May 27, 2014 — Ben Landry, director of public affairs for Omega, contended the cap was unevenly enforced along the coast. Several states, particularly Maryland, which he said had been “the most vocally supportive of coastwide menhaden harvest cuts,” exceeded limits when menhaden bycatch in other fisheries was included. “The state appears to have taken few steps to limit or control the large amount of menhaden caught and landed as bycatch, as that ultimately accounted for more than half of Maryland’s total landings,” Landry said in an opinion piece distributed by seafoodnews.com, an industry-supported outfit.
Coastwide harvest by bait and reduction fisheries was 166,077 metric tons, or 2.8 percent below the coastwide cap of 170,800 metric tons, according to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
An additional 1,942 metric tons was caught as bycatch, but that still kept the total landings within the overall cap, according to ASMFC, an interstate panel that regulates fisheries along the East Coast.
Louis Daniel, of the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries and chair of the commission’s Menhaden Management Board, said, “We have taken measurable steps toward ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Atlantic menhaden resource for both its ecosystem services and the fisheries that depend on it.”
Read the full story at the Bay Journal