Saving Seafood

RHODE ISLAND: Fishing community shares thoughts on menhaden

December 30, 2016 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), which manages many of the saltwater species we fish in Rhode Island that travel the east coast, held an Atlantic menhaden public hearing Monday at the URI Bay Campus.

The hearing addressed a Public Information Document (PID) that aims to incorporate ecosystem-based management strategies to manage Atlantic menhaden. The PID serves as a predecessor to an amendment (Amendment 3) to the Atlantic menhaden Fishery Management Plan scheduled to be developed next year. About 30 recreational and commercial fishermen, fish processors, environmental groups (like Save the Bay) and fish managers attended the hearing. Two main issues were discussed at the hearing. The first issue was the use of ecosystem-based management strategies to determine stock status and allowable catch limits. The second issue addressed landing timeframes, which would be used to determine allocation of quota.

Recreational anglers up and down the east coast have claimed that fishing for striped bass and other game fish is off when the quantity of Atlantic menhaden (a forage fish for striped bass) is down. Additionally, Atlantic menhaden are filter feeders, with each fish processing thousands of gallons of water filtering out plankton to help prevent algae blooms. The Atlantic menhaden Fishery Management Plan will be the first ASMFC plan that utilizes ecosystem-based management in this fashion.

Meghan Lapp of Seafreeze, Ltd., North Kingstown (the largest producer and trader of sea-frozen fish on the East Coast) and a member of the ASMFC Atlantic menhaden Advisory Panel, said “Historically, Rhode Island has landed a lot more fish than the allocation reflects.” George Allen, representing the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (a recreational fishing association that represents 30 different fishing organizations with 7,500 members), said, “Currently, one state (Virginia) takes 85 percent of the catch because of the Atlantic menhaden reduction fishery. This is inequitable for the rest of the coastal states.”

Most in attendance were in agreement that the Atlantic menhaden allocation in the northeast states, and specifically Rhode Island, should be enhanced to more accurately reflect historical catch over a longer period of time, including the time period when landings were high due to active processing plants in the northern states. So, instead of using average landings between 2009 and 2011, many at the meeting were advocating for a longer time-series average, extending to include years prior to 2009 such as 1985, when more accurate bait fishery landings data became available.

Read the full story at the Cranston Herald

BEN LANDRY: Menhaden are flourishing

December 28, 2016 — A recent column by Chris Dollar (“Outdoors: The more menhaden the better,” Dec. 3) cites claims from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation that the current management of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay has left the stock running low. The column also echoes the foundation’s position that the menhaden harvest cap should be lowered. The science suggests the opposite to be the case.

In 2012, based on fears of overfishing, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission implemented a menhaden quota. Soon after the quota was implemented, scientists found the concerns of overfishing were misplaced. Further research found that menhaden are prospering coastwide. In fact, the ASMFC declared conclusively that menhaden are neither “overfished nor experiencing overfishing.”

The ASMFC has recently expressed its confidence in the health of menhaden by voting to raise the coastwide quota by 6.45 percent. This decision was backed up by a commission analysis based on nearly 9,000 simulations that found that an increase in the menhaden quota would have an almost zero percent chance of leading to overfishing.

Read the full letter to the editor at The Baltimore Sun

Rhode Island quota for menhaden the focus of debate

December 27, 2016 — About 30 recreational and commercial fishermen, fish processors, environmental groups (like Save the Bay) and fish managers attended Monday’s public hearing on Atlantic menhaden at the URI Bay Campus held by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

The two main issues at the hearing were the use of ecosystem-based management strategies to determine stock status and allowable catch limits, and landing time frames, which would be used to determine allocation of quota.

The Atlantic menhaden plan will be the first ASMFC plan that utilizes ecosystem-based management in this fashion.

Meghan Lapp of Seafreeze, Ltd., North Kingstown (the largest producer and trader of sea-frozen fish on the East Coast) and a member of the ASMFC Atlantic menhaden Advisory Panel, said “Historically, Rhode Island has landed a lot more fish than the allocation reflects.” George Allen, representing the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (a recreational fishing association with 7,500 members), said, “Currently one state (Virginia) takes 85 percent of the catch because of the Atlantic menhaden reduction fishery. This is inequitable for the rest of the coastal states.”

Most in attendance agreed that the Atlantic menhaden allocation in the Northeast states, and specifically Rhode Island, should be enhanced to more accurately reflect historical catch over a longer period of time including the time period when landings were high due to active processing plants in the northern states. So instead of using average landings between 2009 and 2011, many at the meeting were advocating for a longer time-series average extending to include years prior to 2009 such as 1985 when more accurate bait fishery landings data became available.

However, there was much disagreement in the room when it came to determining ecological reference points in estimating how many fish would be allowed to be taken out of the water. A representative from Save the Bay said, “Atlantic menhaden have great ecological value for Narragansett Bay and we advocate for existing guidelines for forage fish species until menhaden-specific ecological reference points (ERPs) are developed by the ASMFC’s Biological and Ecological Reference Point (BERP) workgroup.”

Read the full story at the Providence Journal 

Fishing Report: Hearing on menhaden set for Dec. 19 at URI

December 9th, 2016 — Atlantic menhaden are an important forage fish for striped bass, bluefish, tuna and other species. Recreational anglers claim that fishing for these game fish is off when the quantity of forage fish is down. Additionally, Atlantic menhaden are filter feeders with each fish processing thousands of gallons of water filtering out plankton to help prevent algae blooms.

So if you want to impact regulations pertaining to this species, now is the time to become active. There will be an Atlantic menhaden public hearing to talk about important Fishery Management Plan issues on Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Corless Auditorium at the URI Bay Campus, Narragansett. The hearing will address a new Public Information Document that is a predecessor to Amendment 3 to the Atlantic menhaden Fishery Management Plan that will be developed later this year.

NOAA’s website says Atlantic menhaden “play an important role in the ecosystem as both a forage fish for striped bass, weakfish, bluefish, and predatory birds such as osprey and eagles as well as serving as a filter feeder because they feed on phytoplankton and zooplankton at various life stages.”

Read the full story at the Providence Journal 

RHODE ISLAND: Fishing Report: Hearing on menhaden set for Dec. 19 at URI

December 8, 2016 — Atlantic menhaden are an important forage fish for striped bass, bluefish, tuna and other species. Recreational anglers claim that fishing for these game fish is off when the quantity of forage fish is down. Additionally, Atlantic menhaden are filter feeders with each fish processing thousands of gallons of water filtering out plankton to help prevent algae blooms.

So if you want to impact regulations pertaining to this species, now is the time to become active. There will be an Atlantic menhaden public hearing to talk about important Fishery Management Plan issues on Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Corless Auditorium at the URI Bay Campus, Narragansett. The hearing will address a new Public Information Document that is a predecessor to Amendment 3 to the Atlantic menhaden Fishery Management Plan that will be developed later this year.

NOAA’s website says Atlantic menhaden “play an important role in the ecosystem as both a forage fish for striped bass, weakfish, bluefish, and predatory birds such as osprey and eagles as well as serving as a filter feeder because they feed on phytoplankton and zooplankton at various life stages.”

So rather than just managing Atlantic menhaden to ensure they remain sustainable as a species, the PID aims to include ecosystem-based management measures to ensure that enough Atlantic menhaden are left in the water for other species to eat as forage fish as well as enough to fulfill their ecological role.

Atlantic menhaden are plentiful. A 2015 stock assessment for the resource relates they are in good condition, not overfished nor experiencing overfishing. The PID can be found on the ASMFC website at www.asmfc.org. Public comments can be made at the hearing and will also be accepted in writing until 5 p.m. on Jan. 4, 2017. Comments can also be emailed to comments@asmmfc.org (subject line: Menhaden PID).

Read the full story at the Providence Journal 

Big changes in the air over little menhaden

December 5th, 2016 — Big changes are being weighed for Atlantic menhaden, the little, oily fish that no one eats but that stirs such passion. At least one of the possible shifts could reverse recent increases in the allowable commercial catch.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates near-shore fishing from Maine to Florida — including the Chesapeake Bay — has invited public comment on several questions about future management of the menhaden fishery at hearings all along the coast. Sessions in the Bay watershed begin Monday, Dec. 5.

The most important issue under consideration involves setting new “reference points” regulating the catch of menhaden that would account for their value to other fish and predators — not just their commercial importance. But the commission also is weighing whether to shake up how the total catch is distributed along the coast.

Though generally not caught to be eaten, menhaden are netted in great numbers for processing into animal feed and health supplements, and for use as bait to catch crabs, striped bass and other fish. They are the largest catch, by weight, in the Bay. The small waterfront village of Reedville, VA — home to the menhaden fleet of Omega Protein Corp. — ranks sixth nationwide in fish landings, by weight, after a handful of ports in Alaska and Louisiana.

But menhaden are also an important food source for other fish, including striped bass, and for predators such as osprey, bald eagles, whales and dolphins. Conservationists, recreational anglers and many biologists have long expressed concerns about the impact of the commercial menhaden catch — especially Omega’s — on the availability of forage for other species, leading to intense debates over fishery management.

In 2012, the Atlantic States commission imposed a first-ever coastwide catch reduction of 20 percent for menhaden after a scientific assessment concluded they were overfished. A followup study using new models and information concluded last year that the earlier assessment was wrong. The commission has responded by twice ratcheting up annual catch limits, with a 6.5 percent increase approved in October, allowing for 200,000 metric tons to be caught coastwide in 2017.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal 

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to hold public hearings

November 30, 2016 — The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Division of Fish & Wildlife will host Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission public hearings on proposed changes to the interstate fishery management plans for Atlantic menhaden at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 8 in DNREC’s Lewes Facility, 901 Pilottown Road.

The Atlantic menhaden FMP hearing will be preceded by a 6 p.m. public hearing on a proposed addendum to the Jonah crab FMP.

As the first step in the amendment process, the ASMFC is seeking input from stakeholders and other interested groups about changes observed in the fishery/resource and potential management measures. Work on Draft Amendment 3 to the Atlantic menhaden plan was initiated following review by the Atlantic Menhaden Management Board, of which Delaware is a member, and acceptance of the 2015 Stock Assessment and Peer Review report, which found the menhaden resource in good condition — neither overfished nor experiencing overfishing. Population fecundity, a measure of reproductive capacity, was estimated to be about double the threshold value of 86.8 trillion eggs. Additionally, total fishing mortality was below the current target.

The ASMFC’s public information document — the precursor to the forthcoming draft amendment — outlines a number of issues in the Atlantic menhaden fishery and solicits feedback on how the resource should be managed. Specifically, the PID presents a suite of tools to manage the menhaden resource using ecological reference points and provides options to allocate the resource among the states, regions and user groups. In addition to the specific issues identified, comments are welcome on all aspects of the fishery and resource, including recommendations for future management.

Read the full story at The Beacon 

The real reason why you’re suddenly seeing whales in N.J. and N.Y. waters

November 28, 2016 — If you’ve spent any time walking the beaches or boating the ocean waters of New Jersey or New York in recent weeks, you’ve likely been treated to spectacle that has been a rarity in these parts for most of the past century or so: whales.

They’ve been seemingly everywhere.

Breaching just past the sandbars in Asbury Park.

Swimming past groups of surfers in Rockaway Beach.

Bumping into boats off Belmar.

And this week’s ultimate cetacean sensation: a humpback whale swam up the Hudson River for a photo op in front of the George Washington Bridge.

Besides inspiring a chorus of oohs and aahs, the increase in sightings is adding a blubbery new wrinkle to a raging debate over a far smaller fish: the Atlantic menhaden. It’s the menhaden, also known as “bunker” — clumsy, multidinous, slow swimming virtual floating hamburgers — that those whales are chasing.

Even as the whales were gulping down bunker along the coast of New Jersey, the ASMFC has been pushing the commercial quotas back up closer to pre 2012 catch levels. Last year, the catch limit was raised 10 percent, with the ASMFC citing data that showed bunker were not being overfished.

And, then, three weeks ago, the council voted to raise the commercial catch limits another 6.5 percent.

That move has been cheered by commercial fishing operations who argue the limits were never necessary and simply jeopardized an industry that employs hundreds of people from New Jersey to Virginia, where the largest menhaden processing operation, Omega Protein Corp, is located.

“The fact that there’s a lot of fish around has nothing do with reducing these quotas,” said Jeff Kaelin, spokesman for Lund’s Fisheries, a Cape May commercial fishing company that sells bunker as lobster bait. The increased number of whale sightings is simply the result of smaller fish growing to a larger size due to “environmental conditions.”

“The stock was not overfished,” he said. “It’s never been.”

Kaelin said the 20 percent coast-wide reduction translated into a roughly 50 percent cut for New Jersey companies that harvest bunker, because it shut down the fishery early in the year and put the state’s crucial fall harvest off limits.

“If the science says we need to cut back we will, but in this case we feel very strongly that we’re underfishing the stock,” he said.

Read the full story at NJ.com

NEW YORK: Why researchers think humpback whale swam up the Hudson

November 22, 2016 — The whale spotted in the Hudson River Thursday in Friday was likely led there by food, the head of a local whale research group said.

Photos of the humpback whale showed it “lunge feeding,” said Paul Sieswerda, president of Gotham Whale.

“That’s when they come up and break the surface and consume these bait balls of menhaden,” he said.

Predators drive menhaden, sometimes known as bunker fish, into tight balls. This allows whales to open their mouths and eat them all at once.

Read the full story at NJ.com

Menhaden management up for debate

November 15th, 2016 — Interstate fishing managers are hosting public hearings about the future of the menhaden fishery, which they say is in good shape.

Atlantic menhaden, or or pogies, are small fish that swim in large schools and represent a key piece of the ocean’s food chain. They are also fished commercially all along the East Coast, in part because of their use as a dietary supplement and for use as bait. 

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission says menhaden are not being overfished and their reproduction is good. The commission is holding a series of hearings about the way it regulates the fishery.

Fishermen typically catch more than 500,000 tons of the fish every year. The fishery was worth more than $114 million in 2014. The largest fisheries are in Virginia, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The hearings are set to take place between Nov. 30 and Dec. 20 in cities from Florida to Maine. Regulators are seeking input from fishermen and other stakeholders about how the fishery is managed.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Gloucester Times