Menhaden Fisheries Coalition Archives - Page 3 of 6

Menhaden Fisheries Coalition Applauds Science-Based Review of Chesapeake Bay Menhaden Harvest Cap

October 24, 2025 — The following was released by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition:

The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition today welcomed a newly funded Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS) project to produce a research roadmap for Atlantic menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay as a long-overdue opportunity to replace political compromise with sound science.

For nearly twenty years, the Chesapeake Bay menhaden harvest cap, a harvest limit that applies only to the reduction fishery, has been managed without biological justification. Regulators and scientists have repeatedly acknowledged this fact. The new project from SCEMFIS will identify the research needed to finally develop what the scientists leading the project call a “scientifically defensible and ecologically meaningful Chesapeake Bay cap.”

Regulators Acknowledge Current Bay Cap Was Never Based on Science
When the cap was first imposed in 2006, it was a political compromise between Virginia, Maryland, and environmental groups, not a conservation measure grounded with a scientific justification. As the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) own Executive Director at the time, Vince O’Shea, testified before Congress in 2008, the Bay Cap was established “in response to a political problem” and “there was not a science basis for the Cap.”

That view was echoed by ASMFC’s scientific staff. In 2012, the Menhaden Plan Development Team concluded, “The annual Chesapeake Bay harvest cap is not based on a scientifically quantified harvest threshold, fishery health index, or fishery population level study.”

In a follow-up report that same year, the ASMFC Technical Committee stated: “The TC stands by its previous recommendation that, given the current fishery and history of landings, there has not appeared to be any biological benefit to the Chesapeake Bay Reduction Cap since it was implemented.”

The Technical Committee reinforced this position during the Commission’s December 2012 meeting, with the then-chairperson noting that, “Given the current structure of the industry right now, and the fish that they harvest, and the biological information that we’re collecting, there doesn’t seem to be any benefit” from the Bay Cap.

Previous ASMFC Chairman Confirms Lack of Evidence for Bay Cap
When Virginia appealed a 41% cut to the Bay Cap in 2018, ASMFC Chairman Jim Gilmore stated in a formal letter that “there is no evidence in Amendment 3 to support the view that lowering the Bay Cap was necessary to protect the Bay as a nursery area for menhaden and there is no evidence to suggest the Bay Cap is necessary to protect the Bay as a nursery for other species.” He concluded: “Leadership agrees the Amendment does not provide sufficient evidence to support such claims.”

Call for a Science-Based Approach
Despite repeated coastwide stock increases and consistent findings that the Atlantic menhaden population is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring, the Chesapeake Bay menhaden harvest cap has remained fixed at 51,000 metric tons, less than half the level originally set in 2006. Meanwhile, the ASMFC has allowed other Bay fisheries, including Maryland and Potomac River bait harvesters, to increase their quotas.

The Chesapeake Bay menhaden harvest cap has become a symbol of how fisheries policy can drift away from science with outside influence from special interest groups dictating management strategies. The ASMFC’s own scientists have said for over a decade that there is no biological justification for this cap.

The Need for a Research Roadmap
The SCEMFIS-funded effort, led by scientists from the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and NOAA, will begin by conducting an extensive review of the existing data on relevant issues such as Atlantic menhaden biomass, the movement of schooling pelagic fish, and the consumption of Atlantic menhaden by Chesapeake Bay predators. They will also work with the industry to review data sources such as landings data and spotter pilot reports to complement existing peer-reviewed studies and other sources of data.

After the review, the researchers will identify knowledge gaps, and will propose new study designs and methodologies to fill these knowledge gaps to inform a Chesapeake Bay menhaden harvest cap that is based on data and is scientifically defensible.

SCEMFIS is a collaborative project between the fishing industry and leading finfish and shellfish researchers aimed at improving our understanding of important commercial species and supporting sustainable management of the fisheries that depend on them. It is part of the National Science Foundation’s Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers program.

About the Menhaden Fishery
Atlantic menhaden support the largest commercial fishery by weight on the U.S. East Coast and sustain hundreds of unionized, family-supporting jobs in rural Virginia communities where few comparable opportunities exist. Fishermen are represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400, earning family-sustaining wages and full benefits. The fishery is certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council, the gold standard for responsible fisheries, and the ASMFC has repeatedly found that menhaden is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring.

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.

MARYLAND: Maryland ASMFC Delegates Once Again Claim “No Menhaden” — But Baltimore Fish Kills Show Otherwise

September 29, 2025 — For the second year in a row, Maryland’s top delegates to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) claimed menhaden were absent from Maryland’s upper Chesapeake Bay, blaming Virginia’s commercial fishermen for intercepting the fish. Yet within weeks of their irresponsible statements, tens of thousands of menhaden turned up dead in a series of massive fish kills in Baltimore Harbor, directly contradicting their testimony.

At the August 7, 2025 ASMFC Atlantic Menhaden Management Board meeting, Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Director Lynn Fegley and veteran waterman Russell Dize painted a bleak picture. About menhaden, Fegley told fellow commissioners that “they just are meeting maybe an outsized gauntlet” of concentrated harvest and “are in the Bay … but they were not where we are,” warning of “lower availability” and “intensive effort” that she said was “creating less escapement for these fish to get through to these small-scale gears.” Dize reinforced the point, saying, “There’s a reason why the menhaden aren’t coming in the Bay, and we need to find [it].”

These 2025 comments closely echoed their testimony a year earlier. At the August 2024 ASMFC summer meeting, Dize flatly asserted, “In Maryland, this year we have no menhaden, none… One half a bushel, Maryland has no menhaden,” while Fegley added, “There are no menhaden in Maryland. The artisanal stationary gears that Maryland watermen fish are not capturing bait for our crab fisheries.”

Yet in both years, nature quickly told a different story.

Baltimore Fish Kills Prove Menhaden Are Present
Just weeks after the 2025 meeting, Baltimore experienced three major fish kills, each comprised largely of menhaden. According to the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), about 61,000 fish died on August 22, at least 120,000 on August 28, and another 25,000 on September 24 from Canton to Locust Point (CBS Baltimore). Eyewitness posts on Reddit and YouTube confirm that menhaden were the species involved.

Blue Water Baltimore’s Leanna Frick told WBAL Radio, “One silver lining is that if there aren’t fish in the harbor, you don’t see them in a fish kill … there are a lot of menhaden in the harbor, which are food species for other animals.”

The same pattern emerged after the 2024 ASMFC meeting. In early September 2024, about 24,000 dead menhaden surfaced in Baltimore Harbor; coverage of the fish kill included Chesapeake Bay Magazine, What’s Up? Media, and National Fisherman. This was followed in October 2024 by a Maryland DNR juvenile striped bass survey reporting near-record menhaden abundance, contradicting the commissioners’ “no menhaden” statements.

Blaming Virginia Fishermen While Overlooking Home Waters

Fegley and Dize have repeatedly suggested, absurdly, that Virginia’s menhaden reduction fleet, comprised of just six fishing vessels, is intercepting all the fish before they reach Maryland. But environmental experts point to Maryland’s own water-quality failures as a more direct culprit. The EPA has found zero progress on stormwater runoff, according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Gussie Maguire, who warned that “pollution from stormwater has outpaced any management improvements due to increased development pressure and more intense rainfall from climate change” (What’s Up? Media).

National Fisherman likewise reported Maguire’s statement that “Maryland’s failure to adequately conduct stormwater management means pollution continues to degrade the waterway,” compounding problems for wildlife and fisheries (SeafoodSource / National Fisherman).

Bottom line: For two consecutive years, Maryland’s own ecological events and scientific surveys have contradicted their ASMFC delegates’ dishonest narrative that menhaden are absent. While Maryland delegates blame Virginia fishermen, the state’s unaddressed water-quality crisis continues to have negative effects on the menhaden in their waters, which the fish kills and surveys demonstrate are present in force.

Omega Protein and Ocean Harvesters Urge Science-Based Review Before Imposing New Menhaden Restrictions

July 29, 2025 — The following was released by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition:

In a letter submitted to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), Peter Himchak, Senior Scientific Advisor to Omega Protein, warned that “there has been an inordinate amount of focus on menhaden generally, and the reduction fishery in particular” in discussions about recent osprey declines in the Chesapeake Bay.

Omega Protein, which processes menhaden into fishmeal, fish oil, and related nutritional products, is supplied by Ocean Harvesters under a long-term harvesting agreement. Himchak submitted the letter on behalf of the company ahead of the ASMFC’s Summer Meeting.

Himchak, who served for 39 years as a fisheries biologist with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife and as a long-time advisor to both the ASMFC and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, sat on the ASMFC’s Atlantic Menhaden Technical Committee and Stock Assessment Sub-Committee from 1988 until 2006.

In the letter, Himchak criticized the ASMFC’s Work Group on Precautionary Management in Chesapeake Bay for proposing “draconian management recommendations ‘without determining if there is or is not an adequate supply of menhaden to support predatory demand in the Bay.’” He warned that moving forward with such actions without first determining whether there are, in fact, fewer menhaden in the Bay or whether the fishery has any impact on osprey “risks gravely impacting a more than 150-year-old industry and hundreds of jobs while doing nothing to improve the osprey situation.”

Himchak wrote that the ASMFC’s Technical Committee (TC) already has a significant workload in advance of the Commission’s Annual Meeting, but raised four areas of scientific inquiry the TC could investigate that would provide the Board with more complete information. 1) He asked whether “the phenomenon of reduced osprey production [is] confined to the times and areas in which the menhaden reduction fishery operates,” referencing USGS data showing declines in osprey abundance in coastal areas of multiple states—not just the Chesapeake—and increases in interior regions. He also noted that the fishery does not begin fishing until May or later—after migrant ospreys arrive in the region from late February to early March and begin building nests from mid-March to mid-April—raising questions about how the fishery could influence osprey’s months-earlier decisions about where to nest.

2) He wrote that there have been sizable increases in populations of multiple menhaden-dependent predators since at least the turn of the century, and that a stomach contents analysis of striped bass, which are only somewhat dependent on menhaden, indicated they “are not starving and would be considered healthy.” Therefore, he asked, “is it more likely that ospreys are being outcompeted or that the reduction fishery uniquely impacts osprey?”

3) Regarding eagle-osprey interactions, he noted a recent Maryland DNR release announcing “large increases in the state’s bald eagle population.” He referenced myriad studies finding that bald eagles are “kleptoparasitic”—a term used to describe their well-documented habit of attacking hunting osprey to steal their food or prey on adults, young, and eggs. Citing a study from Voyageurs National Park, he wrote that “increased numbers of eagles were associated with a reduction in the numbers of osprey nests, their nesting success and heronry size,” and asked whether “issues of competition and depredation [can] be ruled out as a cause of osprey’s lack of breeding success.” He further pointed to “significant scientific and anecdotal evidence of the dominant and adverse impacts eagles have on osprey.”

That concern was echoed in a newly released Saving Seafood special report titled “Bald Eagle Recovery in Chesapeake Bay Raises Red Flags for Osprey.” The report compiled over three decades of peer-reviewed research, field observations, and published accounts documenting instances in which eagles had a negative impact on osprey populations. In one study, researchers found “eagle abundance was negatively associated with nest reuse (i.e., persistence) and success of ospreys.” Significantly, the researchers found “little evidence of bottom-up limitations,” such as poor weather or declining fish stocks, and emphasized the role of eagle aggression, including harassment and food theft. While this body of research does not prove the resurgence of bald eagles in the Chesapeake to be the cause of osprey reproduction issues, it does indicate it is a possibility deserving of further investigation.

The full report is available at: https://www.savingseafood.org/science/bald-eagle-recovery-in-chesapeake-bay-raises-red-flags-for-osprey

4) Himchak also asked the Technical Committee to consider whether osprey foraging success is being affected by climate-driven environmental changes, including storm frequency, shoreline hardening, warming waters, or hypoxia. Citing a 2024 study by Bryan Watts, he noted that “deliveries of all forage species to osprey nests declined steadily from 1974 to 2021,” and asked whether “ospreys’ apparent lack of foraging success is tied to changes in local conditions that are impacting either local abundance of forage or osprey’s hunting success.”

He concluded the letter by writing, “The commission must be guided by science. Precipitous actions, taken in the name of precaution, are not always harmless. Neither Ocean Harvesters nor Omega Protein can survive without the current low level of access to the menhaden resource in the Bay. There simply are not enough ‘fishable days’ – that is, days where the weather and sea conditions allow vessels to operate – in a year to safely conduct a profitable fishery solely in the ocean. The menhaden fishery is managed in the most conservative manner in its 150 year or so history, and the reduction fishery is operating at its lowest sustained levels – in the Bay and overall – for as long as we have reliable records (i.e., since the 1950s). Precaution is already the policy. Before taking actions that could cause irreversible economic harm to this historic fishery, the Board should ensure that all reasonable avenues of inquiry into the issues facing osprey are explored.”

LOUISIANA: Louisiana commercial fishers welcome menhaden bycatch study

July 9, 2025 –A new study on bycatch in Louisiana’s commercial menhaden fishery is largely being welcomed by the state’s fishing industry, who claim it shows the fishery “is sustainable, selective, and not a threat to red drum populations.”

“This study should put to rest the misinformation that’s too often circulated about this fishery,” Menhaden Fisheries Coalition spokesperson Bob Vanasse said in a statement. “This independent science reaffirms what we’ve always said: The Gulf menhaden fishery is guided by data, not politics or guesswork.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

VIRGINIA: Menhaden Fisheries Coalition Denies Contributing to Osprey “Population Collapse” on Virginia’s Eastern Shore

July 1, 2025 — The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition has responded to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s claims of industrial menhaden fishing contributing to a “total population collapse” of osprey on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

This comes after a May survey by the College of William and Mary’s Center for Conservation Biology reported a 90% nesting osprey population decline in recent decades.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) cites prey scarcity as the main factor, pointing the finger at Omega Protein’s annual 100 million pound-plus menhaden harvests.

Omega Protein denies claims it impacted osprey populations, saying it has cooperated with menhaden stock assessments and monitoring for decades.

Read the full article at WBOC

Menhaden fishers urge ASMFC to maintain quotas in face of NGO criticism

May 6, 2025 — The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition and six shop stewards representing union fishermen participating in the Chesapeake Bay menhaden fishery are urging the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) to maintain current allowable catch levels in the face of NGO criticism.

The ASMFC Menhaden Management Board is meeting on 7 May to discuss management of the species. In a letter to the board, members of the UFCW Local 400 union called on board members to listen to fishermen and adopt regulatory practices based on “sound scientific principles” rather than listen to environmental groups that claim the fishery is responsible for declines in other species in the Chesapeake Bay.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

USGS Challenges Simple Narrative Linking Menhaden to Osprey Decline

May 5, 2025 — The following was released by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition:

A letter from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) sent last week to the House Natural Resources Committee indicates multiple environmental stressors—not just prey availability—are responsible for recent osprey reproduction issues in the Chesapeake Bay. The USGS’ conclusions challenge narratives pushed by menhaden fishery opponents, including a widely publicized study by Dr. Bryan Watts of the Center for Conservation Biology, which linked a decline in osprey reproduction in Virginia’s Mobjack Bay to reduced availability of menhaden.

Menhaden increase in osprey diets is statistically insignificant

Specifically, the USGS finds that the Watts et al. (2024) study did not demonstrate a biologically significant change in the proportion of menhaden in the osprey diet over time. The agency also noted that menhaden made up a slightly higher portion of the diet in 2021 compared to 2006–07, although the difference is statistically insignificant. “Although the proportion of Menhaden as a percentage of total diet in 2021 is numerically larger than the 2006–07 value, the two values are bounded by overlapping error bars, and are thus not different in a biologically meaningful way,” the letter stated.

“The amount of food delivered to young in a nest can be influenced by many factors, including prey abundance, access to prey, … increased predation risk, parental condition, brood size, and adverse weather conditions,” said the USGS letter, which was delivered on May 2. “Ecological systems such as this are complex and occur at large scales that make it difficult and sometimes not possible to measure and accurately estimate the influence of all contributing factors.”

Chesapeake osprey trends also seen around the country

Following bird conservation measures including the banning of DDT, the Atlantic Coast osprey population increased by nearly 600% between 1966 and 2022. In the Chesapeake Bay, it has increased by about 1800% since 1960. While scientists have observed a leveling off of osprey populations between 2012 and 2022, populations remain high by historical standards. Furthermore, the USGS reports that this trend has been observed in numerous other locations including Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Delaware, as well as the Pacific Coast, raising serious questions about any impact from the menhaden fishery since there is no menhaden fishery in those locations.

Overfished Striped Bass also an important food source for osprey

The USGS also identifies striped bass as an important food source for osprey in parts of the Chesapeake Bay and notes that the status of this stock may influence osprey reproduction. “Preliminary observations made by USGS scientists during a 2024 Osprey nesting study in the vicinity of the Choptank River suggest Menhaden and Striped Bass may be the primary prey type there,” the letter states. It further explains that “the principal contributing factor to poor breeding performance was loss of young due to starvation,” likely caused by “limited prey capture and/or prey delivery to nests.” Additionally, the letter notes that “the USGS has included Striped Bass among the list of prey species captured and consumed by Osprey at some Chesapeake study sites,” and concludes that “many of the factors that affect the status of the Striped Bass stock in the Chesapeake could also have direct or indirect effects on Osprey reproduction.”

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) has found that Atlantic striped bass are currently overfished, with spawning stock biomass below the sustainable threshold as of the most recent assessment. Over the past decade, recreational fishing—particularly in the Chesapeake Bay—has been the primary driver of striped bass mortality, accounting for the vast majority of total removals, including substantial losses from catch-and-release mortality¹. The ASMFC has repeatedly cited recreational release mortality as a major factor in the species’ decline² and has responded with new management measures aimed at rebuilding the stock by 2029³.Conversely, the Atlantic menhaden fishery has repeatedly been found to be healthy and sustainably managed. The most recent stock assessment by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in 2022 found menhaden is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring. The fishery has been certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council, the gold standard for seafood sustainability, since 2019.

Osprey nesting sites in the Chesapeake are now at a surplus

The USGS scientists reported that the number of breeding pairs in the Chesapeake Bay increased from approximately 1,450 pairs in 1973 to around 10,000 pairs in 2020—an increase of nearly 600 percent. “All estimates indicate that the density of breeding pairs of Osprey in the Chesapeake has grown substantially since the 1970s,” the letter states. It also notes that “there are many natural structures, duck blinds, and manmade platforms suitable for nesting Osprey in the Chesapeake,” and that “Osprey nesting sites in the Chesapeake are now at a surplus and unused platforms are frequently being taken over by Canada Geese.” While the letter does not conclude that the population has exceeded environmental limits, it acknowledges that “as a natural population regulation process,” higher osprey densities increase competition for limited resources such as food and nesting sites, and that “growth usually continues until the population reaches the maximum population size the environment can support.”

VIMS also found no clear relationship with menhaden

Last fall, scientists from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) also found that the Watts study did not “establish a clear relationship with menhaden abundance and availability.” Both the original Watts study⁴ and the VIMS rebuttal⁵ were published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.

The USGS findings make clear that osprey reproduction is shaped by a wide array of environmental factors—and that no single fishery can shoulder the blame. The letter shows that blaming the menhaden fishery for complex ecological trends in osprey populations oversimplifies the science and misleads the public. Moreover, the overfished status of striped bass—driven largely by recreational fishing—may also be a contributing factor.

Footnotes

¹ Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Atlantic Striped Bass Stock Assessment Update. October 2022.

² Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Amendment 7 to the Atlantic Striped Bass Interstate Fishery Management Plan. May 2022.

³ Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Addendum II to Amendment 7. January 2024.

⁴ Watts Bryan D. , Stinson Christine H. , McLean Peter K. , Glass K. Andrew , Academia Michael H. , Byrd Mitchell A. (2023). Prey provisioning and diet of Osprey in lower Chesapeake Bay: A comparative study. Frontiers in Marine Science.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1284462/full

⁵ Latour Robert J. , Gartland James , Ralph Gina M. (2024). Commentary: Prey provisioning and diet of Osprey in lower Chesapeake Bay: A comparative study. Frontiers in Marine Science.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1416687/full

Gulf Menhaden Population Confirmed Healthy

October 18, 2024 — The Gulf menhaden fishery continues to be harvesting sustainably and effectively managed, according to a new report by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission (GSMFC). Approved by the GSMFC at its annual meeting this week, the 2024 Update to the Gulf of Mexico Menhaden Stock Assessment once again confirms that the Gulf menhaden stock is neither overfished nor experiencing overfishing.

The updated stock assessment includes new data from 2021 to 2023, the years since the last Gulf menhaden assessment was completed in 2021. In addition to its primary conclusion showing no overfishing, the assessment has positive news for several other key metrics of the stock’s health. Spawning stock biomass (the combined weight of all fish capable of reproducing) has continued to rise steadily since the 1990s and remains at a high, sustainable level. Fishing mortality rates decreased in the 1990s and 2000s and have remained at lower levels ever since.

Read the full article at Seafood News

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.

VIRGINIA: Virginia Legislature Subcommittee Acts Favorably on Bill to Combat Threats and Interference with Commercial Fishing Vessels

February 6, 2024 — The Virginia House of Delegates Courts of Justice – Criminal Subcommittee, has favorably reported HB 928, legislation to protect commercial watermen, by a unanimous, bipartisan vote of 8-0.

In response to a rising number of threats and at-sea harassment targeting commercial fishermen operating legally in Virginia waters, two bills were introduced in the 2024 Virginia legislative session. The bills, from Delegate Hillary Pugh Kent and Delegate Robert S. Bloxom, Jr. would increase the penalties for intentionally interfering with commercial fishing operations. Today Delegate Kent’s bill was considered, amended, and passed by the subcommittee. The bill increases penalties to a Class 1 misdemeanor which is confinement in jail for not more than twelve months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both. Additionally, anyone convicted will forfeit hunting and fishing licenses for one year on first offense, and three years on a second offense.

Dangerous incidents are growing in number and aggression and physical injury, and the lives of union-member, commercial fishermen are being increasingly threatened. These hazardous confrontations have been conducted on jet skis and with recreational boats, endangering all involved. Current law provides for minor penalties, like small fines, which are an insufficient deterrent to individuals with the financial means to own and operate recreational watercraft.

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