  • Assessment team reinforcement: recruitment (environment) is the main driver of menhaden availability to predators; managing to the ERP fishing mortality threshold, not reverse-engineering large headline cuts, aligns with the science.

6) “Because the coastwide assessment ignores Bay impacts, new Chesapeake Bay-specific limits are needed now.”

The record:

  • There is no scientific justification for new Bay-specific limits beyond ERPs at this time; research from the Science Center for Marine Fisheries now underway will inform any Bay-focused questions, and managers should await the new science before acting.

Bottom line

  • ERP-based management already protects predators by capping risk at the ERP fishing mortality threshold; under this system, menhaden are not overfished, and overfishing is not occurring in an ecosystem context.
  • Rebuilding striped bass depends on reducing striped bass fishing mortality; broad menhaden cuts are not a substitute and are not indicated by the ERP risk framework.

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.

ASMFC 83rd Annual Meeting Final Supplemental Materials Now Available

October 24, 2025 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Final supplemental materials for the Commission’s 83RD Annual Meeting are now available at for the following Boards. Links can be found under Supplemental 2 (following the respective Board’s agenda).

Atlantic Menhaden Management Board – Public Comment

 ISFMP Policy Board – Revised Draft Agenda and Meeting Overview

 Please note that there will not be a Marine Recreational Information Program Presentation on Thursday, so the ISFMP Policy Board will now start at 10:15 a.m. on October 30.

 Webinar Information

The Law Enforcement Committee, Habitat Committee and Atlantic Coast Fish Habitat Partnership Steering Committee have unique webinar links that are available as part of the individual committee materials.

Meeting proceedings for all other boards/committees will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning Monday, October 27 at 9 AM and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 1:30 PM on Thursday, October 30). To register for the webinar, please go to:https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5300899939524393048 (Webinar ID: 817-087-699)

If you are joining the webinar but will not be using voice over internet protocol (VoIP), you may also call in at +1.562.247.8422, access code 307-011-519. 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 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.

 Public Comment Guidelines

To provide a fair opportunity for public input, the ISFMP Policy Board has approved the following guidelines for use at management board meetings:

For issues that are not on the agenda, management boards will continue to provide opportunities to the public to bring matters of concern to the board’s attention at the start of each board meeting. Board chairs will ask members of the public to raise their hands to let the chair know they would like to speak. 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.

For topics that are on the agenda, but have not gone out for public comment, board chairs will provide limited opportunity for comment, taking into account the time allotted on the agenda for the topic. Chairs will have flexibility in deciding how to allocate comment opportunities; this could include hearing one comment in favor and one in opposition until the chair is satisfied further comments will not provide additional insight to the board.

For agenda action items that have already gone out for public comment, it is the Policy Board’s intent to end the occasional practice of allowing extensive and lengthy public comments. Currently, board chairs have the discretion to decide what public comment to allow in these circumstances.

In addition, the following timeline has been established for the submission of written comments for issues for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period (i.e., in response to proposed management action).

  1. Comments received three weeks prior to the start of a meeting week (October 6) will be included in the briefing materials.
  2. Comments received by 5 PM on Tuesday, October 21 will be included in supplemental materials.
  3. Comments received by 10 AM on Friday, October 24 will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/Board members prior to the meeting.

The submitted comments must clearly indicate the commenter’s expectation from the ASMFC staff regarding distribution.  As with other public comment, it will be accepted via mail and email.

Fishermen push back on proposed 55 percent cut to menhaden quota

October 23, 2025 — At the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) 83rd Annual Meeting in Dewey Beach, Delaware, the Atlantic Menhaden Management Board is weighing a drastic cut to one of the coast’s most important forage fisheries. The board will consider new specifications for the 2026 through 2028 fishing years that could slash the coastwide total allowable catch (TAC) by more than half, from 233,550 metric tons to 108,450 metric tons, based on updated point benchmarks and committee projections.

According to an ASMFC report, the 2025 benchmark assessment identified a 37 percent decline in average menhaden biomass compared with prior models, largely due to revised natural mortality data. The ecological reference point (ERP) fishing mortality target was reduced from 0.19 to 0.15, meaning the current TAC now carries a 100 percent probability of exceeding the new limit. Even the recommended 108,450-ton TAC represents only a 50 percent chance of meeting sustainability goals, according to ASMFC.

The divide between industry and environmental groups

Public comments that have already been submitted to the board show a sharp divide between recreational and commercial interests. The American Sportfishing Association (ASA), Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, and other recreational coalitions urged the board to adopt the reduced TAC, calling it essential to rebuild striped bass stocks and uphold the integrity of the ERP framework. The ASA’s letter argued that “under the current TAC of 233,550 mt, projections show a 100 percent probability of exceeding the ERP F target- placing the menhaden stock and dependent predators at risk.”

Commercial fishing group calls proposed cut “unscientific and absurd”

Commercial fishermen and their advocates see the proposed 55 percent reduction very differently. Dustin Delano, chief operating officer of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA), called on commissioners to “reject this unscientific and absurd 55 percent reduction to menhaden quota.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Seven years of bad luck for striped bass, survey shows

October 22, 2025 — Striped bass reproduction has remained below average in parts of the Chesapeake Bay since 2018, and this year is no different.

The annual juvenile striped bass surveys from Maryland and Virginia give insight as to how the next generation of striped bass will sustain the population. With continuing poor results, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is considering stronger catch limits.

Striped bass are top predators in the Bay and support commercial and recreational fishing. They are found along the East Coast from Canada to Florida, but they spawn and spend the first few years of their lives in the Bay.

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science has conducted its annual survey on striped bass since 1967. This year, scientists caught more than 1,000 juvenile striped bass at 18 sites in the Rappahannock, York and James rivers with a 100-foot seine net. Fish are captured, counted, measured and thrown back.

Read the full article at Bay Journal

Delaware to host Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission meeting this year

October 22, 2025 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 83rd Annual Meeting will be hosted by Delaware for the first time since 2008 starting Oct. 27 to Oct. 30. at the Hyatt Place Dewey Beach, on Coastal Highway.

DNREC encourages anglers, commercial fishers and conservationists to attend the meeting either in-person or virtually to provide input specifically for striped bass, menhaden and horseshoe crabs. Proposed changes will be voted on by ASMFC commissioners.

The Horseshoe Crab Management Board meeting is on Oct. 28 from 8:30 – 10 a.m., followed by the Atlantic Menhaden Management Board meeting, starting at 1:30 p.m. The Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board meeting will take place on Oct. 29 from 9:45 a.m.-noon and resuming from 1:30-5 p.m.

Read the full article at Coast TV

ASMFC 83rd Annual Meeting Details, Final Agenda and Public Comment Guidelines

October 16, 2025 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 83rd Annual Meeting will be held October 27-30, 2025, at Hyatt Place Dewey Beach, 1301 Coastal Highway, Dewey Beach, Delaware. This will be a hybrid meeting to allow for remote participation by Commissioners and interested stakeholders in all meetings. The room block is now closed; if you need assistance reserving a room, please contact Lisa Carty at lcarty@asmfc.org. Please also notify Lisa Carty of any changes to your travel plans that will impact your hotel reservations, otherwise you will incur no-show penalties. We greatly appreciate your cooperation.

 
The final agenda and meeting materials are now be available at https://asmfc.org/events/2025-annual-meeting/; click on the relevant Board/Committee name to access the documents for that Board/Committee. Supplemental materials will be posted to the website on Wednesday, October 22.
 
Webinar Information
The Law Enforcement Committee, Habitat Committee and Atlantic Coast Fish Habitat Partnership Steering Committee will have unique webinar links that are available as part of the individual committee materials.
 
Meeting proceedings for all other boards/committees will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning Monday, October 27 at 9 AM and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 1:30 PM on Thursday, October 30). To register for the webinar, please go to:https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5300899939524393048 (Webinar ID: 817-087-699)
 
If you are joining the webinar but will not be using voice over internet protocol (VoIP), you may also call in at +1.562.247.8422, access code 307-011-519. 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 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. 
 
Getting to Dewey Beach
Hyatt Place Dewey Beach is accessible by automobile or airplane. The nearest airports are Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI), Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), and Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional Airport (SBY).  Philadelphia International Airport is a good choice for those coming from the North or South!  If you fly to any airport, you will need to rent a car to get to Dewey Beach. 
 
Registration
Completion of the Registration, Attendance, and Accommodations Form is required for all participants, whether or not you will be reimbursed for travel by the Commission. However, only those who will not be reimbursed for travel by the Commission (see travel authorization form) will need to pay the registration fee (e.g., guests and federal participants). The meeting registration fee is $225 for participants and $175 for spouses or guests. The registration fee covers the Monday night welcome reception, the Tuesday night dinner, and event materials.  
 
Fishing Tournament
Plans are well underway for the 32nd Annual Laura Leach Fishing Tournament. Everyone is invited and encouraged to participate. You will receive a T-shirt with your $20 entry fee; and 100% of the tournament proceeds will be donated to the Delaware Take-a-Kid-Fishing Program. The tournament runs from Sunday (10/26) through noon on Wednesday (10/29); the raffle drawing and tournament prizes will be awarded Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning. 
  
Public Comment Guidelines
To provide a fair opportunity for public input, the ISFMP Policy Board has approved the following guidelines for use at management board meetings:
 
For issues that are not on the agenda, management boards will continue to provide opportunities to the public to bring matters of concern to the board’s attention at the start of each board meeting. Board chairs will ask members of the public to raise their hands to let the chair know they would like to speak. 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.
 
For topics that are on the agenda, but have not gone out for public comment, board chairs will provide limited opportunity for comment, taking into account the time allotted on the agenda for the topic. 
Chairs will have flexibility in deciding how to allocate comment opportunities; this could include hearing one comment in favor and one in opposition until the chair is satisfied further comments will not provide additional insight to the board.
 
For agenda action items that have already gone out for public comment, it is the Policy Board’s intent to end the occasional practice of allowing extensive and lengthy public comments. Currently, board chairs have the discretion to decide what public comment to allow in these circumstances.
 
In addition, the following timeline has been established for the submission of written comments for issues for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period (i.e., in response to proposed management action).
 
1.      Comments received three weeks prior to the start of a meeting week (October 6) will be included in the briefing materials.
2.      Comments received by 5 PM on Tuesday, October 21 will be included in supplemental materials.
3.      Comments received by 10 AM on Friday, October 24 will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/Board members prior to the meeting.
 
The submitted comments must clearly indicate the commenter’s expectation from the ASMFC staff regarding distribution.  As with other public comment, it will be accepted via mail and email.

Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Menhaden Blame Game Isn’t Backed by CCB Findings

October 8, 2025 — The following was released by Ocean Harvesters:

As Virginians, we share the public concern about the poor 2025 osprey breeding results reported by the Center for Conservation Biology (CCB). But the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) attempt to pin those outcomes on the menhaden fishery misstates the timeline, overextends the CCB advisory’s inferences, and ignores other environmental factors that CCB itself noted.

What CCB actually reported

CCB’s news advisory organizes 2025 results by salinity (used as a proxy for local fish communities) and finds that higher-salinity sites had low productivity while low-salinity sites exceeded population-maintenance thresholds. CCB explicitly states “salinity is a proxy for the fish community” and that ospreys in high-salinity areas are believed to rely more on menhaden. CCB also documents many pairs that did not lay clutches in 2025, arriving on time in late February-early March, then abandoning territories in significant numbers, with many returning in June (a first for the Bay population). Finally, CCB notes that food stress showed up as single-chick broods (67% of broods in waters with salinity levels above 5 parts per thousand) and widespread post-hatch losses.

A presentation given by US Geological Survey scientists to the Menhaden Board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in August 2024 shows that past research, including research by CCB Director Dr. Bryan Watts, identified other species as being the primary prey of osprey in the higher salinity areas of the Bay. To make the leap that menhaden is the singular problem is not supported by the data.

  • By Virginia law, purse-seine fishing for menhaden is closed until the Sunday before the first Monday in May (i.e., there is no fishing until early May).
  • According to Ocean Harvesters’ fleet logs provided to state regulators, menhaden fishing did not begin in the Bay until the week of May 26 in 2025, reflecting late arrival/availability of menhaden that is controlled by nature.
  • CCB states in a photo caption that: “Most young that starve in the nest die within the first two weeks after hatching.” If chicks hatch in April/early May, those deaths occur before fishing started.
  • CCB records pairs arriving late February-early March; many never laid eggs at all, events that obviously precede any fishing and indicate that birds may not return to the area in good health.

Taken together, CCB’s description of timing, plus the dates of the legal fishing season, make clear that early nest failures and the chick mortalities in the first two weeks after hatching occurred before the menhaden fishery began harvesting.

Where CBF goes beyond the CCB advisory

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s press statement asserts that CCB’s results “indicate insufficient local food availability in areas where the osprey diet relies on forage fish like menhaden.” CBF points to a decline in bait landings and juxtaposes those figures with the industrial reduction fishery’s annual catch to imply cause and effect.

That is CBF’s biased interpretation, not CCB’s conclusion. CCB does not directly blame the menhaden fishery; it infers food limitation from breeding metrics and salinity as a prey proxy.

  • CCB itself reports weather-related nest losses (high winds, extended rains) and notes that even low-salinity areas performed worse than recent years, evidence that multiple environmental drivers were at work in 2025.
  • Ospreys are generalist fish-eaters that take a range of species of suitable size; when menhaden aren’t present inshore, ospreys use other prey (e.g., gizzard shad, catfish). CCB’s map/photo captions and standard references reflect this dietary flexibility.
  • Fleet operations and observations indicate menhaden have arrived late in recent years, a function of environmental conditions, not fishing. The fishery has no mechanism to delay migration or in-Bay availability.
  • While menhaden bait landings may be lower in the Bay than in the past, CBF fails to consider the level of effort. There are documented instances of pound netters who have stopped fishing over the past few years through a combination of factors including higher costs for equipment and the inability to find dependable (and affordable) labor.
  • Bait landings reflect harvest effort and market conditions and are not a direct measure of local fish abundance or near-shore availability to osprey.

CCB’s 2025 advisory shows food stress signals in higher-salinity waters, but the timing and the text do not support CBF’s misleading narrative that the regulated menhaden fishery caused this year’s early nest failures and first-weeks chick mortalities. Those events occurred before the season opened and menhaden boats were still at the dock. Environmental factors, weather-driven nest losses (high winds/extended rains) and widespread post-hatch starvation, are plainly implicated in CCB’s account and must be part of any honest discussion, despite the self-interested view of a special interest group like the CBF.

About Ocean Harvesters
Ocean Harvesters owns and operates a fleet of more than 30 fishing vessels in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. The company’s purse-seine fishing operation is exclusively engaged in the harvest of menhaden, a small, nutrient-dense fish used to produce fish meal, fish oil, and fish solubles. Both its Atlantic and Gulf Menhaden fisheries are certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council. Committed to responsible fishing operations, Ocean Harvesters is proud to be heir to a fishing legacy that extends nearly 150 years.