It may not seem like it at first glance, but the little menhaden is one heck of a fish. So much so that many consider it the most important fish in the United States. Let’s put it this way: if the little engine that could was a fish, it would be this one.
This practice of using the fish as compost had almost been forgotten until 1792, when it resurfaced again due to its mention in an article written about the method. Afterwards, it grew to such popularity that tons of the ground fish was brought miles inland and used on fields there.
Nowadays they are fished for other important reasons. Just last year, the company Omega Protein was able to fish roughly 404 million pounds of menhaden out of their coastal Atlantic waters. Their catch is then turned into fish oil and supplements in addition to becoming “poultry feed and fishmeal for farmed salmon.”
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Analysis: The article makes several inacurate claims about the health of the menhaden fishery. The article describes the menhaden population as being "in a rapid decline spurred primarily by overfishing." However, this is not reflected in the data, which does not indicate a pattern of overfishing in the past decade. The same Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) stock assessment that they cite not only concludes the the fishery is not overfished, but also that overfishing has only occured once in the last ten years. The assement also concludes that the fishery's fecundity level is at its target.
Several other claims in the article are also inaccurate. While the article makes the case that menhaden are important as filter feeders, there is doubt as to their precise ecological role. A recent study buy the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) concluded that menhaden's impact on water quality is negligible.
The article also claims that menhaden are a "primary food source" for several species of fish, notably striped bass. however, striped bass diet is highly variable, and is influenced by variables, such as location and availability of other prey species, that are independent of the commercial menhaden harves. An ongoing VIMS survey finds that menhaden can constitute as little as 9.6& of striped bass diets.