ALEXANDRIA, Va. — August 9, 2012 — A plan to reduce fishing for Atlantic menhaden along the East Coast moved ahead Wednesday, though the scale of the cutback came into question amid new doubts about how much overfishing has hurt the economically and ecologically important species.
A panel of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates all inshore fishing from Maine to Florida, voted to seek public comment on whether to slash the commercial catch of menhaden by up to 50 percent, though it left the door open to making smaller cuts.
Called by many the most important fish in the sea, menhaden aren't fished for direct human consumption, but they're widely harvested commercially, with three-fourths of them caught by a Virginia-based company that processes them into animal feed and diet supplements.
Menhaden also serve as food for many birds and other fish, including striped bass, highly prized by recreational anglers and commercial fishermen alike.
Conservationists and recreational fishermen have been warning for years that menhaden are being depleted, and officials began drafting plans to cut the harvest after scientists warned three years ago that the population had dwindled to 8 percent of its historic levels.
The fisheries panel decided last fall to move ahead with cutting back the menhaden harvest, but the plan came in for extensive modification Wednesday. The panel ruled out slashing the catch by 75 percent — one of several changes made because scientific advisers developed serious concerns about the computer model used to assess the depletion of the stock.
Read the full story at the Baltimore Sun.