November 11, 2026 — Virginia’s representatives on the Menhaden Board raised concerns Wednesday about potential impacts of cuts on the Northern Neck economy, and argued the commission should wait to consider changes until at least 2028, when preliminary results are expected from a recently funded study of menhaden in the bay by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
Getting accurate science has become the heart of the debate over managing the fishery.
Industry officials say there’s no evidence that menhaden are being overfished, pointing to assessments by the Atlantic fisheries commission. Environmental groups say coastwide data could obscure a localized decline in the Chesapeake Bay.
“We’re developing the science now,” Joe Grist, who sits on Virginia’s Marine Resources Commission, said Wednesday.
By the board taking action before the results, “we are now risking the very science we’ve already started on to inform this board of the very things you want to know,” Grist said. “What a waste of the public funds.”