April 1, 2026 — The Gulf menhaden fishery has secured recertification from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), reaffirming what industry leaders say is a track record of strong stock health, low bycatch, and science-based management.
According to a March 30 release from Ocean Harvesters and Westbank Fishing, the recertification follows a multi-year independent audit and confirms the fishery continues to meet MSC’s standards for sustainability, ecosystem impact, and oversight.
April 1, 2026 — The U.S. Gulf menhaden fishery has been recertified to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard after passing an independent audit by SCS Global Services.
The menhaden fishery in the Gulf of Mexico, currently referred to as the Gulf of America by the U.S. government, was first certified to the MSC standard in 2019. The latest recertification is part of the standard MSC process, which certifies a fishery for five years and performs both ongoing surveillance audits each year and a full recertification every five years.
March 31, 2026 — The following was released by Ocean Harvesters and Westbank Fishing:
The Gulf menhaden fishery has earned recertification from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), reaffirming its strong environmental performance and science-based management after rigorous, multi-year independent audit. The MSC is the world’s leading certification body for sustainable fisheries, and the 2026 recertification provides third-party verification that the fishery continues to meet the highest standards for sustainability, ecosystem health, and effective management.
MSC certifications are valid for five years, with annual surveillance audits to ensure ongoing compliance. A full recertification – including public comment and the opportunity for objections – is required every five years. The Gulf menhaden fishery was first certified in 2019.
The Marine Stewardship Council is an independent, international nonprofit organization that sets the world’s leading standard for sustainable fishing. Its certification program is science-based and relies on third-party auditors, transparent public input, and continuous monitoring to ensure fisheries meet the highest benchmarks for environmental performance and accountability.
The MSC assessment examines every dimension of a fishery’s performance – from stock health and bycatch rates to environmental impacts and regulatory oversight. Fisheries must meet strict scoring thresholds across all categories, with any deficiencies requiring time-bound corrective action. The Gulf menhaden fishery successfully addressed all prior conditions from its initial certification, demonstrating continuous, measurable improvement.
“Achieving recertification against the MSC Fisheries Standard reflects strong, ongoing stewardship of the resource, including careful monitoring and a clear focus on simultaneously maintaining healthy menhaden populations and protecting the marine ecosystem,” said Marin Hawk, Senior Manager Fishery Partnerships, U.S. at the Marine Stewardship Council. “MSC certification is a long-term commitment requiring continuous improvement and accountability, and the Gulf menhaden fishery’s performance underscores its dedication to sustainable practices. We commend the fishery and all those involved for helping to safeguard the long-term sustainability of this important fishery.”
Menhaden are small, nutrient-rich fish found in abundance along the Gulf Coast and play a critical role in both the marine ecosystem and Louisiana’s economy. Harvested using purse seine nets, menhaden are processed into fishmeal and fish oil – essential inputs for aquaculture, U.S. pet food, livestock feed, and human nutrition – valued for their high omega-3 content.
“This recertification is independent, rigorous, and grounded in science – it confirms that our fishery operates responsibly and sustainably,” said Francois Kuttel, President and Principal Owner of Westbank Fishing. “Every step we take, from modernized nets to management and reporting practices, is independently verified and publicly accountable, leaving no room for doubt about the fishery’s sustainability or its benefit to Louisiana communities and markets.”
Economic Impact Across Louisiana
Louisiana’s menhaden industry supports more than 2,000 jobs and generates approximately $419 million in annual economic impact, along with $25 million in state and local tax revenue. The industry also purchases more than $62 million in goods and services from businesses across 32 parishes.
The fishery is powered by two Louisiana-based, U.S.-owned-and-operated companies – Westbank Fishing, headquartered in Empire, and Ocean Harvesters, based in Abbeville. Each works with a processing partner – Daybrook Fisheries for Westbank and Omega Protein for Ocean Harvesters – that received the official MSC recertification certificates on behalf of the Gulf menhaden fishery.
MSC recertification enhances global market access for sustainably sourced products, helping protect Louisiana jobs while ensuring the industry remains competitive in international markets increasingly driven by sustainability standards.
Science, Management, and Accountability
“This certification is not just about environmental performance – it’s about the people and communities that depend on this fishery,” said Ben Landry, Vice President of Ocean Harvesters. “Independent verification confirms the Gulf menhaden stock is abundant, also the fishery is well-managed, and operates environmentally sustainably, reflecting both the health of the menhaden population and the stewardship of our industry.”
The MSC standard is built on three core principles: maintaining healthy fish stocks, minimizing environmental impact, and ensuring effective, adaptive management systems. Certification requires third-party review, stakeholder engagement, and ongoing annual audits to ensure continued compliance.
Recent stock assessments and ongoing monitoring consistently show that Gulf menhaden populations remain healthy and are not overfished. The fishery is also recognized for low bycatch rates and efficient harvesting practices.
The Gulf menhaden fishery is among the most tightly regulated in the state, operating under multiple layers of federal and state oversight that hold the fishery accountable on a continuous basis. According to the most recent stock assessment, Gulf menhaden populations are stronger than at any point in the past four decades, with spawning stock biomass more than tripling since the 1990s and fishing mortality declining significantly.
Bycatch Study Reinforces Findings
Recertification follows the release of a landmark, state-funded bycatch study, which found the menhaden industry accounts for just 3.4 percent of red drum removals, compared to 96.6 percent attributed to recreational fishing. The findings underscore the Gulf menhaden fishery’s limited ecological impact and adherence to regulatory limits and reinforce that the industry’s impact is already monitored, measured, and publicly accountable.
Looking Ahead
The recertification comes as global demand for sustainable seafood inputs continues to grow, particularly in aquaculture and animal nutrition markets.
“Our ability to maintain this certification depends on a consistent commitment to data, transparency, and responsible management,” said Kuttel. “We’ve shown that when a fishery follows strict science-based standards, we can deliver both environmental and economic outcomes – a level of accountability that not all user groups are held to.”
With MSC recertification secured, the Gulf menhaden fishery continues to serve as a global model for sustainability – supporting healthy ecosystems, strong coastal communities, and critical U.S. supply chains – with accountability that is proven, measured, and independently verified.
Attached are the official MSC certificates awarded to Daybrook Fisheries (processing partner for Westbank Fishing) and Omega Protein (processing partner for Ocean Harvesters).
March 25, 2026 — Out of Empire, Louisiana, the menhaden fleet doesn’t just catch fish. It sustains families, funds local businesses, and anchors one of the few steady industries in low Plaquemines Parish. And when something goes wrong on the water, Casey Devillier is the one who fixes it.
The Louisiana Commercial Fishing Coalition shared Devillier’s story. He has worked for Westbank Fishing for 23 years, and though his title is vessel manager, the role goes far beyond the name. “I handle anything electrical on the boats. And that ends up being a lot.”
He oversees 12 menhaden fishing vessels and 24 smaller purse boats, each relying on interlocking systems- engines, generators, refrigeration, hydraulics, radar, autopilot, steering controls, and onboard electronics. When any one of them fails during the short fishing season, the clock starts ticking immediately.
“The main engines are critical,” he says. “But refrigeration is just as important. If that goes down, you have serious problems.”
March 9, 2026 — Along Louisiana’s coast, the menhaden industry has quietly powered local economies for generations – providing industrial jobs, rebuilding communities after disasters, and allowing families to stay rooted in rural coastal parishes. The small, silvery fish harvested in the Gulf are processed into high-protein fish meal and nutrient-rich oil used in aquaculture, pet food, agriculture, and other essential products. In Plaquemines Parish, that work supports families, schools, and small businesses.
For Travis Harvey, it has supported an entire life.
This will be my 29th fishing season,” Harvey says. “I started when I was 20 years old. This is all I’ve ever done, and all I ever wanted to do.”
Harvey is Plant Manager at Daybrook Fisheries in Empire, LA, the processing partner to Westbank Fishing. But his story is less about job titles and more about roots.
Growing Up Seven Miles Away
Harvey was born and raised in Home Place, just seven miles from the plant.
“I’ve never really left,” he says. “After Katrina we evacuated for a few months, but we came back and rebuilt. I’ve always wanted to stay right here.”
In a rural parish where many young people feel pressure to move away to find opportunity, Harvey considers that a gift.
February 6, 2026 — The following was released by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries:
Last week, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) highlighted the sustainability of U.S. fisheries with new data from 2025 showing that, by volume, 90 percent of the U.S. catch is MSC-certified and meets the organization’s sustainability guidelines. Among the organizations highlighted are industry members of the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS).
SCEMFIS, a member of the National Science Foundation’s Industry-
Wayne Reichle, the Owner and President of Lund’s Fisheries, a member of SCEMFIS’s Industry Advisory Board (IAB), is quoted by the MSC in their announcement:
“For nearly ten years, Lund’s Fisheries, Inc. has collaborated with the MSC, and our partner conformity assessment bodies (CABs), to assure domestic and international markets vitally important to our long-term success that the seafood we produce is managed sustainably based on rigorous, annual, scientific and monitoring reviews. Our MSC-certified Atlantic sea scallop, Atlantic and Pacific squid, and Atlantic menhaden purse seine, scup, fluke and black sea bass trawl fisheries have provided us with access to markets that would not otherwise be available to our third-generation fishing company, to the benefit of our community, our employees and our company and independent fishermen whose cooperation we depend upon each day as we plan for the future.”
The MSC “sets criteria to ensure healthy fish stocks, minimal harmful impacts on marine ecosystems, and to promote effective and responsive management.” 62 species in the U.S. are MSC certified, with more than 1,300 certified products available in the U.S. market.
In 2025, MSC became the newest member of the SCEMFIS IAB. In joining, MSC praised the work the Center has done for seafood sustainability, with MSC’s Anthony Mastitski, Fisheries Outreach Manager, saying, “SCEMFIS plays a pivotal role in advancing scientific research across U.S. fisheries, including many that are MSC-certified. Thanks in part to SCEMFIS, these fisheries have maintained their certifications and continue to offer sustainable seafood options to consumers at home and abroad.”
In addition to having the MSC and several MSC-certified fisheries represented on the Center’s Board, SCEMFIS research has directly improved the sustainability of many of these fisheries. Among other issues, SCEMFIS-supported science has provided new insights into how climate change has impacted Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog, and how to best estimate their ages and populations; an analysis of Gulf predators’ diets that better defines the role of Gulf menhaden as a forage species in the food web; updating the maturity and fecundity schedules for Atlantic menhaden and addressed improvements in the Atlantic menhaden stock assessment; and the economic impact of the Atlantic surfclam, scup, Gulf menhaden, longfin squid, and summer flounder fisheries.
February 2, 2026 — The Louisiana Shrimp Association issued a sharp public response this week after it said CCA Louisiana tagged the group in a Facebook post it described as an attempt to draw shrimpers into an attack on Louisiana’s menhaden fishery.
According to their site, CCA (Coastal Conservation Association) Louisiana is a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of Louisiana’s marine resources. Their work also includes influencing how the state’s fisheries are managed, including pushing for regulatory outcomes that often conflict with commercial fishing perspectives.
Saving Seafood reported what the shrimpers wrote in a statement, “Let us be absolutely clear about where we stand…attempting to drag us into their ongoing attack on commercial fisheries.” Showing CCA’s broader campaign against working fishermen.
In the statement, the shrimpers pointed to what they described as a long series of policy losses for commercial fishermen in Louisiana, including the loss of gill net fisheries, restrictions on mullet fishing, and the designation of redfish and speckled trout as game fish- moves they said have steadily narrowed access to traditional fisheries.
Jan. 29, 2026 — The Louisiana Shrimp Association issued a forceful public response after it said CCA Louisiana tagged the group in a Facebook post that appeared designed to bait shrimpers into joining an attack on Louisiana’s menhaden fishery. “Let us be absolutely clear about where we stand,” the association wrote as it rejected any effort to enlist the shrimp industry in CCA’s menhaden messaging.
In its statement, the shrimpers wrote that CCA Louisiana was “attempting to drag us into their ongoing attack on commercial fisheries,” and framed the episode as part of a broader campaign against working fishermen. “CCA has systematically worked to destroy the way of life of Louisiana’s commercial fishermen,” the statement continued. “Through misleading propaganda and back-room political pressure, they have stripped working fishermen of our rights and our livelihoods.”
The shrimpers cited a series of fishery policy fights it says have steadily narrowed opportunity for commercial harvesters in Louisiana. “Commercial fishermen have lost the right to fish with gill nets,” the statement said. “We are prohibited from fishing mullet at night and on weekends, wiping out our entire winter fishery and the income that sustained our families. Redfish and speckled trout were pushed into ‘game fish’ status, completely removing commercial fishermen from those fisheries.”
With those options reduced many commercial fishing families have become increasingly dependent on shrimp, but only seasonally. “Now, many commercial fishermen are left with shrimp as our only primary income, and only for about six months out of the year,” the association wrote, warning that shrimpers could be next. “We watched what CCA tried to do to shrimpers in North Carolina last year. We know exactly what is coming next. After menhaden, they are coming for the shrimpers, and the Louisiana Shrimp Association is being targeted simply for standing with menhaden fishermen.”
The post that triggered the response was published by CCA Louisiana on January 24, 2026, and highlighted comments from Andrew Godley, identified as the founder and president of Parish Brewing Company. In that post, Godley claimed “one of the ugliest impacts” of the menhaden fishery is its relationship to farmed shrimp overseas, arguing that menhaden-based fishmeal helps make imported farmed shrimp cheaper and therefore harmful to domestic shrimpers. Godley also asserted that Louisiana’s menhaden policy effectively subsidizes foreign shrimp farms by allowing “free, unlimited removal” of menhaden used as feed.
The Louisiana Shrimp Association’s response criticized CCA’s goals for commercial fishing in the state. “Let there be no confusion about the end game: CCA will not stop until every commercial fishery is shut down,” the statement said. “This is not conservation—it is greed and control.”
As part of its criticism, the association raised what it described as a core fairness issue: reporting and accountability. “If CCA truly cared about conservation, they would support accountability for everyone, not just commercial fishermen,” the statement continued. “Every commercial fishery—shrimp, crabs, oysters, crawfish, menhaden, and finfish—must report every pound we harvest through trip tickets. Meanwhile, recreational fisheries remove massive amounts of fish from Louisiana waters without reporting a single fish. That hypocrisy must end.”
The statement called for legislative action to impose reporting requirements on the recreational sector and organizations involved in the policy fight. “We call on the Louisiana Legislature to take immediate action and require recreational organizations and fisheries, including CCA, to report their catch,” the association wrote. “Conservation without accountability is meaningless.”
The association urged the public and lawmakers to oppose what it described as incremental attacks on commercial livelihoods. “To the public: stand with the working men and women who have fed this state for generations,” the statement said. “To our legislators: stop allowing one special-interest group to dismantle Louisiana’s commercial fishing industry piece by piece.”
The shrimpers concluded by unequivocally refusing to ally with any campaign against another fishery: “Commercial fishermen will never take sides with CCA, and we will not be used to help shut down any fishery. The Louisiana Shrimp Association stands united with all commercial fishermen—menhaden, shrimp, and every working fishery in Louisiana and across this country.”
January 21, 2026 — Louisiana has long relied on science to guide its management of natural resources, including energy, agriculture, and fisheries. That approach is now under scrutiny as the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission reviews proposed changes to the state’s menhaden buffer zone regulations, according to an article by the Louisiana Commercial Fisheries Coalition, reported by NOLA.com.
For decades, Louisiana’s menhaden fishery operated under strict coastal limits and has been continuously monitored and independently assessed. Peer-reviewed stock assessments have consistently found that menhaden are not overfished and that overfishing is not occurring, the article reported.
That began to change in 2021, when the state imposed additional blanket buffer restrictions along the coast. Those measures were designed largely to reduce user conflict with the recreational fishing sector, even though Louisiana-specific data to justify the changes did not yet exist. The result was a one-size-fits-all regulatory approach applied to a highly diverse coastline.
Louisiana’s menhaden fleet consists of just 27 vessels, compared to more than 400,000 licensed saltwater anglers statewide. The expanded buffer zones closed traditional fishing grounds that later scientific analysis showed posed little environmental risk. The closures had real economic consequences for menhaden fishermen, processing plant workers, and the coastal communities that rely on year-round commercial fishing jobs.
January 20, 2026 — Louisiana has long relied on science to guide how it manages its natural resources. From energy to agriculture to fisheries, legislators and regulators have invested in research, monitoring, and expert oversight to ensure decisions are grounded in evidence rather than assumption.
That commitment is now being tested as the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission reviews the state’s menhaden buffer zone.
How We Got Here
For decades, Louisiana’s menhaden fishery operated under strict coastal limits and remained sustainable. The fishery has been continuously monitored, independently assessed, and confirmed as healthy by peer-reviewed stock assessments. Menhaden are not overfished, and overfishing is not occurring.
But beginning in 2021, additional blanket buffer restrictions were imposed to reduce user conflict with the recreational fishing sector. Many of these measures were accepted in good faith, even though Louisiana-specific data did not yet exist to support them. The rules applied a one-size-fits-all approach to a coastline that is anything but uniform.
To put the issue in perspective, Louisiana has more than 400,000 licensed saltwater anglers and just 27 menhaden vessels. Yet broad restrictions closed traditional fishing grounds that science later showed posed little environmental risk. The result was real economic harm to Louisiana menhaden fishermen, processing plant workers, and coastal communities that depend on these year-round commercial fishing jobs.