January 17, 2015 — Two years ago, a small fish created big trouble between Chesapeake Bay environmentalists and commercial fishermen.
Environmentalists backed by scientific data said Atlantic menhaden were being over-fished. Commercial fishermen disagreed. New data collected by scientists show the fishermen were probably right.
A draft of the latest bench assessment using new data says, “Based on the current adopted benchmarks, the Atlantic menhaden stock status is not over-fished and over-fishing is not occurring.”
“It’s really what Omega Protein and others in the fishing community have said for a long time,” said Ben Landry, a spokesman for the Houston-based company. “Previous stock assessments did not accurately reflect what the population looked like in the water.”
Menhaden is eaten by fish and birds, used as bait by watermen and anglers, and rendered by Omega Protein to make fish-oil supplements. Traveling in large schools, the fish move up and down the coast and in and out of bays, making them difficult for biologists to ensure they're not being over-fished.
Read the full story from the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star