Saving Seafood

New York to study why dead bunker fish have been washing up on beaches

December 29, 2020 — Numerous reports of dead and dying bunker fish washing up on Long Island beaches in recent weeks have prompted state officials to collect samples for study.

Distressed fish — possibly sickened by low water oxygen levels or rapid changes in temperature — have been spotted from the lower Hudson River near Peekskill to Staten Island and beaches on Long Island’s North Shore and the East End, officials said.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation has sent fish samples and water quality data to Stony Brook University’s Marine Animal Disease Laboratory and Cornell University for examination, officials said.

Bunker, or Atlantic menhaden, are a popular bait fish that number in the billions from Nova Scotia to Florida. Hundreds of millions of the fish are harvested annually for fish oil, fertilizer and fishmeal, authorities have said.

Read the full story at Newsday

Virginia Adopts 10% Menhaden Harvest Cut

December 16, 2020 — Virginia’s menhaden harvest, now under the control of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), has officially been reduced by 10 percent to comply with the Atlantic coast-wide fishery quota.

It’s the first state reduction since VMRC took over management of the fishery from the General Assembly. In recent years, Virginia legislators had failed to adopt limits set by coastal fishery managers, and ultimately the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) found Virginia out of compliance. That lack of compliance put Virginia at risk of a menhaden fishing moratorium, but VMRC’s taking over management of the fishery in April 2020 avoided the looming moratorium.

In August, ASMFC committed to using Ecological Reference Points in its fishery decision-making, which take into account menhaden’s role in the food chain, not just its abundance. As Bay Bulletin reported, ASMFC voted in October to reduce the entire Atlantic catch by 10 percent.

Read the full story at Chesapeake Bay Magazine

Virginia Marine Resources Commission approves menhaden harvest limit

December 9, 2020 — On Tuesday, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) reduced Virginia’s menhaden harvest by 10 percent to comply with the newly adopted menhaden fishery quota from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC).

Virginia’s harvest was cut from 168,213 metric tons to 151,392 metric tons. The Chesapeake Bay harvest cap remains unchanged.

In August, the ASMFC committed to using Ecological Reference Points, which consider menhaden’s important role in the food chain when setting menhaden harvest limits.

Read the full story at WAVY

Panel rejects proposal to restrict menhaden fishing along Louisiana coast

November 9, 2020 — A growing conflict over Louisiana’s but largest but perhaps least-known commercial fishery came to a head this week when state leaders rejected a plan to restrict large-scale menhaden fishing near the state’s coastline.

The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission on Thursday voted down a proposal backed by recreational fishing and conservation groups that would have established a menhaden fishing “exclusion zone” to protect fragile coastal habitat and marine species from the long nets and large vessels operated by the menhaden fishing industry. The zone, which would have extended one mile out along the entire Louisiana coastline, mirrored restrictions enacted in other states, including Mississippi and Alabama.

Also called pogies, menhaden are tiny silver fish that play an outsized role in the Gulf of Mexico’s fishing industry. By volume, the menhaden fishery is the largest in Louisiana and the Gulf, and the second in the U.S. Often boasting annual harvests of more than 550,000 tons, the menhaden fishery far outweighs the Gulf’s famed commercial catches, including crab and shrimp.

Read the full story at Houma Today

Cooke-owned Omega Protein calls 10% cut in menhaden fishing quota ‘not unreasonable’

October 22, 2020 — Cooke-owned Omega Protein in Virginia said the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) decision on Tuesday to cut the US Atlantic coast menhaden quota by 10 percent “is not an unreasonable step.”

ASMFC voted 13 to 5 to cut the quota to 194,400 metric tons for the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

In response to the reduced catch limit, Omega released a statement saying the company “recognizes the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s decision to reduce the coastwide [harvest] by 10 percent, while not preferred, is not an unreasonable step toward moving to ecological management of this species,” reported the Chesapeake Bay Magazine.

Read the full story at IntraFish

Atlantic coast’s menhaden fishing haul cut by 10% for 2021 and 2022

October 21, 2020 — A new way of thinking about fishing quotas will bring a 10% cut in the coastwide cap for menhaden, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission decided Tuesday.

The commission’s menhaden board voted to cut the quota for 2021 and 2022 to 194,400 metric tons from the current 216,000, a 10% reduction.

What drives the cut is a new approach to managing fisheries — an ecosystem-based one pioneered for menhaden, the small fish that is harvested for fish oil and bait and is an important source of food for other fish, birds and whales.

The older technique considers how many young fish join the population of a species in a year, how many die from natural causes and how many are caught. The idea with this traditional approach is to calculate how many can be caught without causing a species’ numbers to fall too far.

Read the full story at The Daily Press

ASMFC Atlantic Menhaden Board Approves TAC for 2021-2022

October 21, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board (Board) approved a total allowable catch (TAC) of 194,400 metric tons (mt) for the 2021 and 2022 fishing seasons, which represents a 10% reduction from the 2018-2020 TAC level. The 2021-2022 TAC was set based on the ecological reference points (ERPs) approved by the Board in August, and reaffirms the Board’s commitment to manage the fishery in a way that accounts for the species role as a forage fish.

“This TAC represents a measured and deliberate way for this Board to move into the realm of ecosystem-based management,” said Board Chair Spud Woodward of Georgia. “The TAC strikes a balance between stakeholder interests to maintain harvest on menhaden at recent levels, while also allowing the ERP models to do what they are intended to do.”

Based on projections, the TAC is estimated to have a 58.5% and 52.5% probability of exceeding the ERP fishing mortality (F) target in the first and second year, respectively. The TAC will be made available to the states based on the state-by-state allocation established by Amendment 3 (see accompanying table for 2021 and 2022 based on a TAC of 194,400 mt).

In determining which level to set the TAC, the Board also considered recent updates to the fecundity (FEC) reference points, and current stock condition. According to the latest assessment results, the 2017 estimate of fecundity, a measure of reproductive potential, was above both the ERP FEC target and threshold, indicating the stock was not overfished. A stock assessment update is scheduled for 2022 which will inform the TAC for 2023 and beyond.

For more information, please contact Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, or Toni Kerns, ISFMP Director, at mappelman@asmfc.org or tkerns@asmfc.org, respectively.

Menhaden board lowers allowable catch by 10% for Atlantic coast states, Chesapeake Bay’s cap stays the same

October 20, 2020 — The Atlantic Menhaden Management Board voted to lower the total allowable catch for Atlantic menhaden coast-wide by 10% in response to a change in management that considers the role the tiny oily fish plays as food for others.

After a few hours of discussion Tuesday morning, the board voted at its online meeting to lower the allowable catch to 194,400 metric tons for 2021 and 2022. No change was made to the allocation of menhaden that can be caught in the Chesapeake Bay, which is capped at 51,000 metrics tons. Maryland was among the states voting in favor of the change.

The total allowable catch was last changed in 2017, when the board increased it from 200,000 metric tons to 216,000 metric tons.

Earlier this year, the Atlantic Menhaden Management Board, a subset of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, approved the use of a new ecological reference point model to inform management that considers menhaden’s role as food for other species such as rockfish and bluefish. Instead of focusing on menhaden abundance as a single species, the model examines the interactions between the tiny silver fish and other key species in the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean, where it plays a vital role in the food chain, eating up plankton and being eaten in turn by larger fish and whales.

Using those new reference points, which assume striped bass are also fished sustainably, managers calculated different catch scenarios for the next two years.

Read the full story at the Capital Gazette

VIRGINIA: ‘Our Sundays Are Different’: Reedville Fishing Community Shares Their Passion for Family, Community, and Menhaden Fishing

October 19, 2020 — The following was released by Omega Protein:

Sundays have always been different in Reedville, Virginia, a community created and sustained by the menhaden fishery. For over 140 years, Sunday has been the day when the fleet leaves the dock for the open water, and fishermen set out to sustainably harvest menhaden and earn a living.

Yesterday, at the start of another fishing week, fishermen and their families shared their experiences in the new Omega Protein video Our Sundays Are Different.

In the video, fishermen share what Sundays mean to them. It’s a day when they must say goodbye to their families, churches, and community, but also an opportunity to work a good paying job and provide for their loved ones.

“I do it for one reason, and the same reason my father did it and my grandfather did it before me, and that’s to earn a livelihood that I can take care of my family comfortably,” says Kenny Pinkard, a fisherman with Omega Protein.

“For me to be leaving early and go fishing and not watch football, it just makes sense,” says George Ball, another Omega Protein fisherman. “I don’t get paid to watch football, and I’m the only income in my home.”

Family members also share how their Sundays have been shaped by fishing, and how the fishing season has become an important part of their daily lives.

“I would say our Sundays, at least during the fishing season, have always been a little emotional,” says Taylor Deihl, the Marketing and Social Media Coordinator for Omega Protein, whose father is the captain of a menhaden fishing vessel. “That first Sunday of every season, me and my older sister would always go out to the truck with my dad, rain or shine, to hug him bye. So I’ve grown up in this industry, throughout my life it’s been my way of life.”

Since its founding, Omega Protein has been an integral part of the Reedville community. We are proud to be a part of the region’s long fishing tradition, and will continue to ensure that, for the people of Reedville, Sundays will always be different.

View the video here

Additional Supplemental Materials for ASMFC 79th Annual Meeting

October 16, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

There are additional supplemental materials for the Atlantic Menhaden and Atlantic Striped Bass Management Boards. Links to both supplemental documents follow and can also be found on the 79th Annual Meeting webpage, http://www.asmfc.org/home/2020-annual-meeting-webinar, under the respective Board headers (Supplemental2).