August 5, 2016 — The coastwide menhaden quota for next year was not set in Alexandria, Virginia, where the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission had convened this week for its summer session.
The commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board deliberated all Wednesday morning but was not able to get a majority vote on any of the several options it had been presented with.
It could have raised the coastwide harvest by as little as 20 million pounds to as much as 165 million pounds. Or it could have left it at the status quo of 415 million pounds. There were no choices to reduce the catch.
“They were throwing out all these options, a 20 percent increase, a 10 percent increase…but when it came time to vote they kept coming to a tie over and over again,” said Paul Eidman, a recreational charter boat captain, who listened to the hearings via conference call.
Atlantic coastal states where menhaden aren’t as plentiful or where there is less demand for the bait, voted against any quota hike more than 5 percent.
Tina Berger, ASMFC spokesperson, said the board will vote again at the annual meeting in late October.