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U.S. Geological Survey Presentation Raises Questions About Osprey-Menhaden Link Allegations

August 6, 2024 — The following was released by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition:

Today at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) summer meeting, the Menhaden Management Board heard a presentation on osprey populations from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists; considered but did not agree to a motion to start an addendum on additional commercial menhaden fishing restrictions in the Chesapeake Bay; and ultimately agreed, as a compromise, to create a working group to “consider and evaluate options for further precautionary management of Chesapeake Bay menhaden fisheries.”

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) has issued a stunningly deceptive press release, mischaracterizing the tone of today’s ASMFC meeting and the action taken there. The CBF release suggests that the material presented by USGS overwhelmingly indicated a problem with osprey in the Chesapeake Bay, and that there was overwhelming support by ASMFC commissioners for additional regulation of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay. Neither is true. The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition is issuing this release, together with the full audio of the meeting, to clarify the record. The full audio is available here.

Dr. Barnett Rattner and David Ziolkowski of the U.S. Geological Survey gave a presentation on the health of osprey populations from coast to coast. Mr. Ziolkowski noted that “in North America in the 1950s and 60s, osprey population started declining rapidly due to the effects of volcanic chlorine, pesticides like DDT, and it’s estimated that the Chesapeake Bay probably lost about half or more of its population.”

However, Mr. Ziolkowski explained that after measures were taken, including banning DDT, between 1966 and 2022, the eastern population of osprey increased by about 300%, and the Atlantic Coast population increased by about 587%. In the Chesapeake Bay it’s increased by about 1800% since 1960. He continued, “…what these numbers bear out is that osprey have made an astounding recovery by all accounts. The numbers are now in excess of historical numbers and in part that’s because they’ve returned to a world that’s very different than the world was before they started declining. There’s more suitable nesting structures. Water may be cleaner, et cetera.”

Mr. Ziolkowski did note that during the period from 2012 to 2022, “something’s going on,” as there has been a leveling off in the growth of the osprey populations in the mid-Atlantic. But he explained, “Care must be used when you’re interpreting these kinds of results and to understand what I mean, it’s helpful to look at osprey trends across the country. So here I’ll point out three things that I hope you take notice of in these graphs. On the left-hand side here, for example, California and Washington, opposite coast, you can see that there’s something going on in the same time period as there is here in Maryland, Virginia.”

Dr. Barnett Rattner and David Ziolkowski of the U.S. Geological Survey present a slide to the Menhaden Management Board showing that the recent leveling-off in Maryland and Virginia osprey populations, after years of explosive growth, is a phenomenon also being seen in states across the nation, on both the East and West Coast.

During the Q&A following the presentation, Commissioner Patrick Geer of Virginia, Chief of Fisheries Management at the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, noted that “Dr. [Bryan] Watts has done a survey in Virginia, for a number of years, going back to I believe 1993, which has shown the double crested cormorant population has increased 1416% in 25 years and brown pelicans have been about 882%. Now those species that are primarily piscivores…they’re competing for the same food source…Maybe the [osprey] nests aren’t surviving, maybe they’re moving out and these two species are moving in? Is that possible?” To which Dr. Rattner replied “Yes, it’s possible, certainly.”

After the presentation by the USGS scientists, Commissioner Lynn Waller Fegley of Maryland, Director of Fishing and Boating Services at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, made a motion to initiate an addendum to the Atlantic Menhaden Interstate Fishery Management Plan to consider Chesapeake Bay-specific management options for menhaden purse seine vessels larger than 300 gross tons in order to support the need of piscivorous birds and fish during critical points of their life cycle, and include options for seasonal closures of Chesapeake Bay waters, but not consider changes to the current Bay cap of 51,000 metric tons.

It became immediately apparent that the board was divided on this proposal.

The provision targeting purse seine vessels over 300 tons was obviously included to target the commercial menhaden reduction fishery, which in Virginia is operated by Ocean Harvesters and supplies menhaden to Reedville-based processer Omega Protein. This was questioned by Commissioner Proxy Eric Reid of Rhode Island, who asked if the motion wasn’t inherently flawed, since although there are carrier vessels over 300 tons, those vessels get their fish from pairs of small purse seine boats, meaning that the motion accomplished nothing. Mr. Reid’s conjecture was confirmed by a member of the delegation from Virginia.

Commissioner Proxy Nichola Meserve of Massachusetts, Fishery Policy Analyst at the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, raised concerns about “diving immediately into an addendum process,” noting that other addenda in the past began “with a work group, a board work group that discussed the issues and the concerns that developed potential strategies.

After much procedural wrangling, there were two votes to postpone action on the motion, one until the October meeting and another indefinitely. Both of those votes tied 9-9. When it became apparent that the motion to initiate an addendum had reached a stalemate, Commissioner Proxy Dr. Allison Colden, Chesapeake Bay Foundation Maryland Executive Director, offered a substitute motion “to establish a board work group to consider and evaluate options for further precautionary management of Chesapeake Bay menhaden fisheries, including time and area closures, to be protective of piscivorous birds and fish during critical points of their life cycle.

The board members accepted this compromise unanimously by acclamation, without a roll call, and the working group is expected to report the results of their discussion to the Menhaden Management Board at its October 2024 meeting.

“Those attending the ASMFC’s Menhaden Management Board meeting in person or listening online could only come away with one clear message from the respected researchers at USGS, and that is the osprey’s numbers have dramatically increased and any challenges that the seabirds face are complex and multi-faceted, occurring in numerous locations on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and cannot be blamed on the menhaden harvest in the Chesapeake Bay,” stated Ben Landry, Vice President of Public Affairs for Ocean Fleet Services and spokesperson for Ocean Harvesters. “To state otherwise is wholly dishonest, but that is commonplace for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and its decades-long history of false and hyperbolic statements on menhaden fisheries.”

The menhaden fishery has long been attacked by those who refuse to accept the science-based conclusions of respected government agencies and independent assessment bodies. However, it is important to remember that since 2020, after a three-year, peer-reviewed effort, with input from both industry and environmental conservation groups, menhaden has been managed using ecological reference points that account for menhaden’s role as a forage fish throughout its range.

When the ecological reference points were adopted, Chesapeake Bay Foundation President William C. Baker stated in a release: “This is a historic day for fisheries management. Menhaden have been called the most important fish in the sea for good reason. Menhaden are an essential part of the diet of numerous fish species including striped bass, along with dolphins, whales, osprey and other seabirds.”

In 2020, Chris Moore, Senior Regional Ecosystem Scientist for CBF, wrote in the Bay Journal, “Striped bass, of all the predators studied, were shown to be the most sensitive to changes in the menhaden population. Therefore, adopting ecological reference points that protect striped bass will also protect other predator species that rely less on menhaden.”

Additionally:

  • In 2022, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission concluded there was no evidence that menhaden were being overfished along the Atlantic coast.
  • The Marine Stewardship Council in 2019 certified the Atlantic menhaden fishery as sustainable.

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.

Why wild Chesapeake catfish should be the new salmon

July 30, 2024 — Restaurants. Stadiums. Prisons. There’s a big new push to get invasive blue catfish out of the Chesapeake Bay and onto a variety of menus.

Why it matters: The Bay’s blue catfish population is booming, which is bad for the native species they outcompete for food and habitat, and those they prey on — especially our dwindling juvenile crab population.

The big picture: Blue catfish get a bad rap. “When I hear ‘invasive,’ it’s like aliens coming down. It’s not sexy, it’s not appetizing,” says Matthew Scales, seafood marketing director for Maryland’s Department of Agriculture.

  • The agency is working with grocers and chefs to show consumers that blue catfish are sustainable and delicious.

Catch up quick: Blue catfish arrived in the Chesapeake Bay only a few decades ago — originally introduced in the ’70s for sports fishing in Virginia — but they’re already in the bay’s top three invasive species.

  • Blue cats can balloon to the size of small kids, over 5 feet long and 100-plus lbs, reproduce like crazy, and travel great distances without food. But when they eat — crabs, menhaden, eels — they’re voracious.

By the numbers: The blue catfish commercial harvest in Maryland and the Potomac River skyrocketed from over 609,000 pounds in 2013 to 4.2 million pounds in 2023 — an increase of more than 500%. But that’s hardly enough to curb the population.

What they’re saying: Part of the problem is branding. “We’re battling the mindset that catfish are these dirty fish, bottom feeders,” Branson Williams, DNR’s invasive species manager, tells Axios. That’s not true, at least with blue cats.

Read the full article at AXIOS

MARYLAND: Scallops, The next big shellfish in the Chesapeake Bay?

June 26, 2024 — Next week, Maryland will expand the definition of shellfish in the state, and one particular mollusk could benefit the most by the change.

Currently, shellfish as defined by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are ‘live oysters, seed oysters, oyster shells, live hard-shell clams, live soft-shell clams, and clam shells’. But thanks to SB303, passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Wes Moore, the definition will expand on July 1 to all ‘live bivalves and bivalve shells’.

Read the full article at WYPR

Could the Mississippi River benefit from Chesapeake Bay’s strategy to improve water quality?

June 21, 2024 — As environmental groups and policy analysts in the Mississippi River basin seek solutions to shrink a massive “dead zone” that forms off the coast of Louisiana each year, they have looked to a regional cleanup program in the Chesapeake Bay as a model.

A key component of that effort, known as the Chesapeake Bay Program, is regulation.

For nearly 15 years, it’s included a legally enforceable, multistate pollution quota — one of a select few in the nation. This “total maximum daily load” aims to reduce the amount of nutrients, like phosphorus and nitrogen, that run off into the Bay’s waters.

Too much of chemicals that derive from these elements, commonly used to grow crops and fertilize lawns, can cause algae blooms and die-offs that rob waters of oxygen and suffocate aquatic life.

But the Bay program’s scientific advisers recently noted the strategy is imperfect.

After two missed deadlines to reduce nutrient runoff, and a third looming, mid-Atlantic state and federal officials are reevaluating their options.

Read the full article at The Gazette

MARYLAND: Maryland’s aquaculture industry supporting the Chesapeake

June 18, 2024 — 2023 was a record year for oysters in the state of Maryland.

According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, it saw the most bushels ever harvested by the state’s aquaculture operations, at over 94,000.

Red the full article at WMDT

Food supply for Bay’s predatory fish seems adequate, for now

May 30, 2024 — When it comes to important but unheralded Chesapeake Bay species, it may be time to praise the polychaete.

The bottom-dwelling worms turn out to be the most important food for a wide range of important fish predators, and their abundance seems to be holding steady in recent decades.

On the other hand, there may be reason for concern about lowly mysids, small shrimplike crustaceans that are a tasty treat for many Bay fish but have been in decline for years.

One thing is certain: There is cause to worry about the shoreline hardening around the Bay and its tidal tributaries. Despite efforts to promote “living shorelines,” the spread of bulkheads and riprap is taking a bite out of critical habitats for polychaetes, mysids and many other forage species that constitute the lower levels of the Chesapeake’s food web.

Those are some of the findings from a recent Forage Status and Trends Report from the state-federal Bay Program. It’s the first attempt to analyze if the Chesapeake is producing enough food for striped bass, weakfish, summer flounder, Atlantic croaker and other predators.

Read the full article at the Bay Journal

Blue Crab Numbers Down From Last Year, Multi-Year Analysis To Begin

May 28, 2024 — The Chesapeake Bay’s blue crab population is holding steady but remains below average, new data show, easing but not completely dispelling worries about the long-term viability of the region’s most important commercial and popular recreational fishery.

The recent winter dredge survey, conducted each year by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Virginia Institute of Marine Science, found about 317 million crabs in the Bay and its tributaries, the two agencies announced. That is down slightly from last year’s estimate of 323 million crabs, though well above the all-time low of 227 million crabs in 2022.

The tally of spawning-age female crabs—a critical indicator of the overall crab stock’s health—decreased by 12.5 percent. But that number is still well above the threshold that biologists say is the minimum needed to sustain the population.

The abundance of juvenile crabs continued to recover from an all-time low in 2021 but remained well below average for the fifth year in a row. The survey found 138 million young crustaceans this year, a nearly 20% increase over the 2023 survey.

Read the full article at the Bay Journal

States comply with new striped bass catch curbs as more limits are considered

May 7, 2024 — With errant states falling in line with new striped bass catch curbs, East Coast fishery managers agreed last week to consider imposing still more limits on recreational fishing later this year to help the struggling fish recover.

The striped bass management board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates inshore fishing for migratory species, accepted revised plans May 1 from Maryland, Pennsylvania and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission for making required cutbacks in recreational and commercial harvests.

The board had rejected the three jurisdictions’ plans in March, putting them in jeopardy of having the federal government shut down all fishing for striped bass if the deficiencies weren’t corrected.

At issue for Maryland and the bi-state Potomac fisheries agency were their plans to delay action until 2026 if their 2024 commercial harvests exceeded the reduced level ordered by the Atlantic States commission.

The commission in January had ordered reductions in recreational and commercial catch amid concerns over an unexpected jump in recreational catch along the coast and surveys finding poor reproduction in the Chesapeake Bay, where most of the coastwide stock is spawned.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

VIRGINIA: Reaching a Major Oyster Restoration Milestone in Virginia’s York River

April 24, 2024 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA and partners are making great progress toward a big goal: To restore oyster reef habitat in 10 Chesapeake Bay tributaries by 2025. It’s the world’s largest oyster restoration project!

At an Earth Day 2024 event, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin announced that work to restore oyster reefs in the York River is complete. The York River, which is located in NOAA’s Middle Peninsula Habitat Focus Area, is the eighth tributary to be declared to be restored.

“It is my privilege to commemorate this year’s Earth Day by officially announcing and celebrating the completion of the Lower York River Oyster Restoration Goal. By reaching this restoration goal, we are sending a clear message that this administration’s year-round commitment to preserve our natural resources is unwavering,” said Governor Youngkin. “As Virginians, we are blessed to be surrounded by an abundance of treasured natural resources and we will protect them.”

NOAA and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission conducted the project, which restored more than 200 acres of habitat.

Restored Reefs Provide Important Habitat

We believe that restoring oyster reef habitat is important because oysters—and the reefs they form—provide important benefits. Oyster reefs are important habitat for many commercially and recreationally significant fish and shellfish. Reefs give juvenile fish a place to hide from predators. Oysters are filter feeders, so they help improve water quality as they eat.

“NOAA is excited to celebrate not only the tremendous work to restore more than 200 acres of oyster reef in the York River—and the habitat these reefs will provide for species including black sea bass, summer flounder, and blue crabs—but also to highlight the partnership among Virginia agencies and NOAA that made it happen,” said Dr. Sunny Snider, deputy director of NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Habitat Conservation.

Healthy Reefs Support the Economy

Having more habitat and cleaner water is also good for people and the economy. Research shows that in one Chesapeake river, having restored reefs would lead to a 160 percent increase in the annual blue crab harvest.

“I am extremely proud of our Shellfish Management Division and the pivotal role that we have played in this historic achievement, which not only supports the most economically important commercial fishery in Virginia but also sets a precedent for sustainable coastal conservation efforts nationwide,” said Virginia Marine Resources Commissioner Jamie Green.

Restored Tributaries

Eight tributaries have been restored toward the Chesapeake Bay Program’s goal.

Maryland

  • Harris Creek
  • Little Choptank River
  • Tred Avon River
  • Upper St. Mary’s River

Virginia

  • Lafayette River
  • Piankatank River
  • Great Wicomico River
  • Lower York River

Virginia was so excited about restoring oyster reefs that they worked in an eleventh “bonus” tributary, the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River! Work continues in Virginia’s Lynnhaven River and Maryland’s Manokin River.

NOAA Plays Important Roles in Restoration

We chair the Maryland and Virginia workgroups that guide large-scale oyster reef restoration in the Chesapeake Bay. These groups do the planning and coordinate the implementation and construction of the projects. In the York River, NOAA scientists use sonar to map the bottom of the river where the reef projects are planned. They and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission will track the health of those restoration reefs after restoration to make sure they succeed.

In addition, we provided funding to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to support the York River project.

‘Oyster Renaissance’ in Chesapeake Continues as Total in Bay Hits Major Milestone

March 14, 2024 — The Chesapeake Oyster Alliance has announced a major milestone as it has recorded a new total of 6 billion oysters directly added to the Bay since 2017.

Following a banner year for Chesapeake Bay oyster restoration and aquaculture, the alliances count aims to include all oysters directly added to the Bay and its tributaries through restoration and aquaculture. These efforts have now surpassed the halfway mark to the group’s goal to promote adding 10 billion new oysters to the Bay by 2025.

The majority of contributions toward the 10 billion oyster goal come from major restoration initiatives in Maryland and Virginia targeted towards 11 Bay tributaries, which are on track to be completed by 2025.

“We’re seeing an exciting oyster renaissance on the Bay, from massive tributary scale-efforts down to widespread citizen involvement and public awareness,” said Tanner Council, Alliance Senior Manager for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. “At least six billion oysters have been added to the Chesapeake in recent years thanks to heroic work by Maryland and Virginia, federal partners, and COA aquaculture and restoration partners. Each year, the Chesapeake Bay is getting closer to an extremely ambitious goal of adding 10 billion new oysters.”

The following was released by Seafoodnew.com

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