August 19, 2025 — A study by Mississippi-based researchers found that menhaden are not a primary food source for Gulf of Mexico predator species like red drum, summer flounder, and spotted sea trout.
“The study provides a comprehensive understanding of the Gulf food web and charts the trophic interactions that structure it,” according to a summary from the University of Southern Mississippi. “The findings have fishery management implications for several of the species evaluated in the study. Most notably, Gulf menhaden was not found to be a primary food source for any of the predator species studied.”
The question of menhaden’s role in the Gulf ecosystem is a perennial, hot-button issue in fisheries management. The impact of the region’s commercial menhaden fleet is routinely challenged by recreational and other user groups.
The project, funded by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS) combined the latest in stable isotope analysis “and an extensive meta-analysis of hundreds of published stomach content studies dating back to the 1950s” from Gulf fisheries research.