Fisheries Commission Delays Consideration of Chesapeake Bay Menhaden Protections

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) on Tuesday delayed action on potential new protections for menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay amid dire warning signs.

The Commission has been weighing Draft Addendum II to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic menhaden. The addendum defines options to address Chesapeake Bay menhaden concerns. Those include starving osprey chicks and plummeting bait catches for Bay watermen.

The Commission had been expected to advance the measure for public comment at this meeting.

Instead, after extensive discussions around spreading out the menhaden harvest throughout the year, the Commission unanimously voted to delay consideration and set up a work group to further develop the proposal.

Specifically, Draft Addendum II considers reforms that could cut the Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery cap by up to 50 percent. It could also implement new rules that spread out the industrial menhaden harvest across the season to avoid harming iconic Bay predators like osprey and protect the livelihoods of small-scale menhaden fishermen who catch menhaden for blue crab bait.

Unfortunately, the public comment period that would have occurred throughout the summer is now delayed. ASMFC’s next opportunity to take up the measure will be at its August meeting.

Chesapeake Bay Foundation Forage Campaign Manager Will Poston issued the following statement:

“This is a frustrating delay. Despite this setback, if the ASMFC acts in August it could still put new measures in place by 2027 to protect menhaden. Both ASMFC and Virginia must act without further delay to protect this sensitive estuary, or risk further damage to an ecosystem that so many livelihoods depend on.”