NEW ORLEANS — One the ocean’s smallest fish, which has one of the biggest impacts – the Atlantic menhaden – earned some protections Friday. The National Coalition for Marine Conservation on Monday said the protections showed that “conservation of Atlantic menhaden finally entered the 21st century.”
The new Atlantic fisheries target will work to bring the fish to four times its current population and will reduce a coast-wide catch by 20 percent from the average of landings from 2009-2011. The limits, which will be implemented in 2013, represent an about 25 percent reduction from 2011 catch levels, according to a release by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
Louis Daniel, chair of the menhaden board, told an audience of about 200 fishermen and environmentalists that the board took the action "to address the ecosystem services provided by Atlantic menhaden" as well as "to ensure the long-term sustainability of the resource and the fisheries that depend on it.”
"The future of Atlantic menhaden and our coastal ecosystem just got a lot brighter," stated National Coalition for Marine Conservation president Ken Hinman, who was in Baltimore for the meeting. "As we restore menhaden numbers, we will be providing badly needed food for a long list of wild animals, from striped bass to humpback whales, predators whose supply of prey has dwindled, stifling their ability to sustain healthy populations."
Read the full story in the Times-Picayune