Saving Seafood

VIRGINIA: State study on menhaden in Chesapeake Bay would cost $2.6 million

October 25, 2023 — Following legislation this past session that required the Virginia Institute of Marine Science to determine how long a study on the Atlantic menhaden population in the Chesapeake Bay would take and how much it would cost, the results are in: at least three years and $2.6 million, if everything were done simultaneously.

Recreational anglers who want to limit Omega Protein – the lone reduction fishery that catches the nutrient-rich menhaden for fishmeal and oil – have called for science to show that the company’s hauls are hurting the striped bass population that feeds on menhaden.

The company, at the same time, said their Reedville-based operations provide jobs and there’s no science to show they are hurting menhaden numbers and the greater ecosystem.

The study is the closest step toward information that both sides have sought during the debate on how restrictive Chesapeake Bay menhaden fishing regulations should be.

Read the full article at Virginia Mercury

New striped bass fishing curbs eyed amid poor spawning in Chesapeake Bay

October 22, 2023 — Acting on the heels of poor striped bass spawning reported again in the Chesapeake Bay, East Coast fisheries managers are considering new catch restrictions aimed at curbing the decline of the highly sought-after migratory fish.

At its annual meeting in North Carolina, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s striped bass board voted Oct. 18 to seek public comment on a suite of conservation measures that could be imposed starting in 2024.

The “draft addendum” to the commission’s striped bass fishery management plan lays out options for setting a variety of limits on the number and size of fish that anglers could catch in the Bay and along the coast. It also proposes reducing the commercial harvest quota by up to 14.5%, on par with the reduction sought in the recreational fishery.

The commission, which represents state fishery managers from along the coast as well as federal agencies, will hold a series of hearings and take public comments in writing on the plan over the next two months.  It intends to choose among the options and take final action at its next meeting in January in Arlington, VA.

The commission vote came less than a week after the Maryland Department of Natural Resources reported that its annual seine survey of state waters for juvenile fish yielded an average of just 1.02 little striped bass per net haul, far below the long-term average of 11.1. That is the second lowest tally since 1957. It also marks the fifth straight year of seriously subpar reproductive success for the species.

Read the full article at Bay Journal

New fish spill cleanup boats on Chesapeake Bay

August 23, 2023 — Omega Protein’s last menhaden net tear on Chesapeake Bay has led to the firm designing and building a new clean-up vessel called a “skimmer boat.” It is designed to rapidly pick up dead fish on and below the surface of the water.

The 20’ x 8’ aluminum garvey-style boat was designed and built by Lambert Walker of Reedville, Va., who retired from Omega in 2013. Walker was asked to come out of retirement to build a new boat. Before he had retired, he had built a similar boat for the same type of use.

Walker, 72, says he is “just an old welder.”  He is an old welder and much more.  Walker started working in the companies’ metal shop in 1973, when Omega Protein was then known as Zapata Haynie Corporation.

His boatbuilding skills and knowledge have come from 40 years of building aluminum purse seine boats and handling maintenance needs on the companies’ equipment and on Omega’s steel hull fishing vessels.

“I just took out my scale rule, drew it up and welded it together,” he says modestly. “It is a nice little boat, and it will meet the need when it is necessary.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Wittman leads House members in legislation to protect Chesapeake Bay

July 23, 2023 — The Chesapeake Bay SEEE Act would help protect the watershed, improve ecosystem management and increase environmental stewardship opportunities.

Congressman Rob Wittman of Virginia, U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes of Maryland, Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott of Virginia and Rep. Jen Kiggans of Virginia reintroduced the Chesapeake Bay Science, Education and Ecosystem Enhancement (SEEE) Act today.

“The Chesapeake Bay is integral to our way of life in Virginia’s 1st District and conserving our coastal and marine ecosystems has remained one of my top priorities,” Wittman, co-chair of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Task Force, said. “I am proud to join my colleagues in this effort to expand environmental education opportunities, boost state and local restoration efforts and provide NOAA with the resources it needs to protect this national treasure.”

Read the full article at Augusta Free Press

MARYLAND: Maryland congressional delegation announces USD 3.8 million for meat and blue catfish processors

July 5, 2023 — U.S. federal lawmakers from the state of Maryland have revealed that USD 3.8 million (EUR 3.5 million) in loan funding has been made available to local meat and catfish processors.

Although Chesapeake Bay fishermen harvest more than 5 million pounds of invasive blue catfish annually, there are only 18 USDA-approved inspection facilities, resulting in a processing bottleneck. The funding announced last week will help local producers expand or establish operations to help cut those processing times.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Seafood Watch draft report hits Chespeake Bay oysters with “avoid” rating

June 1, 2023 — A Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program draft assessment downgrades the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) caught in the Chesapeake Bay “avoid,” drawing criticism from scientists, officials, conservationists, and fishers.

The draft report  rated wild-caught oysters in the U.S. states of Maryland and Virginia harvested both with hand implements and towed dredges as seafood to avoid, citing a “high concern” for the status of the stock and of the management of the fishery.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

VIRGINIA: Chesapeake Bay menhaden steamers christened

April 25, 2023 — Omega Shipyard in Moss Point, Miss., recently delivered the $8 million 180’x40’ F/V Reedville to Ocean Harvesters, suppliers to Omega Protein in Reedville, Va.

A traditional maritime christening ceremony of the F/V Reedville and F/V Little River was held on Saturday, April 22, to kick off the 2023 menhaden fishing season starting May 8.

With the new season, there’s hope that an agreement between menhaden fishermen, Virginia state officials, and other Chesapeake Bay user groups will reduce longstanding conflicts.

The christening was held on the docks at the Reedville plant, where the company’s fleet of nine fish steamers are moored. The 180’x40’x7’ Little River was not christened at the time of delivery in 2020 because of the covid-19 pandemic.

The Reedville, Little River, and the F/V Carters Creek, delivered in 2017, are all converted hulls from offshore supply vessels (OSVs) formerly employed in the offshore oil and gas industry. The three finished boats are almost identical.

The ceremony started with the singing of the National Anthem by Charlotte Blackwell, 10, daughter of Capt. William Blackwell, who is the master of the F/V Reedville.

Hannah Long, environmental manager of Omega Protein, was the master of ceremonies for the event, and she told the history behind the ancient ceremony of christening a boat for “good luck.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

VIRGINIA: Limits to be placed on menhaden fishing in Chesapeake Bay

April 25, 2023 — The menhaden fishery that supplies Omega Proteins’ plant in Reedville said it would limit the areas where it fishes, largely avoiding more populated coastal areas of the lower Eastern Shore of Virginia and Hampton Roads, including Virginia Beach.

Ocean Harvesters, which has an exclusive, long-term supply agreement with Omega Protein of Reedville, has continuously operated in the area since 1878 and announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the state of Virginia Wednesday. The Virginia Marine Resources Commission voted in December in favor of it.

The agreement, Ocean Harvesters said, is expected to limit potential sources of conflict between the fishery and other users in the Chesapeake Bay, “and is part of the fishery’s efforts to be responsible stewards of our shared marine resources.”

Omega uses the small, oily-fleshed silver fish and turns it into fish oil and fish meal

The fishery will not be able to operate in waters within one mile of the Hampton Roads/Virginia Beach area, and the lower Eastern Shore, and it will put new limits on when and where the menhaden fishery can operate.

Read the full article at WAVY

$1M to help with ‘vital’ Chesapeake Bay improvement

March 27, 2023 — The Chesapeake Bay Trust nonprofit based in Annapolis, Maryland, will receive over $1 million in funding from the federal government to strengthen tidal wetland restoration, public education and bolster green infrastructure projects.

In a news release Friday, U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Congressman John Sarbanes announced that $1,129,063 in federal funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will go toward local projects to restore, preserve and protect the Chesapeake Bay.

“The health of the Chesapeake Bay is vital to the health of our communities and our regional economy,” said Van Hollen.

“We fought to pass the infrastructure modernization law — and within it to boost resources for our efforts to protect the Bay — in order to invest in projects like this that will help restore our wetlands and habitats that serve as essential filters to prevent pollutants from poisoning the Bay.”

Read the full article at WTOP