Citing “significant” public interest in the Atlantic Menhaden Board meeting set for this Wednesday in Boston, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission announced that it will be adding 60 seats to the meeting room for the public.
Considering that the commission received nearly 92,000 comments from 13 public hearings held from Maine to North Carolina on menhaden, it may want to add a few more chairs.
The agenda item that’s generating so much attention is Draft Addendum V to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden.
The Draft Addendum proposes establishing a new fishing mortality threshold and target with the intent of increasing abundance, spawning stock biomass and menhaden availability as a forage species.
Mossbunker has been called the most important fish in the sea because of the critical role it plays in the health of so many species — and industries.
Striped bass, bluefish, weakfish and other important species all rely heavily on bunker as a forage fish. Commercial fishermen harvest bunker to provide bait for lobster, crab and recreational fishermen. And one company, Omega Protein, accounts for 80 percent of the annual menhaden catch to produce products from cat food to vitamins.
The public meeting held in September and October of this year drew interested parties for the recreational and commercial sectors anxious to protect both menhaden and their access to the stock.
The ASMFC noted that there will not be a whole lot of opportunity for public comment at Wednesday’s meeting as that was the purpose of the public comment period that ended on Nov. 2.
Read the full article at the Asbury Park Press.