Saving Seafood

Menhaden Harvest Increase Approved As Anglers Petition To Close Bay Fishery

November 15, 2022 — East Coast fishery managers have approved increasing commercial harvests of Atlantic menhaden from Maine to Florida.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), which regulates near-shore harvests of migratory fish, voted Wednesday to set a new ceiling on the coastwide menhaden catch of 233,550 metric tons, a 20 percent increase over the current quota.

The longstanding cap on harvest in the Chesapeake Bay remains unchanged, at 51,000 metric tons. But conservationists and sports anglers continue to worry about the impact to the Bay from large-scale fishing of menhaden near its mouth.

The commission’s action follows a recent population assessment that concluded menhaden are not being overfished and that harvests could be increased substantially without endangering the stock’s abundance.

Menhaden are a small, oily fish that are harvested chiefly for processing or “reducing” them into animal feed and human food supplements, but also for use as bait in crabbing, lobstering and catching other fish.

Read the full article at Chesapeake Bay Magazine 

Chesapeake Bay blue crab harvest hits record low

October 28, 2022 — New crab fishing restrictions have been put in place for the Chesapeake Bay in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic after surveys found that the bay’s crab population is at an historic low.

Results from a bay-wide blue crab dredge survey showed a continued downturn in juvenile crab recruitment and a record low year of total blue crab abundance. The total abundance declined from 282 million in 2021 to 227 million crabs in 2022. That’s the lowest abundance estimate in the 33-year history of the winter dredge survey. The last all-time high of 852 million crabs was reported in 1993.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Striped bass spawning a mixed bag in Bay again this year, surveys show

October 25, 2022 — Striped bass, struggling to rebound from overfishing, had another year of sub-par spawning success in Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay, new survey results show.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources reported Thursday that its annual trawl survey of juvenile striped bass yielded 3.6 little fish per net haul. That’s a slight improvement over last year’s results but far below the long-term average of 11.3 per sample.

Striped bass, also known as rockfish, are one of the most popular sport and commercial fish in the Chesapeake Bay and along the East coast.

Read the full article at the Bay Journal

VIRGINIA: Oyster restoration stumbles in Virginia’s Lynnhaven River

September 14, 2022 — Back in the spring, Lynnhaven River Now was celebrating its efforts to rebuild the oyster population in one of the Chesapeake Bay’s most developed watersheds.

Undertaking the largest restoration project in its 20-year history, the nonprofit group started by spreading 190 barge-loads of crushed, recycled concrete across the bottom of Pleasure House Creek, one of the Lynnhaven’s tributaries.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Lynnhaven group’s partner on the project, followed up by topping the underwater ridges with a thin layer of shells bearing fingernail-size baby oysters.

“New reefs could support 10 million oysters!” Lynnhaven River Now enthused in an April press release. In all, the two groups planned to create nearly 14 acres of oyster habitat in three separate reefs.

But then waterfront residents began complaining about seeing chunks of asphalt, metal wires and steel rebar mixed in with the concrete being put in the water. A state senator responded by holding public meetings to air residents’ grievances. He pressed authorities to investigate, and in July the Virginia Marine Resources Commission ordered CBF to completely remove everything put in the Lynnhaven so far this year.

The snafu has tarnished the reputation of the two environmental groups, at least in the eyes of some riverfront residents.

“The public confidence in the people who are supposed to be protecting the resources the most, [in other words] Lynnhaven River Now and Chesapeake Bay Foundation, have taken a hit. That’s a polite way of saying it,” said Charles “Chuck” Mehle, a longtime waterfront resident and former community association president who was among the project’s vocal critics.

It’s also roiled other restoration efforts in the Lynnhaven, which is one of five Bay tributaries in Virginia where the state has pledged to complete large-scale revival of oyster habitat by 2025. Waterfront residents are now criticizing plans by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to create more oyster reefs in the river.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

VIRGINIA: Northampton to meet with VMRC over fish spills

August 15, 2022 — Net tears have resulted in two large fish spills in Kiptopeke and Silver Beach. Last year, Omega Protein spilled more than 400,000 dead menhaden fish into Hampton Roads waters, something the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) criticized as an “environmental failure.”

The result of the latest spills has led Northampton County Board Chair Betsy Mapp and Administrator Charlie Kolakowski, along with Senator Lynwood Lewis, to set a meeting with the Virginia Marine Resources Commissioner Jamie Green.

The meeting is scheduled for August 19.

Read the full article at Cape Charles Mirror

Chesapeake Bay Foundation ordered to stop work on 3 Virginia Beach reefs after inspections find asphalt chunks, metal wire

July 14, 2022 — The Virginia Marine Resources Commission mandated that Chesapeake Bay Foundation projects at Pleasure House Creek Oyster Reef, Brown Cove Reef and Keeling Drain Reef be halted due to public safety and environmental issues, according to a letter from the agency dated today.

Inspections of work sites this year, including by dive teams, found material not meant for use on the human-made reefs — such as asphalt and metal wire — was being used, according to the letter.

Commission staff confirmed an “undetermined” amount of concrete rubble had been put on top of a 25-year old oyster broodstock sanctuary reef at Keeling Drain Reef, according to the letter.

At Brown Cove Reef, May inspections found concrete outside the permitted area and asphalt and metal wire at the site, which was also found at the Pleasure House Creek Oyster Reef site. The human-made reef at Pleasure House is also taller than permitted, according to the letter.

Read the full story at MSN

Opinion: Menhaden fishing is a lifeline for Virginia workers

July 7, 2022 — The following is an excerpt of an op-ed by Ken Pinkard, a 38-year, third-generation menhaden fisherman in Virginia’s Northern Neck region. It was published yesterday by the Daily Press and the Virginian-Pilot.

The Virginia Saltwater Sportfishing Association’s Mike Avery inaccurately claims that the Chesapeake Bay’s menhaden fishery is hurting striped bass (“Advocates call for limits of menhaden fishing in Virginia”). In reality, menhaden fishing is not only sustainable, it’s a critical economic engine for Virginia’s Northern Neck.

For decades, menhaden fishermen have worked in the Chesapeake Bay alongside crabbers, oystermen and other watermen. The menhaden fishery is currently the largest employer of minority and union workers in rural Northumberland County, and Virginia will not attract “good-paying” jobs by destroying it. The proposals Avery promotes would have a devastating impact on hardworking Virginians whose families rely on the fishery for their livelihoods.

The economy of the Northern Neck depends on Omega Protein and affiliated companies, just as Detroit depends on GM and Ford. Omega Protein and its fishing partners offer the highest blue-collar wages with the most generous benefits in the Northern Neck. These are union jobs. Every worker has a voice. Some 98% of our Reedville-based employees live in Virginia and 90% live in the Northern Neck.

Read the full op-ed with a subscription at the Daily Press

Chesapeake Bay Dead Zone Smaller Than Previous Years Due To Mild May Temperatures

June 29, 2022 — Researchers are predicting this summer’s dead zone in the Chesapeake Bay will be smaller than the long-term average taken between 1985 and 2021, according to environmental staff.

The change in size is due to the below-average amount of water entering the bay from the watershed’s tributaries this past spring, Chesapeake Bay Program staff said.

Program staff made the announcement alongside researchers from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, the University of Michigan, and U.S. Geological Survey.

Decreased nutrient and sediment pollution from jurisdictions within the watershed also contributed to the smaller dead zone, staff said.

The dead zones consist of areas of low oxygen, known as hypoxic regions. This is where there are dissolved oxygen concentrations of less than two milligrams per liter— primarily caused by excess nutrient pollution flowing into the bay, staff said.

Read the full story at CBS Baltimore

Tracking Fish in the Chesapeake Bay Helps Researchers and Resource Managers

March 2, 2022 — Equipment recently deployed in the Chesapeake Bay is already giving scientists and resource managers insight into fish behavior. Arrays of acoustic telemetry receivers let researchers know when fish that have been tagged swim near the receivers. The data is helping researchers increase knowledge about fish, their migrations, and how they use different habitat areas in the Chesapeake Bay.

Acoustic Receivers Around the Bay

The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office (NCBO) is working with partners to help researchers get data from five groups of receivers. Three arrays form gates across strategic points in northern, middle, and southern bay.

Northern Array 

The northern array includes four receivers across the Bay near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, close to Annapolis. This array, funded by NCBO, is operated in partnership with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Southern Array 

This array is composed of 12 receivers near Virginia Beach. It is also funded by NCBO and is operated in partnership with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.

Mid-Bay Array

This array of six receivers is managed by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. It’s located near the mouth of the Patuxent River, on Maryland’s Western Shore.

NOAA Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System

All five buoys currently deployed in the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System are outfitted with receivers.

Choptank River

We have placed three receivers in the Choptank River near oyster restoration projects. These receivers are on loan from NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

5-Year Reviews for the Gulf of Maine, New York Bight, and Chesapeake Bay Distinct Population Segments (DPS) of Atlantic Sturgeon

February 17, 2022 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, NOAA Fisheries is releasing the 5-Year Reviews for the Gulf of Maine, New York Bight, and Chesapeake Bay Distinct Population Segments (DPS) of Atlantic sturgeon. These reviews summarize and evaluate new information on the status of each DPS and its major threats, using new data that has become available since the DPSs were listed in 2012.

Each DPS continues to be at a low level of abundance, and stressors including bycatch, vessel strikes, habitat loss and alteration, and global climate change lead us to recommend that the Gulf of Maine DPS remains listed as threatened, and the New York Bight and Chesapeake Bay DPSs remain listed as endangered. The reports further identify recommendations for future actions to promote the recovery of each of the Gulf of Maine, New York Bight, and Chesapeake Bay DPSs of Atlantic sturgeon. The 5-year reviews for the Carolina and South Atlantic DPSs of Atlantic sturgeon are on-going.