Saving Seafood

Menhaden Fisheries: Federal Policy, Sustainability, and Coastal Economies

September 15, 2025 — America’s menhaden fishery is one of the great success stories of U.S. seafood production – a renewable, sustainably managed resource that supports thousands of jobs, fuels rural economies, and delivers essential products to global markets.

This longstanding industry, rooted for generations along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, often finds itself at the center of debate – praised as a model of science-based management by some, while questioned by others concerned about its ecological footprint and role in coastal economies.

What happens in these policy debates carries real weight for the communities, small businesses, and working families whose livelihoods are tied directly to menhaden.

From Reedville, Virginia, to Moss Point, Mississippi, and from Cape May, New Jersey, to Empire and Abbeville, Louisiana, the fishery forms the backbone of local economies. The industry supports not only fishing crews but also dock workers, plant employees, welders, mechanics, truck drivers, shipbuilders, and countless vendors.

Read the full article at NOLA.com

NEW JERSEY: Middle Thorofare Bridge in Cape May County, New Jersey, is set to be replaced with $400 million project

July 23, 2025 — Last summer, CBS Philadelphia highlighted problems with the Middle Thorofare Bridge, which links Cape May and Wildwood Crest in New Jersey.

The bridge, which has carried hundreds of thousands of cars between the Wildwoods and Cape May, is in rough shape.

In fact, its condition keeps some local officials awake at night.

But now, there is a plan to completely replace the crossing.

Joe Rotondi was casting off, trying his luck in a new spot, just beneath the bridge.

The North Jersey native has traveled the bridge countless times, but underneath, he said, the angle was an eye-opener.

“It’s a little shaky,” Rotondi said. “I’m assuming it’s been here forever and things were built to last.”

On the other side of the inlet, things are busy off Wayne Reichle’s docks.

“We are harvesting between 75 to 100 million pounds of seafood annually,” Reichle, the president of Lund’s Fisheries, said.

Read the full article at CBS News

Local seafood company praises Cape May County officials for keeping Middle Thorofare Bridge up

August 20, 2024 —  A local seafood company is praising the Cape May County Bridge Commission for leaving the Middle Thorofare Bridge up following a mechanical failure to allow fishing vessels to continue to use the Port of Wildwood/Cape May.

The port is the largest in the state and would have lost millions of dollars if vessels were forced to go elsewhere, according to a news release from Lund’s Fisheries. The port brings in species such as squid, scallops and several types of finfish.

“Losing access to the Port through this waterway would have been devastating for Cape May’s fishermen and the economy of the whole County,” the company’s president, Wayne Reichle, said in a statement. “We are grateful to the Bridge Commission and all Cape May County officials who made the decision to prioritize keeping the waterway accessible for vessels, ensuring that the port remains open and active while the bridge undergoes the needed repairs.”

Read the full article at The Press of Atlantic City

NEW JERSEY: Cape May keeps drawbridge open for fishing traffic

August 20, 2024 — A“total failure” of a drive shaft motor led Cape May N.J. officials to leave the Middle Thorofare drawbridge locked open, ensuring continued vessel access to the nation’s 6th-most valuable fishing port.

The bridge in Lower Township carries a two-lane road between Cape May and Wildwood Crest over the Intracoastal Waterway. At 10 a.m. Saturday Aug. 18 the motor used to open the bridge failed, according to a summary from the Cape May Bridge Commission.

 “The bridge electrical engineers performed many tests, concluding that the motor was inoperable and irreparable,” according to the agency. “The Bridge Commission is currently reviewing all options available both nationally and globally to source this highly specialized motor with the goal of replacement as soon as possible, with the best-case scenario is it taking many weeks.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NEW JERSEY: Temporary repair planned for damaged bridge between Wildwood Crest and Cape May

August 20, 2024 — The Cape May County Bridge Commission is working on a temporary solution to reopen the Middle Thorofare Bridge that connects Cape May to Wildwood Crest and Diamond Beach, possibly enabling traffic to return in the coming weeks. A motor failure on Saturday caused the drawbridge to be stuck in an upright position, resulting in an indefinite closure with significant disruptions.

The county’s interim plan will be to install an auxiliary motor to make the bridge operational in the short term while a specialized replacement for the primary motor is custom built.

The bridge commission’s executive director, Kevin Lare, said Tuesday the auxiliary motor could be installed within a week, at the soonest, but could take as long as a month.

Read the full article at PhillyVoice

NEW JERSEY: Bridge between Wildwood Crest and Cape May closed due to motor failure, could take weeks to repair

August 19, 2024 — The Middle Thorofare Bridge/Two Mile Bridge, which connects Wildwood Crest and Diamond Beach to Cape May, New Jersey, will be closed for the foreseeable future.

Wildwood Crest Mayor Don Cabrera posted on Facebook around 6:15 a.m. Sunday the bridge was closed to vehicles, bikes and pedestrians due to a “motor failure that could not be repaired.”

In a statement released Sunday afternoon, the Cape May Bridge Commission said the bridge experienced a “total failure of the drive shaft motor that was used to open the bridge on demand” at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 17. Tests determined “the motor was inoperable and irreparable,” the commission said.

The mayor said Sunday that there’s no timeline for when the bridge will reopen and that it could be closed for “an extended period of time.” On social media, the Cape May County Sheriff’s Office said “major mechanical repairs” were needed to fix the issue.

The Cape May Bridge Commission echoed the severity of the issue, saying the goal of replacing the motor could take “many weeks.”

Because the motor is a customized part made specifically for the bridge, they can’t easily replace it. They have to build a whole new one, which will take months.

Read the full article at CBS News

US Supreme Court overturns Chevron in blow to NOAA’s regulatory authority

June 28, 2024 — A lawsuit filed by New Jersey herring fishermen has struck a massive blow to the authority of U.S. regulators.

On 28 June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff fishermen in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, overturning the long-standing Chevron deference – a legal precedent that gave federal agencies wide latitude in interpreting congressional statutes – and limiting the authority of NOAA Fisheries to implement regulations without clear guidance from lawmakers.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

The Supreme Court weakens federal regulators, overturning decades-old Chevron decision

June 28, 2024 — The Supreme Court on Friday upended a 40-year-old decision that made it easier for the federal government to regulate the environment, public health, workplace safety and consumer protections, delivering a far-reaching and potentially lucrative victory to business interests.

The court’s six conservative justices overturned the 1984 decision colloquially known as Chevron, long a target of conservatives who have been motivated as much by weakening the regulatory state as social issues including abortion. The liberal justices were in dissent.

The case was the conservative-dominated court’s clearest and boldest repudiation yet of what critics of regulation call the administrative state.

Bill Bright, a Cape May, New Jersey-based fisherman who was part of the lawsuit, said the decision to overturn Chevron would help fishing businesses make a living. “Nothing is more important than protecting the livelihoods of our families and crews,” Bright said in a statement.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

Cape May fishermen at center of major U.S. Supreme Court case

January 21, 2024 — The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing what could be one of the most important decisions it makes this term: whether to uphold a 1984 legal precedent known as Chevron, which states that federal courts must defer to regulatory agencies when a law is ambiguous.

But a lawsuit filed by three commercial fishermen at the Jersey Shore could sink Chevron.

Environmentalists fear that would greatly curtail the power of federal regulators such as the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as a broader spectrum of agencies handling public health and safety.

In short, the fishermen are objecting to a regulation that requires them to pay observers to ensure their vessels comply with federal regulation while at sea. Cape May-based commercial fishing operations, run by Bill Bright, Wayne Reichle, and Stefan Axelsson, filed a suit, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which is backed by conservative groups seeking to overturn Chevron.

Read the full article at The Philadelphia Inquirer 

Cape May County continuing federal offshore wind suit despite Ørsted backout

November 27, 2023 — Cape May County will continue challenging permitting for offshore wind development in New Jersey despite one company abandoning its plans to build wind turbines along the coast.

Michael Donohue, who represents the county in offshore wind matters, said the decision to not rescind its lawsuit was made because Ørsted has said in statements another company could take on the leases for the projects.

“It is clear that Ørsted has abandoned the development of Ocean Wind 1 and Ocean Wind 2, but it is also clear that they believe that they can sell their lease and their state and federal permits,” said Donohue. “For Ørsted to break every promise it made to multiple New Jersey communities, to break all the promises it made to trade unions in South Jersey, to break all of its contractual obligations with New Jersey agencies and then believe that it is entitled to profit from its lease and permits is the height of arrogance. The County of Cape May intends to challenge this proposition in federal and state court moving forward in connection with the litigation already underway.”

Read the full article at The Press of Atlantic City