May 1, 2012 – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will again have menhaden management on its agenda at it spring meeting in Alexandria this week.
The menhaden management board will convene Wednesday, the last day of the meeting, primarily to decide how the staff should go about drafting a proposed amendment to the commission’s menhaden management plan.
Jack Travelstead, the acting commissioner of the Virginia Marine Fisheries Commission, and a member of the board, said Friday that during the winter, the commission had a series of public meetings and accepted comments regarding how, if at all, menhaden catches should be curtailed. At the meeting May 3, the board will be briefed on the comments received and the options contained in them, he said.
In the past, the board has often had the staff include all suggested options in draft amendments which put out for public comment, Travelstead said. That may not be the case this time because so many options were presented in the meetings and comment period, he said.
With the board’s guidance, the staff will prepare the draft amendment which will be available for approval at the board’s August meeting. If adopted, the proposed amendment will then be put up for public comment.
Travelstead said that the options suggested during the comment period ran the gamut from shutting down commercial menhaden fishing to not changing the current rules for the industry.
Read the full story at the Northumberland Echo.