Public meetings are now scheduled to let the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) know how you feel about better protecting the population of Atlantic menhaden.
Hearings in the Chesapeake Bay region will be:
• Sept. 26, 7 p.m., Delaware Dept. of Natural Resources & Environmental Control, Lewes Field Facility, 901 Pilottown Road, Lewes, Del. For more information, contact Jeff Tinsman at Jeffrey.Tinsman@state.de.us.
• Oct. 11, 6 p.m., Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources, Tawes State Office Building, C1 Conference Room, 580 Taylor Avenue, Annapolis, Maryland. For more information, contact Lynn Fegley at lfegley@dnr.state.md.us.
• Oct. 17, 6 p.m., Virginia Marine Resources Commission, Northumberland High School Auditorium, 201 Academic Lane, Heathsville, Va. For more information, contact Jack Travelstead at jack.travelstead@mrc.virginia.gov.
• Oct. 18, 6:30 p.m., Potomac River Fisheries Commission, John T Parran Hearing Room, 222 Taylor Street, Colonial Beach, Va. For more information, contact AC Carpenter at ac.prfc@verizon.net.
Menhaden filter plankton from coastal waters and serve as a major food source for striped bass and a range of fish, marine mammals, and sea birds. They also are the object of an intense industrial fishery for manufacturing cosmetics, fish oil pills, and animal feed, and are caught and used as bait for crabs and other species.
A recent assessment of menhaden stocks found them at their lowest levels since records have been kept and concluded that menhaden, often dubbed “the most important fish in the sea,” have been overfished for most of the past 50 years. ASMFC, therefore, is proposing new standards for management to rebuild the population. One proposal maintains the status quo.
If you think ASMFC should take more aggressive action to protect menhaden, better show up at one of the hearings or write the ASMFC by going to its website, www.asmfc.org, and clicking on “Public Input” and the “Draft Addendum V…. Menhaden.” Public comment closes Nov. 2. Make no mistake: influential, well-heeled interests are working hard to oppose changes in current menhaden management. If you disagree, speak up.
Read the full article at the Bay Daily.
Analysis: The article makes the misleading claim that menhaden have been overfished for "most of the last 50 years." While overfishing had occured 32 times in the last 50 years, it has only occured once in the last ten years, and the most recent ASMFC assessment concludes that the population is not overfished. There is also considerable doubt as to menhaden's effectiveness as filter feeders, as a recent Virginia Instute of Marine Science study concluded they have negligible impact on water quality.