October 25, 2018 — The following was released by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition:
The past few months have seen an unnecessary controversy over legal and routine menhaden fishing in the federal waters off the coasts of New York and New Jersey. With the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) having met this week for its annual meeting, the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition (MFC) would, once again, like to unequivocally state that our members’ fishing operations in both the reduction and the bait fisheries are sustainable, and in compliance with all menhaden regulations.
The recent misleading attacks on menhaden fishermen have claimed that the fishery threatens the food supply of marine mammals and other predator species, despite there being no evidence to support this allegation. Instead, the best available science points to a thriving menhaden population that is successfully meeting its ecological roles.
Over the last three years, the ASMFC, which manages Atlantic menhaden, has repeatedly delivered good news for the stock, confirming in a stock assessment last year that the species is neither overfished nor experiencing overfishing. As a direct result of this news, the Commission voted to once again raise the quota, which they determined could be implemented withno risk of overfishing the resource.
Looking at the Commission’s stock assessment data, there is no evidence suggesting that menhaden fisheries are negatively impacting predator species. A MFC analysis of that data published last year found that 92 percent of Atlantic menhaden are left in the water to serve as food for predators and to meet other environmental functions.
As part of the coastwide menhaden fishery, New York’s and New Jersey’s menhaden quotas are conservatively set by the ASMFC to ensure sustainability. Most of the recent criticism of the fishery has focused on two individual days of fishing: one in late August and another in early September. Since then, activist groups have continued to push a misleading narrative to the public, ignoring the ample evidence that points to there being more than enough menhaden to support whales, fish, fishermen and fishing communities.
Members of the MFC who support a healthy menhaden fishery off New York and New Jersey include Lund’s Fisheries in Cape May, New Jersey; the Garden State Seafood Association in Trenton, New Jersey; the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association in Montauk, New York; and Omega Protein in Reedville, Virginia.
About the MFC
The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition (MFC) is a collective of menhaden fishermen, related businesses, and supporting industries. Comprised of businesses along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition conducts media and public outreach on behalf of the menhaden industry to ensure that members of the public, media, and government are informed of important issues, events, and facts about the fishery.