Saving Seafood

VIRGINIA: Protesters harass menhaden fishermen

September 1, 2026 — Chesapeake Bay menhaden fishing protesters in small craft continue to harass Ocean Harvesters’ boats and fishermen by circling in front of the firms’ steamers attempting to keep boats from making sets.

Ocean Harvesters of Reedville, Va., harvests menhaden and sells it to Omega Protein, also located in Reedville. Omega Protein buys the fish from Ocean Harvesters and processes them into fish meal, fish oil, and other products.

Ocean Harvesters and Omega Protein are part of the only large menhaden reduction fishery in operation on the East Coast of the United States and have drawn protests from environmental groups throughout the mid-Atlantic who want to prevent menhaden reduction fishing on Chesapeake Bay.

“Over the past three years we have seen a few dozen of these recreational fishing boats racing to get in front of us and just circling so we either can’t get to where we want to go, or to try and block us from setting out nets,” says Monty Deihl chief executive officer of Ocean Harvesters. “These go hand-in-hand with the threats we get on social media and the coordinated effort to disrupt our operations.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Retiring of Calcasieu Pass brings opportunity for a menhaden bait fisherman

August 31, 2026 — The recent sinking of the Calcasieu Pass in Delaware waters in the Atlantic Ocean to make a reef perhaps speaks more to the changing times of Virginia’s menhaden fishery than to an end of life grave for an old fishing vessel.

The former 180’ menhaden carry-away boat Calcasieu Pass was donated by Ocean Harvesters of Reedville, Va., to Coleen Marine for the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC).

The boat was sunk in August on Delaware’s Del-Jersey-Land reef about 26 miles off Indian River Inlet in the ocean. The vessel will provide new habitat for reef-associated fish and marine life while creating opportunities for anglers and divers.

Ocean Harvesters’ fleet is composed of six large menhaden steamers and four carry-away boats. A carry-away boat is a dedicated transport vessel used to carry menhaden back to the processing plant, allowing fishing vessels to continue to fish longer in active fishing zones.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

DELAWARE: Retired fishing vessel sunk as artificial reef off Delaware

August 24, 2026 — Delaware has sunk a retired 180-foot menhaden vessel on its flagship offshore artificial reef, the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced Aug. 18.

The Calcasieu Pass, a former offshore oilfield supply boat that went on to spend more than 30 years in the Atlantic menhaden reduction fleet out of Reedville, Va., was placed on Reef Site 13, better known as the Del-Jersey-Land Reef. DNREC said the vessel went down after environmental remediation and approval by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Coast Guard for environmental cleanliness and safety.

Ocean Harvesters, which operated the vessel, said in a separate announcement that the sinking took place Wednesday, Aug. 12, at a site roughly 26 miles off Indian River Inlet.

The boat measures 180 feet with a 40-foot beam. Built in 1982, it supported offshore oilfield work until 1989, when it was converted to an Atlantic menhaden fishing and processing vessel. Its name comes from Calcasieu Pass, a bend in the Calcasieu Ship Channel near Lake Charles, La., an area DNREC noted for liquefied natural gas production.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Public will get to weigh in on proposed changes to Chesapeake Bay menhaden harvest

August 7, 2026 — Officials who regulate the Atlantic menhaden industry have debated in recent years how to balance the historic fishery in the Chesapeake Bay with growing concerns about the ecosystem.

On Wednesday, they took their latest step. The Menhaden Board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission advanced a document for public comment with potential changes to harvesting menhaden in the bay.

The commission helps manage fisheries along the East Coast, including 15 states from Florida to Maine.

The proposal outlines options for cutting the amount of menhaden the industry can catch by up to 50% and spreading the harvest more evenly throughout the season.

Ocean Harvesters, the company that harvests menhaden in the bay, said in a statement that the proposal is “a solution in search of a problem.”

“The addendum assembles observations, uncertainties and hypotheticals but never demonstrates that Chesapeake Bay menhaden availability has declined because of the reduction fishery or that the proposed measures would produce any biological benefit,” the company stated.

Ocean Harvesters, which operates a fishing fleet to supply Omega Protein, harvests up to 51,000 metric tons of menhaden in the bay each year using large walls of netting called purse seines. Omega processes, or “reduces,” them into fishmeal and fish oil at a plant in Reedville.

Environmentalists and sportfishers believe purse seines are removing too many menhaden, affecting species that rely on them, such as striped bass and osprey. They want the reduction industry to be banned from the bay or more heavily restricted.

The public comment period will run through September and October, with the board meeting again in November to consider final approval, according to the commission’s website.

Read the full article at WHRO

Editorial: Menhaden study should provide data needed for bay management

July 10, 2026 — Menhaden may be a relatively small fish but they have an outsized presence in ongoing debates about the health of the Chesapeake Bay. The menhaden industry and environmental groups have sparred for years over what constitutes sustainable fishing and how the annual catch affects the critical ecosystem on which so much depends.

By including $2 million in the recently approved state budget for a neutral and clear-eyed study of menhaden, Virginia lawmakers hope to provide the data needed to chart a thoughtful path forward. This is long overdue, and both sides of the debate are right to celebrate this important step by the commonwealth.

Prized for their energy-rich oil, Atlantic menhaden play a central role in the Chesapeake ecosystem, as they have done since long before Europeans settlers arrived here centuries ago. They eat plankton and small plants that improve the water quality while also serving as a primary food source for other bay animal and marine life, from striped bass to ospreys to whales.

Read the full article at The Virginian Pilot 

VIRGINIA: 54th Annual Blessing of the Fleet held in Reedville

May 26, 2026 — On Sunday, members of the community, seafood industry, and organizations, such as Virginia Marine Resources Commission and Smith Point Sea Rescue gathered in Reedville alongside Ocean Harvesters and Omega Protein for the 54th Annual Blessing of the Fleet, a long standing tradition honoring the men and women who work on the water.

Reverend William Stafford Whittaker opened the ceremony with a Call to Worship, reminding attendees that fishing remains “both a dangerous and a very important occupation.” He noted that many in the Northern Neck dedicate their lives to this work, providing “food, medicine, and other resources for the good of the wider world.”

Read the full article at News On The Neck

VIRGINIA: Ocean Harvesters fight to keep fishing

September 29, 2025 — Virginia holds the distinction of being the largest East Coast state for seafood catch volume and the third-largest producer of marine products in the nation, surpassed only by Alaska and Louisiana.

This is largely tied to Reedville, Va. having historically been the fifth largest “volume of catch” commercial fishing port in the United States, and home to Omega Protein, Inc. and its fishing partner Ocean Harvesters.

The recent news that Ocean Harvesters is adding a $9 million menhaden vessel, the 165-foot F/V Tangier Sound, to its fishing fleet is sending a message that Ocean Harvesters, Omega Protein Inc. and Canadian parent company Cooke Inc. plan on fishing in the bay region well into the future.

The company has been dodging a barrage of opposition up and down the East Coast, ranging from Maryland 5th graders writing letters to the firm to “stop killing ospreys,” to opponents throwing blocks into nets.  Tactics have included a jet skier interrupting net sets, protest boats attempting to block the fishermen, and environmental groups alleging that overfishing of menhaden is depleting osprey and striped bass populations.

A lawsuit in federal court for the Southern District of New York alleging that Cooke Inc. had been illegally fishing in U.S. waters because the boats are owned by a Canadian firm was dismissed in January 2025, allowing Ocean Harvesters to continue to fish.

The jet ski incident occurred in September 2023 and brought national attention to the debate, prompting Virginia legislators to pass a “right to fish” law to protect menhaden crews and commercial fishing watermen from harassment.

During a Sept. 15 tour of Omega Protein’s fish meal and oil plants and the new vessel, including a 45-minute ride on Tangier Sound and a three-hour classroom style seminar, Ocean Harvesters defended why reduction menhaden fishing should continue on Chesapeake Bay.

Ocean Harvesters’ CEO Monty Diehl addressed each issue with detailed graphic presentations aimed at countering growing opposition from environmental groups such as the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, as well as a swelling waterfront population whose changing demographics have no ties to the bay’s seafood or maritime culture.

Virginia has a small purse net bait recreational fishery that catches menhaden as well as the larger “reduction” fishery, so named because of how its catch is processed for omega fish oils, meal and related products. It is the only large menhaden reduction fishery remaining on the East Coast. The reduction fishery was founded in 1867 by Elijah Reed who brought the modern day pogy (menhaden) fishery to Virginia from Brooklin, Maine. Reedville is named after Elijah Reed and a monument in the town square memorializes that history.

Read the full article at National Fisherman 

VIRGINIA: DAUGHTER OF REEDVILLE FISHERMAN’S MUSEUM FOUNDER NAMED PRESIDENT

August 16, 2021 — A good recipe for success in any venture is passion, love of a cause and the energy to make it happen—and leading a maritime museum is no different.

Becky Haynie of Reedville, Va. checks all three boxes for the Reedville Fishermen’s Museum where she was recently elected president of the board of directors.

Becky’s passion and love of the job comes from her late father Wendell Haynie who passed away Dec. 20, 2020. Wendall, his brother Braxton and Alice Butler spearheaded the formation of the Greater Reedville Association in 1988, which led to the creation of the museum.

Reedville has a rich Tidewater Virginia commercial fishing heritage. The founder of the town, Elijah Warren Reed of Brooklin, Maine, arrived on Chesapeake Bay in a three mast schooner during the summer of 1867 and established what was to become the modern-day menhaden fishery. By 1912, the town’s economy had become the highest per capita wealth of any town in the United States.

Going back to her early childhood, Becky witnessed the passion and love that her father had for Reedville and its maritime culture. “When I was a kid there were all these derelict fish boats on the shoreline and one was the [fish steamer] East Hampton,” said Becky. “I had a 12-foot skiff with a 4-hp motor and I lived on the creek. It was the spookiest thing to me with that old boat laid up on its side and open inside, and we climbed all over it.

“We are considering doing a working watermen’s tour, similar to a our Christmas House Tour, where we will take people to Walter Roger’s fish trap pier to see the fish and pound net boats,” she said. “Next, we could go to Fleeton Point Seafood where they shed crabs and grow oysters and the big ticket would be a visit to the Omega Protein plant, the largest menhaden plant on the East Coast.”

Read the full story at Chesapeake Bay Magazine

Omega trims Atlantic steamer fleet with conversion; pound-net skiff gets overhaul at Virginia railway

May 3, 2021 — With the help of Ampro Shipyard in Weems, Va., Omega Protein in Reedville is busy getting its menhaden fishing fleet ready for Virginia’s 2021 menhaden fishing season. The season opened in May.

Omega recently announced it’s cutting back on its Chesapeake Bay fishing fleet, as six boats will be fishing this season. Last year, the firm had seven menhaden steamers working Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

The Tideland, one of the largest and oldest vessels in the fleet, will leave the fishing end of the business. It will remain in the fleet, however, as a carry-away boat. The 218-foot Tideland was launched in 1966. “She has caught a jag of fish in her lifetime,” said Omega’s Reedville Vessels Manager Harvey Hamm.

Tideland will require only a minor conversion to switch from fishing boat to carry-away boat. It will require installation of new pumps, modification of the hydraulic system and some new stainless steel piping.

The work will be done with the boat in-water at the Omega Reedville plant by way of a partnership between the Ampro work force and Omega’s boat maintenance crew. “We rely on Ampro to do a lot of our work,” said Hamm. “When we have a need we can count on them coming to our place to jump in and take care of the problem.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman