June 6, 2012 – Well, if this is an indication of how healthy the Gulf of Mexico is, it could be pretty healthy.
According to a report in the Sun Herald, Long Beach Harbor Master Bill Angley estimates that a million young menhaden, or pogy, were popping on the surface of the water in the Mississippi harbor.
Seagulls, pelicans, and other shore birds were enjoying an easy meal, and fishermen were enjoying some easy cast-netting for bait.
“It’s the time of the year when a lot of juvenile pogy follow the shoreline and sometimes circle around into a harbor,” said Lauren Thompson with the state Department of Marine Resources. “Basically you see them everywhere. And remember, everything feeds on pogy.”
Presumably, some bigger fishing were also lurking under the surface munching on the all-important bait fish. Menhaden populations along the Atlantic are in rough shape thanks to commercial overfishing for things like fish oil, Omega-3 supplements. –Brian McClintock