Conservation & Environment

Growing up I hated bunker, a slang word for menhaden. I worked on the party boats and bunker were a job, something that had to be backed, chunked and ground into chum every morning and every evening before we went bluefishing.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission stated in their August 2011 Draft Addendum to the Fishery Management plan for Atlantic menhaden that the menhaden population has declined steadily and recruitment has been low since the last peak was observed in the early 1980s.

There are three types of fishermen making use of Atlantic menhaden. Recreational fishermen, commercial bait fishermen, and a single reduction fleet operated by Omega Protein, Inc.

Numbers on what recreational anglers take with cast and seine nets and snag hooks is based on MRFSS data and recognized by the ASMFC to be flawed. For example, in 2009 the recreational sector caught zero metric tons of bunker while averaging 126 metric tons a year since 1981 to the present. If that information is recognized to be flawed, how exact is the rest of the information?

“I think the response is very overblown. We have no problem with reasonable limits. We’re not opposed to a coast wide cap on bunker but how do you implement that? There are a lot of question marks here and we need better science from the ASMFC,” Jeff Kaelin from Lunds Fisheries in Cape May said.

Lunds operates commercial bait boats. On the entire Atlantic coast, the bait boats averaged catches of 36,000 metric tons of menhaden per year from 1985 to 2010. The commercial bait boats from New England have a substantial range, from Maine to New Jersey.

At their public hearings earlier in October, the ASMFC reported commercial bait boats accounted for 20 percent of the total menhaden harvest or 44,000 metric tons in 2010. The recreational sector accounted for less than a one percent. The rest of the harvest, 80 percent of it, came from Omega’s reduction fleet operating out of Reedville, Va.

Read the full article at MyCentralJersey.com

Analysis: When discussing the current health of the menhaden fishery, the article fails to mention that the most recent data collected indicates no pattern of overfishing. The most recent stock assessment concluded that menhaden were not overfished, and overfishing had only occurred once in the last ten years.

 

 

In an effort to help in communicating to the ASMFC our concern over the chronic overfishing of Atlantic Menhaden, Stripercoast Surfcasters Club urges fishermen coastwide to send in public comment on the ASMFC's Addendum V to the Atlantic Menhaden Fisheries Management Plan. 

Menhaden (also known as bunker or pogies), arguably one of the most important fish on the east coast, have been over fished in 32 of the last 54 years, and the menhaden population has declined by at least 88% in the last 3 decades.

It is time for the ASMFC to take a proactive approach to the management of this fishery and uphold its mission statement of achieving "Healthy, self-sustaining populations for all Atlantic Coast fish species, or successful restoration well in progress, by the year 2015." and curb the over harvest of this important forage fish.

The public comment period on this Addendum to reduce Atlantic Menhaden Harvest is open until 5pm on November 2, 2011.   PLEASE take a moment to send in your support of harvest reduction and stricter management measures!!

For a template email that you can copy/paste, and for more details on this subject, please visit: http://www.stripercoastsurfcasters.us/forum/showthread.p …

Jacob Freeman
National Chapter President
Stripercoast Surfcasters Club
http://www.stripercoastsurfcasters.us

Read the petition here.

Analysis: The petition's claim that menhaden is "chronically overfished" is not supported by recent fisheries data, which does not indicate a pattern of overfishing. In the most recent stock assessment, menhaden were not considered overfished, and overfishing had only occurred once in the last ten years.

 

 

What does the shortage of Atlantic menhaden mean to our striped bass fishery?

For starters, this high protein, nutrient-filled filter of the sea is an important staple. This fundamental resource supplies dietary essentials necessary to maintain healthy populations of stripers and other predaceous fish. Without an ample supply, Morone saxatilis is forced to forage on less healthy sea life, ultimately causing infections, disease and direct negative impacts to their ability to populate.

Unfortunately, there's no underwater pharmacy to prescribe nourishing supplements. The only source of protection would be to further prioritize this fishery and enhance our comprehensive Atlantic states management program. Bunker, as we call them (pogy up north), is believed to be one family of fish, as opposed to multiple families. For example, one family of striped bass originates from the Chesapeake, another from the Hudson and even a holdover population in Connecticut.
The problem lies with balancing the social and economic needs of the commercial industry, recreational industry, and a sustainable fishery population. We have a serious case of over-fishing. The demand for Atlantic menhaden is greater than its current population can withstand. They winter off the coast of Virginia and are processed by a Chesapeake reduction plant for fish oil and meal, protein supplements, food filler, and fertilizer, etc. Almost 40 percent of the total Atlantic coast landings by weight is generated from this one fishery. From the purse seines of trawlers to a mother ship to conveyer belts at the docks then loaded into tractor-trailers, tons of these fish are carted to a processing plant daily. One family of fish cannot withstand such pressure indefinitely! The Bay states have already seen what malnutrition is doing and are witnessing a decline in their striped bass population. Therefore, biological and environmental impacts must also be considered. Efforts are underway by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to conduct public hearings on Draft Addendum V to the Atlantic Menhaden Fishery Management Plan. The draft proposes "establishing a new interim fishing mortality threshold and target based on maximum spawning potential with the goal of increasing abundance, spawning stock biomass, and menhaden availability as a forage species." A full draft can be viewed at www.asmfc.org/ under the link "Breaking News."

 Read the full article at The Day.

Analysis: Recent data collected on the menhaden fishery does not support the article's claim that it is experiencing a "serious case of overfishing." The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's (ASMFC) most recent assessment concluded that menhaden were currently not overfished. Incidences of overfishing have also been rare in the past ten years, having only occurred once (2008). This, along with an abundance level that is currently at target, does not indicate a pattern of overfishing in the Bay.

The article's claim that an alleged lack of menhaden are responsible for health problems in bass is also overstated. Menhaden are just one component of bass diet. They can make up as little as 9% of prey, as what bass eat is dependent on several factors independent of the menhaden fishery, including location of other prey species and water quality. The water quality factor also plays a role in the sickness in striped bass that the article mentions. Because run-off in the Bay has created low oxygen areas in the waters that bass usually inhabit, they are increasingly forced to feed in warmer, shallower waters; the temperature is not optimal for the bass, and as a result they can't feed properly. This makes them vulnerable to a number of diseases.

 

 

 

The Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) met this week in Miami, where James Bruggers and other anointed bloggers and Tweeters kept active by reporting in 140-charcter blips from the SEJ panel events. One blogger Imelda Albano, President of Phil Network of Environmental Journalists, Inc. said of the event via the SEJ Twitter feed, “an excellent venue for env't journalists from West and South to learn from each other in making our society a sustainable one.”

Bruggers’ is a fairly standard response from many reporters today, particularly those in the freelance game. Many newsroom journalists are losing their jobs to attrition, cutbacks and corporate merger, while some of the ancillary op-ed writers, sports personalities and ‘bloggers’ have been kept around to keep a local slant on things – inexpensively at that – while newsrooms are being thoroughly decimated. In response, many longtime columnists have seen a burgeoning opportunity – in years past, their articles were significantly scrutinized, regularly cut, sliced, diced and edited down by experienced copy editors, managing editors and even fully engaged publishers who understood the difference between opinion pieces and balanced reports.

Today’s ‘beat’ freelancers have little editorial scrutiny in what they provide, as most copy ‘chiefs’ are too focused on keeping Section One copy flowing through rapidly shrinking paper real estate to worry about the Section Three sport reporters and Section Five environmental ‘beat’ reporters. Since this new breed of reporter has been given carte blanche ability to post their stories directly to personal blogs and Twitter accounts without submitting through the proper chain of command, “fair and balanced” has been effectively replaced in the 21st Century by “quick and cheap.” It’s ‘fast food nation’ for the rip and read set, as print professionals, once born, bred and trained in newsroom nerve centers have been removed from their post, while pure subject matter experts – the anointed ones – have been given the front door key to the newspaper by being allowed uber access to blog site, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The fishing representatives on the panel try to point out how notable scientific gaps in reporting through NOAA have left fishermen suffering not from science but by lack of science; they then explain to SEJ attendees that fish don’t exist upon every square inch of the ocean, and the 5% to 15% of oceans that some environmental groups would like to make off-limits to fishermen through creation of no access, no take marine reserves are actually the prime areas of oceans where fish congregate around productive structure and habitat.

Look, up in the sky….

“Fisheries lobbyist demonstrating he's completing unreasonable, opposes any restrictions on commercial fishing,” Tweets Brad Johnson, ThinkProgress Green Editor at the Center for American Progress.

“Big science crush on Daniel Pauly,” Westervelt Tweets.

“Me too,” gushes Jamie Jennings of Island Press.

Westervelt reports that Dr. Pauly is “Keeping it real with NOAA and fishermen on fish fight panel.”

Word to your mother.

Pew Environment Group’s Dave Bard says “fixing overfishing benefits everyone.” His former coworker from Pew now employed as Dr. Lubchenco handler and media spokesperson through NOAA Fisheries said of the Fish Fight panel, “a whole lot of agreeing going on. When it comes to catch shares, MPAs, science, etc, design matters most.”

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Read the complete story from Recreational Fishing Alliance

 

 

 

 

Menhaden, a tiny fish considered “the most important in the sea,” is making big waves off the Atlantic coast.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), which manages the menhaden, discovered a technical error in how they had been measuring the stocks of the forage fish that showed overfishing had occured in two of the last ten years. In fact, a longer view of the Atlantic menhaden stocks indicated that the small fry had, in fact, been overfished for more than half of the fishing seasons over the last 54 years. (Whoops!)

The ASMFC has been gathering comments through public hearings in preparation for a November meeting in Boston where they could adjust future harvest limits, and ultimately determine the fate of Atlantic menhaden stocks.

Why are menhaden important? They’re filter feeders that swim together in large schools, and it’s believed that each tiny fish can filter phytoplankton from four to six gallons of water per minute. But heavy exploitation of the fishery has meant declining numbers. That’s important when you consider the water quality in areas like the Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound, where shrinking numbers of menhaden have coincided with algae blooms, pollution, and dead zones.

Menhaden are also an extraordinarily important link in the food chain. They are feeder fish for larger predatory fish, including sea trout, bluefish, wreckfish, tuna, and most especially, striped bass, whose stocks are suffering from disease (mycobacteriosis) and malnourishment.

So just where have all the menhaden gone?

A whopping 80 percent of the harvest is being taken by Houston-based Omega Protein, which targets the fish for its abundance of oil. Menhaden are literally vacuumed up at sea, ground up and reduced to fish meal and fish oil, much of which is then used in dietary supplements or as feed in aquaculture, dairy cow, and hog operations.

We’re talking about vast quantities of these small, silvery fish. In 2010, the reduction fishery landed 183,085 [PDF] metric tons of menhaden, followed by the commercial bait fishery, which landed 44,000 metric tons.

The majority of the menhaden harvest is taking place in the state waters off Virginia and a small section of North Carolina—the only Atlantic states that haven’t outright banned menhaden fishing by those looking to produce fish oil. But menhaden are also being harvested in federal waters, three to 200 miles offshore, from New Jersey to North Carolina.

That’s why the upcoming the decision by the ASMFC (and the hearings leading up to it) is so important. It’s possible that board members may consider setting new harvest limits designed to preserve a significantly larger portion of the menhaden spawning stock (i.e. wild fish that are left alone to reproduce).

Read the full article at Grist.

Analysis: The article omits several important facts about the menhaden fishery. Most notably is that, according to the ASMFC, the menhaden fishery is currently not considered to be overfished, and the population is currently meeting its fecundity target.

The article also overstates the importance of menhaden as a source of food for species like bass, and mistakenly implies that menhaden are responsible for cases of mycobacteriosis that have been reported in bass. Bass diets, as well as the diets of the Bay predators, is highly variable and is dependant on several factors independent of the menhaden fishery; menhaden have been found to make up as little as 9.6% of bass diets. A lack of menhaden is also not a likely cause of mycobacteriosis. Rather, it is more likely caused by bass being forced out of the deeper, colder water they normally inhabit by low-oxygen zones, know as hypoxia. These hypoxia zones, caused by run-off in the Bay, force bass to move to warmer waters where that they are ill-suited for, causing them to not feed properly and leading to increased susceptibility to a variety of diseases.

Finally, menhaden's role as a filter feeder, as mentioned in the article, is also in doubt. A recent study found that menhaden's contributions to improving water quality are negligible.

 

 

 

“You all are talking about cutting my pay!” Those were the impassioned words from third-generation bait fisherman Capt. Larry Powley at Tuesday night’s public hearing on menhaden in Annapolis, Maryland.

Powley is concerned—as many watermen are—that possible changes to the way menhaden are managed will destroy his livelihood and way of life on Hooper’s Island.

In August, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) announced its decision to consider changes to its management plan for the Atlantic menhaden population, which has reached its lowest point on record—a mere 8 percent of what it once was. A keystone species for the entire marine ecosystem, menhaden are often called, “the most important fish in the sea.” As CBF’s Senior Naturalist John Page Williams says, “We are simply not leaving enough menhaden in our coastal waters to sustain the fish and birds that have depended on them for thousands of years.” Not to mention the thousands of water-related jobs up and down the Atlantic coast which depend on the survival of this fish now and for many years to come.

Tuesday night’s meeting was just one of 13 public hearings taking place throughout the next few weeks to solicit comments from communities along the East Coast about what to do about menhaden. The mild October evening had brought together a packed and mixed crowd of suits and sandals alike, eager to voice their thoughts on menhaden overfishing thresholds and fishing rate targets.

Though Powley’s concerns are valid, Williams emphasizes that there’s no interest in running anyone out of business, but rather ensuring the sustainability of this incredibly important species, both for us and for the coastal food webs. “What we’re talking about tonight is how to keep the stock from crashing. Today, the coastal stock of Atlantic menhaden is at its lowest level on record . . . A stock collapse is a real possibility. We must allow the Atlantic menhaden stock to rebound, just as we have done over the past 25 years for rockfish and crabs.”

In the end, the menhaden population needs to increase to a point where it can support a fishery and fulfill its vital ecological role. “Must we crash a valuable natural resource before we get religion and respond effectively? Or will we heed the warning signs and back off before a crash?” Williams questions. “The second course is much more responsible and less expensive in the long run, for both the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem and us, the human community that it supports.”

Read the full article at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Analysis: Despite claims that menhaden are at their "lowest point on record" recent data collected on the fishery does not indicate that it is being fished at an unsustainable rate or that the stock is in danger of collapse. The ASMFC's recent stock survey concluded that menhaden were not overfished, and that overfishing only occurred once in the last ten years. Similarly, while menhaden are currently fished to 8% of their Maximum Spawning Potential (MSP), this is not unusual; the stock has rarely risen above 10% MSP, and at this level they have traditionally been able to successfully reproduce themselves.

 

FishChoice, a nonprofit dedicated to helping the seafood supply chain buy and sell sustainable seafood, will begin featuring FishWatch and Fish Stock Sustainability Index (FSSI) scores, programs of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, or NOAA Fisheries, as part of the information resources on sustainable seafood available at FishChoice.com.

“As our nation turns the corner on ending overfishing and rebuilding our domestic fisheries, it’s important for consumers to be aware of the investment and progress being made to sustain our domestic fisheries and ensure healthy, sustainable seafood is available for generations to come,” said Eric Schwaab, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries.

“We are pleased FishChoice has included FishWatch as part of their informational resource base to enable their customers to track and support our sustainable seafood journey”, Schwaab added.

NOAA’s FSSI scores track the sustainability of the Nation’s key commercial and recreational fish stocks and complexes with respect to their current population size and harvest rates.

The score takes into account if the overfishing and overfished statuses are known for a stock and if these statuses are above or below prescribed levels.

Read the complete story from Fish Information & Services

 

 

 

 

 

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission met in Annapolis on Tuesday to hear input concerning phase one of its possible implementation plan regarding menhaden, the most important fish in the sea.

What is a menhaden? Also known as bunker and alewives, the menhaden is a food fish that also serves as a filter feeder that helps clean the water it lives in. It is rich in oil and nutrients that keep predator fish healthy.
It is, in fact, the mainstay of rockfish, bluefish, sea trout and other species. Without this prey species, target fish lose their health, catch diseases such as pfisteria and micobacteriosis and remain skinny.
Once abundant, the menhaden now is at an all-time low of 8 percent of their capacity. Yet, the ASMFC maintains that the species is not overfished.
The reduction industry is the scourge of the fish. Located in Reedville, Va., Omega Protein is one of two places on the East Coast that kills the vast majority (80 percent) of fish.
Here is how they do it: A mother ship goes out to sea, keeping in touch with spotter planes equipped with heat sensors that detect large schools of menhaden. These planes relay the information back to the mother ship, which then sends out two smaller vessels deploying purse seines, effectively surrounding the entire school. The two vessels come together, joining back at the mother ship, where the fish are sucked into a huge vacuum onto the hold of the ship. The fish are then iced down and put into the hold until the ship docks.
Later, they are converted into cat food, dog food and Omega Protein capsules and sold in local drug stores.
The bottom line is that one industry is allowed to kill a valuable resource for monetary gain. Is it financially feasible for them to do this? Only because they are subsidized by NOAA, which has funded them for years. What is NOAA? It the federal group that is "the watchdog beyond the EEZ." Simply put, NOAA is a federal agency responsible for maintaining a safe balance of marine species beyond the three-mile zone near the coast.

Read the full article at the Cecil Whig.

Analysis: The article gets several facts wrong about the menhaden fishery and the ecological role of menhaden. While it is correct in noting that menhaden are not considered by the ASMFC to be overfished, it is misleading when it claims that menhaden are at 8 percent of their historical abundance. Currently, menhaden are fished to 8% of their Maximum Spawning Potential (MSP), which is not a historical number, but rather a population estimate of a theoretical unfished population. An 8% MSP is not a sign of an overfished population; menhaden have rarely exceeded 10% MSP in the past few decades, and the population hasin the past been able to rebuild itself at that level.

The article's claim that a low menhaden population is responsible for mycobacteriosis in sea bass is not unanimously supported. Sea bass diets are variable and depend on factors unrelated to the menhaden fishery, such as the availability of other prey species. A recent survey has found that menhaden can make up as little as 9.6% of sea bass diets.

Similarly, the cause of mycobacteriosis in bass is less likely due to diet and more likely due to environmental factors, such as the "thermal niche/oxygen squeeze" theory. Currently, large amounts of run-off in the Bay have created areas with low levels of oxygen, called hypoxia, in cold waters that bass traditionally inhabit. Because the waters that they are most suited to are uninhabitable, bass spend more time in warmer, shallower waters. The temperature of these waters are too high for the bass to feed properly, leading to a variety of health problems, including susceptibility to mycobacteriosis.

 

 

 

Equating the stocking of menhaden in Maryland's waters to a set of traffic lights, Mike Waine sees the current plight somewhere closer to red than green.

Waine, the fisheries management coordinator for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, said Tuesday's two-hour hearing in Annapolis helped gauge the public's view on the overfishing of menhaden — and the future management of the species.

Once considered a delicacy, menhaden are now more highly regarded as the main forager of unwanted algae as well as a source of food for the region's striped bass population.

According to Waine, the overfishing of menhaden this year for the first time in nine years prompted the ASMFC and other interested parties to draft an addendum to the current regulations regarding menhaden.

Waine said the goal is to reduce the fishing mortality rate of menhaden — those extracted from the waters by fishermen — and to spend the new few years studying other species of fish to see how they compare to menhaden when it comes to overfishing.

"In the stoplight analogy, the green light is fishing at the target rate and the red light is when we get to the threshhold — the level which we don't want to surpass" in terms of overfishing, Waine said. "Right now we're at a yellow light, but we don't want it to become red."

Among the suggestions made in the addendum is to leave 15 percent of the breeding stock in the water. As of now, that level is about 8 percent. Also proposed are targets between 20 and 40 percent to avoid overfishing.

Dave Smith, executive director of the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermen's Association, said "that 40 percent target will help reduce the harvest by about 45 percent" and will continue to feed striped bass.

"If that food source collapses for striped bass, it's just a domino effect," Smith said.

Read the full article at the Baltimore Sun.

Analysis: It is important to note, as the article does, that overfishing of the menhaden fishery has been limited to one year in the past ten, and despite this, the fishery is not currently judged to be overfished.

However, the article is more imprecise regarding menhaden's ecological role. For example, while the article refers to menhaden as "the main forager of unwanted algae," a recent study concluded that menhaden have little net impact on water quality. And while the article asserts that menhaden are an irreplaceable part of striped bass diet, the reality is more complicated; bass diet is based on several variables unrelated to the fishery, including the location and availability of other prey species. A recent ongoing survey found that menhaden can form as little as 9.6% of bass diets.

 

 

 

 

The Coastal Conservation Association/Virginia says that the current menhaden management system has allowed this critically important fish species to decline to the lowest abundance ever recorded.

Currently, overfishing of menhaden by the “reduction industry” (it includes Northern Neck commercial netters who sell the menhaden to plants that turn the little oily fish into various products) is occurring and has been for 32 of the last 54 years, says the CCA. In August the ASMFC approved Draft Addendum V to the Atlantic Menhaden Fishery Management Plan while proposing new rebuilding targets, all of which will increase menhaden abundance. A copy of Addendum V and the public hearing schedule for the Atlantic Coast can be found on the ASMFC website at http://www.asmfc.org/public

Read the full article at Gene Mueller's World of Fishing and Hunting.

Analysis: The article's claim that "overfishing of menhaden by the 'reduction industry'…is occuring" is misleading and does not accurately reflect the health of the fishery. While it is true that, according to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), overfishing did occur in 2008, it is the only time in the last ten years it has occured. The amount of overfishing was not enough to affect the long-term health of the fishery, however, as the ASMFC declared in the same stock assessment that menhaden were not overfished.