September 17, 2012 –In an announcement for a talk to be given by Chris Moore, a Senior Scientist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation headlined "Decades of Menhaden Overfishing Takes Toll," the Williamsburg (Virginia) Climate Action Network states the following:
"The menhaden is a diminutive fish that is rich in protein. Each year tens of thousands of tons of this fish are harvested and processed in Reedville, Virginia, then turned into fish oil for human food supplements and food for livestock."
"This small resident of the Chesapeake Bay plays an important role in the food chain that supports local wildlife including osprey and striped bass. As industrial fishing practices continue to diminish the menhaden population, the health of the Bay ecosystem and those species that depend on the menhaden to survive are adversely affected"
This event is hosted by the York River Group of the Sierra Club. It is free, and open to the public, and will be held at the Sandy Bottom Nature Park Nature Center starting at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 19th. Read the announcement at the Williamsburg Climate Action Network.
Analysis:
While the post's headline references "decades of menhaden overfishing," this is an oft-repeated but misleading statement derived from an equally misleading observation recently promulgated in an online petition by the Pew Environment Group. In the petition, Pew stated for dramatic effect, “overfishing has occurred in 32 of the last 54 years," but failed to mention that 30 of those 32 instances occurred between 1954-1993.
According to the 2010 menhaden stock assessment, issued by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), menhaden are not considered to be overfished, meaning that the stock is producing the target number of eggs to sustain itself. Overfishing of menhaden has become increasingly rare, occurring only twice from 1994-2008 (the last 15 years for which there is data), most recently in 2008 and only by 0.4%.
NOAA's Chesapeake Bay Office states, "menhaden recruitment appears to be independent of fishing mortality and spawning stock biomass, indicating environmental factors may be the defining factor in the production of good year classes." This means that the most important factor determining the size of the menhaden stock is more likely environmental factors, rather than pressure from commercial fishing.
The post also includes reference to menhaden as "the most important fish in the sea." This qualitative judgement is derived from the book The Most Important Fish in the Sea, by Rutgers English professor H. Bruce Franklin. There is no scientific evidence supporting the hyperbolic statement that any one species of fish is "most important," and promulgating this idea represents only the authors' opinion rather than any scientific consensus.