<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=25WpW5_1H6SeueQ00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=25WpW5_1H6SeueQ00" width="1400" height="913" ><figcaption>Menhaden are netted commercially for use as bait and for processing into animal feed and nutritional supplements. They also serve as food for marine mammals, birds and other fish, such as striped bass. (Dave Harp / Bay Journal)</figcaption></figure>Facing mounting pressure to protect struggling ospreys and Maryland watermen, East Coast fishery managers reached a “compromise” to reduce the commercial menhaden harvest in the Chesapeake Bay.The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted Nov. 11 in Newport, RI, to limit industrial-scale menhaden harvest in the Bay to about 21% of the species’ total East Coast catch for the next two years. For 2027, the maximum harvest would be 27% lower than the longstanding cap. The allowable catch would be lowered again in 2028.Overall, the move will reduce the current Bay cap of 51,000 metric tons per year to 33,847 in 2028.The decision capped nearly two years of impassioned debate pitting conservationists and recreational anglers against employees and supporters of the Virginia industry that “reduces,” or processes, menhaden into fish meal and oil.Menhaden are fatty, migratory fish that serve as food for other fish and wildlife. Some Bay watermen catch them to use or sell as bait for catching crabs and other fish. That harvest is dwarfed, though, by the reduction fishery operated by Omega Protein and its fishing partner Ocean Harvesters, which catch tens of thousands of tons of menhaden annually. Virginia is the only state on the coast allowing harvest for the reduction fishery.The harvest in the Chesapeake has been capped since 2006, currently at 51,000 metric tons per year. Coastwide, the commission has deemed the population as not overfished. But questions remain when it comes to the health of the menhaden population that enters the Bay.Conservationists and recreational anglers have long contended that the reduction fishery is depleting the supply of menhaden for other fish and wildlife in the Bay. With research lacking to prove or disprove that, the Bay cap has remained unchanged.The controversy has intensified lately, though, as osprey reproduction has declined drastically in waters where the birds’ diets depend on menhaden. The commission began weighing a cutback in the Bay harvest nearly two years ago to address that concern as well as complaints from Maryland watermen that their menhaden catch for bait has plummeted.The commission drafted proposals to cut the Bay harvest by up to 50% and possibly require it to be distributed more evenly throughout the season.More than 40,000 written comments received by the commission demanded the Bay harvest be curbed that much or more to help ospreys and other fish, particularly striped bass, which are slowly coming back from being overfished.But employees and supporters of Omega and Ocean Harvesters warned that the reductions threatened a historic fishery, good-paying jobs and the largely rural economy on Virginia’s Northern Neck. They pleaded for the commission to hold off until scientific studies, which are just getting under way, can determine whether curbs are warranted.“We’re putting the cart before the horse,” said Del. Adele McClure, a member of the Virginia delegation to the commission.The National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration granted $2.5 million to the fisheries commission in January to study menhaden in the Bay. James Boyle, coordinator of the commission’s fishery management plan, said they hope to select a group to conduct the study by January and complete it by 2028 at the earliest.The Virginia Institute of Marine Science received $2 million from the state budget earlier this year to conduct a fish tagging study to “inform a scientifically defensible and ecologically meaningful” limit on the Bay menhaden harvest.Joe Grist, a member of the Atlantic fisheries commission and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, said that cutting the Bay cap too much could delay results of the study.The vote on the Bay harvest cap came a day after a similarly heated debate over whether to reduce the overall menhaden catch from Maine to the Carolinas. The panel decided to cut it by 9% in 2027 and by another 9% in 2028, which would set the new coastwide catch at 170,000 metric tons for 2027 and 155,000 metric tons in 2028.With that as a guide, all 15 East Coast states except Virginia voted to set the Bay harvest cap at 21.8% of the allowable coastwide catch. That means the industry can only take 37,123 metric tons of menhaden from the Bay in 2027 and 33,847 metric tons in 2028. The rest must be caught at sea, up the coast to New Jersey and even beyond.“In the interest of partnerships, neighbors, collaboration and understanding of the needs of the people who are involved in this fishing business, I believe that this option is the middle ground that we should all be able to agree to,” said Mike Luisi, director of fishing and boating services at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.The commission decided against imposing any limits, though, on how the harvest is to be distributed throughout the fishing season.Allison Colden, the Maryland executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and member of the commission, proposed curbing the harvest in spring and early summer, with the bulk of it allowed in late summer and fall when osprey nesting is over.But Virginia’s Grist said that would force Ocean Harvesters to fish when hurricanes and nor’easters are most common, putting the safety of the crews at risk. Other East Coast fishery managers objected to telling another state how to manage the catch within its borders. The motion ultimately failed, and the company can continue to harvest anytime during the fishing season from May to November.Having exhausted their allotted meeting time, the commission put off deciding whether to reallocate the coastwide catch among the states to let New England have more, as lobstermen and other fishers in the region said they are increasingly dependent on menhaden for bait.Conservation groups welcomed the commission’s action to lower the Bay harvest cap by about a third over the next two years, even if that fell short of what they had advocated. But they criticized the coastwide catch reduction as far too small, and they accused the commission of ignoring its own science.“Reaching the lowest Bay cap on record is real progress toward a healthy Bay,” said Will Poston, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s forage fish campaign manager. “But more must be done to protect menhaden and the wildlife that depend on them.”Mike Parr, president of the American Bird Conservancy, called the Bay cap cut “a step in the right direction” for protecting ospreys while expressing disappointment in the coastwide harvest reduction.“Ospreys [and] other species that depend on menhaden, and the coastal ecosystem, are not well-served by this slight reduction to total coast-wide catch,” he said.Reduction fishery officials maintained that the catch reductions were unnecessary and predicted they would be hard on their workers and communities. But industry officials also thanked the fisheries commissioners for listening to their concerns and seeking a compromise.“We will do our best to manage through these restrictions and support our people,” said Monte Deihl, chief executive officer of Ocean Harvesters. “We look forward to completing the recently funded research and believe it will show that these severe restrictions were never necessary.”Lauren Hines-Acosta (she/her) is a Bay Journal staff writer based in Virginia. You can reach her at lhinesacosta@bayjournal.com.</div></body>

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Facing mounting pressure to protect struggling ospreys and Maryland watermen, East Coast fishery managers reached a “compromise” to reduce the commercial menhaden harvest in the Chesapeake Bay. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted Nov. 11 in Newport, RI, to limit industrial-scale menhaden harvest in the Bay to...

Commission Sets Lower Limits On Chesapeake Bay Menhaden Harvest

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Facing mounting pressure to protect struggling ospreys and Maryland watermen, East Coast fishery managers reached a “compromise” to reduce the commercial m

Commission Sets Lower Limits On Chesapeake Bay Menhaden Harvest

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