Saving Seafood

Virginia Menhaden Fishery Welcomes VIMS Dean Derek Aday’s Call for Science to Guide Chesapeake Bay Decisions

November 6, 2026 — Dr. Derek Aday, director and dean of William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science and the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences, has offered a thoughtful and timely call for rigorous, unbiased science to guide decisions about Atlantic menhaden and the Chesapeake Bay.

In a column in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Aday described how research supported by Virginia’s newly approved budget will help scientists and managers better understand menhaden abundance, their availability to predators and fishing patterns in the Bay.

“The Chesapeake Bay is too important to manage by assumption,” Aday wrote.

“Dr. Aday has put the focus exactly where it belongs: on rigorous, independent science that can give decision-makers the information they need,” said Monty Deihl, CEO of Ocean Harvesters. “We appreciate his leadership and his recognition that these decisions affect both the Chesapeake Bay and the lives and livelihoods of coastal Virginians. The men and women who work on the Bay want healthy waters, strong fisheries and decisions grounded in sound science, and we are grateful to Dr. Aday and the scientists at VIMS and the Batten School for their commitment to finding answers.”

His message deserves the attention of everyone participating in the menhaden debate. Aday brings scientific expertise, a commitment to independent research and an appreciation of the stakes for Virginia’s fisheries and coastal communities. His clear explanation of why reliable data matter offers a constructive path forward for the Bay and the people who depend on it.

Aday’s leadership and the work at VIMS and the Batten School are welcome. His call for rigorous, independent science reinforces why policymakers should allow the research supported by Virginia, the federal government and the menhaden industry to be completed before imposing further restrictions on a fishery that supports working families and communities across the Northern Neck—especially since Draft Addendum II does not establish a biological problem that its proposed restrictions would solve.

Aday points to the long-term research behind the management of blue crabs and the restoration of eelgrass and bay scallops as examples of the value of establishing baselines, measuring results and letting evidence guide decisions. His column makes a compelling case for bringing that same commitment to the questions surrounding menhaden.

The menhaden industry has invested directly in finding answers. Through the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS), the industry supports a research roadmap identifying practical methods and studies that can produce the information needed for a scientifically defensible Chesapeake Bay harvest cap. Scientists from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, VIMS and NOAA are reviewing existing research and developing approaches for filling information gaps. That work, and the separately funded federal research and the Commonwealth of Virginia’s investment in VIMS research should be completed and their findings considered before additional restrictions are enacted.

The families who fish and process menhaden have a direct stake in the outcome. Their future depends on a healthy Bay, thriving fish and birds, and a sustainable fishery they can pass on to their children and grandchildren. For generations, the fishery has supported union jobs, wages and benefits for Northern Neck families, including many African American workers.

In a letter to Gov. Abigail Spanberger, Virginia NAACP President the Rev. Dr. Cozy Bailey urged the Commonwealth to maintain the existing Chesapeake Bay harvest cap while Virginia-funded scientific research is completed. He emphasized that the fishery provides wages, health insurance, retirement benefits and stability for African American workers and union families, and that comparable jobs cannot simply be assumed to replace them.

UFCW Local 400, which represents menhaden fishermen, has called on lawmakers and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to refrain from additional Chesapeake Bay restrictions until ongoing research establishes their necessity. The union has also called for working people to have a voice in decisions affecting their livelihoods and communities.

Aday’s commitment to healthy waters, strong fisheries and decisions grounded in sound science is an example for everyone involved in the menhaden discussion. His leadership, and the work of scientists at VIMS and the Batten School, will help provide the answers needed to guide the Bay’s future.

About Ocean Harvesters

Ocean Harvesters owns and operates a fleet of more than 30 fishing vessels in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of America. The company’s purse-seine fishing operation is exclusively engaged in the harvest of menhaden, a small, nutrient-dense fish used to produce fish meal, fish oil, and fish solubles. Both its Atlantic and Gulf Menhaden fisheries are certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council. Committed to responsible fishing operations, Ocean Harvesters is proud to be heir to a fishing legacy that extends nearly 150 years.

Worry and encouragment: What two new reports say about the future of Atlantic Striped Bass

October 22, 2026 — There is cause for encouragment and reason for concern from the latest Chesapeake Bay Young-of-the-Year Atlantic Striped Bass surveys.

The annual surveys are done by the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

The news from Maryland was discouraging. For the eighth straight year, striped bass recruitment in Maryland waters was below average. The news from Virginia was better; the numbers show an average spawn and rebounding numbers. The Chesapeake numbers are so important because experts say 70% to 90% of all Atlantic Striped Bass on the east coast are spawned in the Chesapeake.

Striped bass are an iconic species with a multi-billion dollar economic impact on every state from Maine to South Carolina.

Read the full article at WKRG

VIMS Survey Finds Average Striped Bass Year Class in Chesapeake Bay

October 21, 2026 — Preliminary results from an ongoing long-term survey conducted by William & Mary‘s Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) suggest that an average year class of young-of-year striped bass was produced in the Virginia tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay in 2026.

Striped bass are an important top predator in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem and a valuable resource for commercial and recreational anglers. The 2026 year class, representing fish hatched this spring, will reach fishable sizes in three to four years.

The VIMS Juvenile Striped Bass Seine Survey recorded a mean value of 9.52 fish per seine haul in the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay. The 2026 value is an increase from the 5.12 fish per seine haul recorded in 2025, though both years are similar to the historical average (7.77 fish per seine haul) observed in Virginia tributaries. The improvement in recruitment observed in 2025 and 2026 is consistent with historically observed patterns: years with below-average recruitment (i.e., 1999, 2002, 2012, 2024) were followed by years with average to above-average recruitment (i.e., 2000, 2003, 2013, 2025).

“While this year’s class is considered average in terms of abundance, it represents a significant increase from 2024,” said Jack Buchanan, marine scientist at VIMS and the chief scientist of the Juvenile Striped Bass Seine Survey, who noted that striped bass recruitment can vary considerably from year to year. “A single year of poor recruitment can be partially offset by the previous or following year’s production, which helps stabilize the overall population and the fisheries it supports.”

Read the full article at ECO Magazine

Applicants Sought to Conduct Phase II of the Pilot Regional Industry-Based Bottom Trawl Survey

October 7, 2026 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel (NTAP), NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) seek applicants to execute Phase II of the pilot Regional Industry-Based Bottom Trawl Survey (RIBTS). ASMFC will issue a funding contract to support conduct of the survey. The anticipated timeframe to conduct the Phase II Survey is fall 2027.

Standardized surveys of marine fisheries species are crucial for conducting stock assessments that inform fishery management and for tracking ecosystem changes over time. Motivated by the critical need to find viable contingency options for the NEFSC bottom trawl survey (BTS), NEFSC is collaborating with NTAP to develop RIBTS. The long-term goal of the RIBTS program is to reduce uncertainty and increase accuracy in resource assessments with an annual collaborative fishing industry-based regional trawl survey. RIBTS is being developed with a phased approach.

Phase I, conducted by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and the F/V Darana R, successfully evaluated day/night operational feasibility inside and outside of an offshore wind energy development area, established minimum vessel and scientific staff requirements, evaluated trawl performance across depth range, defined sampling limitations within offshore wind development infrastructure, and documented time-on-station requirements for catch, biological, and oceanographic sampling.

The goal of Phase II is to inform development of a full-scale survey, with focus on operational feasibility on multiple vessels and across a wider geographic area, including offshore wind areas, and the creation of reproducible methods and tools for a long-term RIBTS.

Proposals must be submitted as an electronic proposal by email no later than 11:59 PM on December 4, 2026, to Jainita Patel. Please see the Request for Proposals for more details, qualifying requirements, and submission instructions.

 For more information, please contact Anna Mercer.             

Record Cobia Tournament Shows a Chesapeake Predator Thriving Alongside Menhaden

August 31, 2026 — Congratulations are in order for the winners and participants in the 2026 Big Man’s Cobia Bonanza.

The ninth annual tournament was held August 14–15 in the Chesapeake Bay, with events based in Norfolk and weigh-ins at Little Creek. By the organizers’ account, it was a record year, with more than 100 boats participating and a top prize of over $38,000, and two runner-up $12,000 prizes. The organizers summed up the weekend with the declaration: “We put Virginia Cobia fishing in the Chesapeake Bay back on top!”

That is worth celebrating. It is also worth considering in the continuing debate over whether the Chesapeake Bay has enough menhaden to support its predators.

Cobia are large predators that spend the summer feeding in Chesapeake waters. Menhaden are part of their prey base and an important forage fish in the same waters where cobia thrive. Scientists and Bay fishing organizations alike have identified menhaden as an important prey species for cobia, and menhaden have traditionally been a preferred cobia bait.

That makes this year’s tournament particularly interesting; the success of a major Chesapeake predator that consumes menhaden is difficult to reconcile with sweeping claims that the Bay lacks sufficient forage for its predators.

The contrast with striped bass is instructive.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission currently classifies Atlantic cobia as not overfished, with overfishing not occurring. Striped bass are also important predators of menhaden, but their stock has followed a different path. In 2024, the peer-reviewed striped bass stock assessment found the stock was overfished. The stock is currently managed with restrictions designed to reduce fishing mortality and rebuild the population.

That history does not mean forage is irrelevant to striped bass, but it does mean discussions about their condition should acknowledge a well-established factor: fishing mortality on striped bass themselves was too high for years.

Menhaden, meanwhile, are already managed with their ecological role in mind. The ASMFC uses ecological reference points specifically designed to account for menhaden as forage and the needs of predators. The Atlantic menhaden stock itself is classified as not overfished, with overfishing not occurring.

Taken together, these facts suggest Chesapeake predator dynamics are more complicated than simply claiming there are not enough menhaden. Cobia and striped bass share the same broader ecosystem and both consume menhaden, yet their stock conditions are very different.

That comparison does not mean menhaden are evenly distributed throughout the Chesapeake Bay or that every predator has equal access to forage at all times. Menhaden are highly migratory schooling fish whose presence in any particular place changes with season, movement and environmental conditions.

Questions about local menhaden movement, seasonal abundance and predator access deserve continued study. And that work is happening.

The federal government, Virginia, and the menhaden industry are all supporting research to better understand menhaden movement, seasonal abundance, predator consumption and fishery interactions in the Chesapeake Bay. Congress has funded Bay-specific research, Virginia has committed funding for work led by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), and the industry is supporting collaborative research involving VIMS, the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory and NOAA.

That is how unresolved questions should be addressed: through cooperative science, not through simple assumptions.

In the meantime, what happened at this year’s Cobia Bonanza deserves attention.

Congratulations to the winners. Their success is a reminder that the Chesapeake Bay forage story may be considerably healthier than some of the rhetoric surrounding menhaden would have us believe.

Virginia Institute of Marine Science Calls on Seafood Businesses to Participate in Regional Offshore Wind Impact Survey

August 5, 2026 — The following was released by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries:

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) is surveying Northeast and Mid-Atlantic shoreside businesses to quantify the economic value of the coastal economy in advance of potential offshore wind development. Seafood processors, dealers, wholesalers, distributors and other first-sale seafood businesses from Massachusetts to Virginia are encouraged to participate.

The survey, the Seafood First Sale Value Added Survey, was funded by a grant from the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS), a member of the National Science Foundation’s Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers program, which brings together marine scientists and members of the commercial fishing and wind energy industries to collaborate on fisheries research.

The survey is designed to address the existing information gaps in how offshore wind development may affect shoreside businesses and local fishing economies. While previous surveys have focused on how offshore wind development may affect commercial fishing vessels, there is less information available about the impacts on processors, dealers, wholesalers and other businesses.

Strong industry participation is essential for the success of the survey, which will be used to provide baseline data for economic impact assessments, and inform offshore wind policy decisions and potential compensation programs.

“Compensation programs cannot fairly account for shoreside losses unless decision makers understand how seafood moves from the vessel through the other businesses that support the commercial fishing economy,” said Peter Hughes, Director of Sustainability for Atlantic Capes Fisheries and one of the fishing industry stakeholder representatives advising the multistate Fisheries Compensation Program. “This survey gives those businesses an opportunity to document their economic contribution and explain what reductions in regional landings could mean for their operations, employees and communities.”

The VIMS research team plans to use the survey results to develop a customized economic model assessing how different levels of commercial fishing impacts could affect businesses at the individual, sectoral, and regional levels. The work will help coastal communities plan for and mitigate the effects of competing ocean uses.

“The businesses operating on shore are an indispensable part of the commercial fishing industry, and it is important to be able to quantify their potential losses,” said Jeff Kaelin, Director of Sustainability and Government Relations for Lund’s Fisheries and another stakeholder representative to the Fisheries Compensation Program. “Seafood businesses should take the time to participate so future compensation policies are based on credible information from the people who buy, handle, process and distribute the catch.”

The 25-question online survey takes an estimated 15 to 20 minutes to complete. It asks about business operations, cost structures, seafood species purchased, products produced, purchasing and distribution channels, and businesses’ ability to adapt to reductions in regional commercial landings.

Responses are voluntary, and participants are not required to provide identifying information. Survey records will be maintained securely, and any email addresses submitted for the optional gift-card drawing will be separated from survey responses after the survey closes. Participants may enter a drawing for one of five $100 gift cards.

Seafood businesses may complete the survey here.

Businesses receiving an email or postcard invitation are especially encouraged to respond. Questions about the survey may be directed to Dr. Andrew M. Scheld of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at scheld@vims.edu or 804-684-7160.

About SCEMFIS
The Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS) brings together academic and industry expertise to address urgent scientific challenges facing sustainable fisheries. Through advanced methods, analytical tools, and collaborative research, SCEMFIS works to reduce uncertainty in stock assessments and improve the long-term sustainability of key marine resources.

SCEMFIS is an Industry-University Cooperative Research Center supported by the National Science Foundation. Industry organizations join SCEMFIS through an Industry Membership Agreement with one of the center’s site universities and contribute both financial support and valuable expertise to help shape research priorities.

Its university partners include the University of Southern Mississippi (lead institution) and the Batten School of Coastal and Marine Sciences & VIMS at William & Mary. The center also collaborates with scientists from a broad network of institutions, including Old Dominion University, Rutgers University, the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, the University of Maryland, and the University of Rhode Island. These researchers bring deep expertise in finfish, shellfish, and marine mammal science.

Demand for SCEMFIS’s services continues to grow, driven by the fishing industry’s need for responsive, science-based support. The center provides timely access to expert input on stock assessment issues, participates in working groups, and conducts targeted studies that lead to better data collection, improved survey design, and more accurate modeling-all in service of sustainable, science-driven fishery management.

Survey seeks impact of offshore wind power on seafood businesses

August 5, 2026 — Looking ahead to potential offshore wind energy development along the East Coast, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) says researchers are surveying Northeast and Mid-Atlantic shoreside businesses to “quantify the economic value of the coastal economy in advance of potential offshore wind development.

VIMS is asking seafood processors, dealers, wholesalers, distributors and other first-sale seafood businesses from Massachusetts to Virginia are to participate in the “Seafood First Sale Value Added Survey.”

The project is funded by a grant from the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS), a member of the National Science Foundation’s Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers program. The science center brings together marine scientists and members of the commercial fishing and wind energy industries to collaborate on fisheries research.

The survey is designed to “address the existing information gaps in how offshore wind development may affect shoreside businesses and local fishing economies,” according to a statement from the center.

Despite the offshore wind industry’s economic turmoil – and determined political and policy opposition from the Trump administration – plans for turbine arrays off southern New England and the Mid-Atlantic have survived.

Revolution Wind developer Eversource Energy  said it incurred a $164 million after-tax charge from construction cost increases as it battled the Trump administration’s stop-work orders on the project.

Notably Dominion Energy recently said its 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project is 81% built out, and completion is expected by the end of 2027.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

VIRGINIA: ASMFC Advances Menhaden Addendum for Public Comment Despite No Clear Definition of the Problem It Seeks to Solve

August 5, 2026 — The following was released by Ocean Harvesters:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board today voted to release Draft Addendum II to Amendment 3 of the Atlantic Menhaden Interstate Fishery Management Plan for public comment, despite the document’s failure to establish a demonstrated biological problem necessitating the new restrictions it proposes.

The draft addendum provides several options that would reduce the existing 51,000 metric ton Chesapeake Bay Reduction Fishery Cap, automatically linking the cap to future changes in the coastwide Total Allowable Catch (TAC), and requiring Virginia to divide the Bay Cap into seasonal quota periods intended to redistribute harvest throughout the fishing season. Ocean Harvesters opposed releasing the document for public comment because it asks the public to consider specific management restrictions before establishing that an underlying biological problem exists.

A Statement of the Problem Should Include a Problem
The most obvious flaw in Draft Addendum II remains unchanged following today’s vote.

The document’s own “Statement of the Problem” begins with what “may” be happening, proceeds through what is “possible” and what “could” occur, and ultimately acknowledges that “there are currently not sufficient scientific data available” to comprehensively characterize the abundance and distribution of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay or the influence of fishing pressure. It nevertheless proposes new restrictions intended to address a problem it never defines.

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.

Public Comment Does Not Cure the Scientific Defect
Sending the addendum to public comment does not resolve the absence of a defined biological problem.

The public is now being asked to consider specific restrictions—including further reductions to the Bay Cap, automatic adjustments tied to the coastwide TAC and seasonal quota periods—without a scientifically established Bay harvest threshold, without evidence that the current cap has failed, and without confidence that any particular option would improve ecological conditions.

Virginia’s ASMFC Commissioner Adele McClure raised issues with the timing of the public comment at the meeting.

“Without that complete picture, without the proper Bay-specific data, I feel like we are putting the cart before the horse instead of availing ourselves to the upcoming studies and data that could finally guide us,” she said. “I believe that the public would be better served as a whole if we had the scientific study results to better inform meaningful comments from the public and input from all parties, especially those closest to the issue.”

Specifically, she called on the Commission to wait until upcoming scientific studies are complete.

“We finally got that funded in Virginia at $4.5 million. We have three studies, and this could guide us in the context of good science, which is good for both the public, for union workers, and the fisheries,” she said.

Public comment can inform policy choices, but it cannot substitute for the scientific evidence needed to establish the problem those choices are supposed to solve.

The Commission’s Own Analysis Is Inconclusive

The Menhaden Technical Committee (TC)’s review did not establish a consistent relationship between the timing of reduction fishing and Maryland pound-net catches.

For 2023, the TC’s analysis found that Maryland pound-net catch rates during the second half of the year were generally equal to or greater than the recent average, “suggesting little influence of the reduction fishery on pound net catches.” For 2024, their analysis identified a different pattern but could not establish cause and effect and acknowledged that any relationship would depend upon fish movements and fishery dynamics at a finer spatial scale than the available analysis could evaluate.

That inconclusive record does not establish that seasonal quotas are necessary or that they would produce a measurable biological benefit.

The absence of supporting evidence is not new. In 2018, then-ASMFC Chair James J. Gilmore Jr. wrote that there was “no evidence in Amendment 3” showing that lowering the Bay Cap was necessary to protect the Chesapeake Bay as a nursery area for menhaden or other species. He added that Commission leadership agreed the amendment did not provide sufficient evidence to support those claims.

The Research Needed to Answer These Questions Is Already Underway
The Commission is moving forward just as significant public and industry-supported research is beginning.

The Science Center for Marine Fisheries has funded a collaborative research roadmap involving scientists from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and NOAA. The project is intended to identify the data, methods, costs and timetable needed to establish a scientifically defensible and ecologically meaningful Bay Cap. It is examining how future research could measure Bay-specific menhaden abundance, fishing mortality, movement between the Chesapeake Bay and coastal waters and availability to predators.

Virginia has also committed $2 million over two years to a VIMS-led Atlantic menhaden research program. The authorized work includes menhaden abundance and movement, predator consumption, timing and location of commercial fishing effort and localized depletion questions. The state budget expressly permits the VIMS work to build upon the SCEMFIS roadmap. Recent federal appropriations have also approved $2.5 million for NOAA to conduct a new menhaden survey in the Chesapeake Bay.

These complementary research efforts were created to produce the Bay-specific scientific information the Commission acknowledges is presently lacking. Yet the Board has advanced the addendum before either effort has produced its findings.

Public Comment Should Be Informed by Science
Today’s vote begins the public comment process; it does not resolve the scientific questions at the center of the proposal.

Ocean Harvesters encourages stakeholders to carefully review the addendum and consider whether it establishes a demonstrated biological problem, whether the proposed restrictions are supported by the available scientific evidence and whether additional management measures should be adopted before the ongoing research has been completed.

The company will participate fully in the public comment process and will continue to advocate for management decisions grounded in sound science, transparency and a clearly demonstrated biological need.

About Ocean Harvesters
Ocean Harvesters owns and operates a fleet of more than 30 fishing vessels in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of America. The company’s purse-seine fishing operation is exclusively engaged in the harvest of menhaden, a small, nutrient-dense fish used to produce fish meal, fish oil, and fish solubles. Both its Atlantic and Gulf Menhaden fisheries are certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council. Committed to responsible fishing operations, Ocean Harvesters is proud to be heir to a fishing legacy that extends nearly 150 years.

W&M’s VIMS & Batten School partner with NOAA to expand access to shallow water mapping data in the Chesapeake Bay

July 15, 2026 — A new partnership between William & Mary’s VIMS & Batten School and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) turns routine vessel operations and lost crab trap removal into a new source of valuable bathymetric data.

Bathymetry describes the depth and shape of the seafloor relative to a known elevation reference and is essential to understanding and managing coastal environments. Accurate bathymetric data are foundational to a wide range of scientific, planning and management applications, including coastal resilience, hurricane and storm surge forecasting, sediment transport, habitat mapping, fisheries management and navigation safety. Bathymetry data is a valuable tool, particularly in shallow, nearshore areas that are difficult and expensive to map using traditional methods.

The collaboration was formalized through the recognition of VIMS & the Batten School as a “Trusted Node,” a designation by NOAA and the International Hydrographic Organization acknowledging reliable partners for collecting, processing and submitting bathymetric data for public use. Only 16 other organizations worldwide have been awarded this status.

Read the full article at EurekAlert!

Newly discovered microbial world may help protect developing lobsters

May 15, 2026 — As ocean temperatures rise and marine ecosystems change, scientists are working to understand how valuable species like the American lobster will respond. New research from William & Mary’s Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences & VIMS suggests one source of resilience may come from the microscopic bacterial communities living on lobster embryos.

The study, published in Scientific Reports, found that lobster eggs host surprisingly diverse microbiomes that change as the embryos develop but otherwise remain remarkably stable even under conditions simulating future environmental conditions. The findings challenge decades of assumptions that lobster eggs contained only a few key bacterial species and could help scientists better understand disease risks in one of North America’s most valuable fisheries.

“We were hoping to discover one dominant microbe early on,” said study coauthor Jeffrey Shields, a professor at the Batten School & VIMS who collaborated with several of his students on the research, including lead author Sarah Koshak. “Instead, it was a mishmash, a rich community of different bacteria whose roles we don’t yet fully understand.”

Read the full article at Vims