November 29, 2024 — There is a long-running battle in Virginia over how to manage the menhaden fishery – and the lack of data about the species continues to be front and center.
Research that touches on menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay has long been contentious, because it helps inform how officials choose to regulate the controversial fishery.
The latest disagreement is playing out in scientific literature. Three scientists at William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science, which conducts research for state regulators, recently published a formal critique of a study linking declines in the local osprey population to the menhaden industry.
The study they critiqued came from another arm of William & Mary: the Center for Conservation Biology, which studies birds.
The center has monitored ospreys for years. Director Bryan Watts said they’ve now seen the birds struggling to reproduce for more than a decade.
His team published a study earlier this year recording the lowest number of osprey chicks since the 1970s. They said the baby birds are dying of starvation, and posit that’s because there aren’t enough menhaden for them to eat.