October 19, 2012 — A 15-state commission will decide in December whether to sharply reduce fishing harvests of Atlantic menhaden. The fish, considered vital to the health of the Chesapeake Bay, is the focus of public hearings this month from North Carolina to Maine. Last night, members of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission heard from Virginians in danger of losing their jobs at the only menhaden processing plant left on the East Coast.
Omega Protein’s Reedville factory processes millions of pounds of menhaden into fish oil supplements and other products. When the commission said menhaden was being over-fished, powerful environmentalists like Pew Charitable Trusts came out against the Houston-based company. Chris Moore, a scientist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation says the fish stock is at historic lows affecting striped bass and osprey that normally feed on them.
“Menhaden are no longer fulfilling their ecological role and the only way to fix that is to increase the population in the Chesapeake Bay and along the entire Atlantic Coast.”
Many at the hearing don’t believe the science and even the commission admits some of its data is flawed. Phillip Haynie’s family has worked menhaden boats for five generations.
“What’s really in danger here tonight is not the fish but a community and a way of life, the people are in danger.”
Read the full story at NPR affiliate WVTF