BALTIMORE — December 13, 2012 — Fisheries regulators vote Friday on whether to cut the size of the legal catch of the environmentally important menhaden, an oily fish prized for use in dietary supplements, cosmetics and animal feed
The vote is a key milestone in the decades-old battle over the fish that scientists say are a key food source for larger species and a filter feeder that improve water quality in areas such as the Chesapeake Bay.
However, any cuts would affect an Omega Protein processing plant in Reedville, Va., which lands about 80 percent of the catch along the Atlantic coast and employs about 300. The harvest of the small fish makes Reedville the No. 2 fishing port in the U.S. based on total catch weight.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission planned to vote on how much to cut the harvest and how to allocate the remaining catch. The options facing the 15-state commission range from the status quo to cutting the current harvest in half and would take effect for the upcoming season.
Jay Odell, the Mid-Atlantic director for the Nature Conservancy, said managing a fishery the size of the menhaden fishery without harvest limits is unusual.
Read the full story by the Associated Press in the Virginian-Pilot