ALEXANDRIA, VA – Tangible management of menhaden in the Atlantic moved another step closer to reality this week when the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) voted to send a series of management options for this critical forage species out to public hearings.
Menhaden management has long been a sore point among conservationists as intense commercial harvest of the species in the Chesapeake Bay has added to factors believed to be negatively impacting striped bass and other gamefish all along the East Coast. The primary industrial harvester of Atlantic menhaden, Omega Protein, has never had its harvest effectively restricted and stands as one of the very few commercial fishing operations in the country to successfully avoid management measures that might impact its bottom line.
There is also a completely unregulated bait fishery that targets menhaden throughout its East Coast range. Comprised of boats of all sizes, from large mid-water trawlers to small skiffs, it supplies bait to both the commercial and recreational fishery. The quantity of menhaden harvested by that industry has never been comprehensively assessed, but it is undoubtedly significant. In addition, the fishery is believed to be expanding as northeastern lobstermen seek a substitute for the more strictly regulated, Atlantic herring, which is decreasing in abundance.
The most current menhaden stock assessment showed the stock was undergoing overfishing and abundance estimates were at the lowest level ever recorded. Current science indicates that the menhaden spawning stock biomass is at about 9 percent of a stock that is not subjected to any fishing pressure. With the vote this week, the ASMFC has put into play management options that could increase the spawning stock biomass to15 percent or more.
Analysis: It is not true that Omega's fishing operations in the Chesapeake Bay are completely unregulated. Currently, they're limited to 109,020 metric tons a year by the ASMFC, a rate that neither has lead to overfishing nor caused the population to be overfished. It is also not true that the ASMFC's limit does nothing to protect the menhaden population. According to the last stock assessment by the ASMFC, the menhaden population met 99% of its fecundity target, and, at 198% of its limit, is twice the size of a population that would be considered overfished.