April 18, 2012 – Have you had your menhaden today? No?
Well, you probably have – you just didn’t know it. Don’t worry, you’re not alone! Most of us know nothing about this little guy, but he’s been in our daily lives for well over a hundred years now…
The problem is… you guessed it! Overfishing. Menhaden is actually America’s second largest fishery, just behind Alaska Pollock – which was on the verge of collapse but is thankfully starting to rebound. Or not! Turns out it depends on who you listen to – but this PDF report shows that while production is down pollock is still not listed as ‘overfished’.
The Omega Protein company harvests thousands of tons of menhaden every year. They literally vacuum them out of the water with specialized ships – entire schools at a time. To their credit, they have abided by (and even extended!) harvesting limitations to provide the menhaden time to rebound… but is it enough?
The problem with overfishing in this case is that menhaden are forage fish – bigger fish eat them. Basically, menhaden are a vital part of the food chain. They eat algae and tidbits of phytoplankton, and are in turn eaten by the fish WE eat.
Read the full story here.
Analysis: While the article states that overfishing is currently a problem with Atlantic menhaden. However, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), the body that oversees the Atlantic menhaden fishery, determined in its 2010 stock assessment that menhaden were not overfished, and that overfishing had occurred only once in the last 10 years. They also concluded that it is most likely environmental, not fishery-related, factors that have the most influence on the size of the menahden population.