There soon will be limits on catching what has been dubbed "the most important fish in the sea."
At a meeting in Boston Wednesday, regulators set targets for the size of the East Coast menhaden population and how much can safely be harvested each year.
That decision will lead to a 37 percent cut in the harvest, primarily affecting one industrial fishing company based on the Chesapeake Bay. The company turns menhaden into fish meal and fish oil.
Menhaden aren't eaten by humans, but are the preferred food for bigger predator fish, including Chesapeake Bay striped bass.
"If striped bass could speak, they'd be hooting and hollering," Chesapeake Bay Foundation President Will Baker said in a statement. "The commission's decision will mean more food for stripers, which have been beset by malnutrition. And bluefish, ospreys, eagles and bay critters that feed on menhaden are celebrating, too."
Yesterday's action was taken by a panel called the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
The commission oversees species that travel among states along the coast. Each state has three members who vote as a bloc on issues.
The decision is a blow to Omega Protein, the last surviving company that catches menhaden and breaks it down so it can be used in animal feed, household products and human health supplements.
Read the full article at The Capital.
Analysis: The article quotes environmental advocates who assert that current health issues with striped bass and other fish are the result of a lack of forage fish such as menhaden. However, such a claim is not universally supported; a more likely explanation is that the malnutrition in bass is the result of environmental factors in the Chesapeake Bay. Currently, run-off in the Bay has created areas of hypoxia, or low oxygen, in the colder waters that bass usually inhabit. This forces them into warmer, shallower waters, which the bass are ill-suited for. The thermal stress causes them to not feed properly, leading to a variety of diseases and health problems.