Governor Spanberger Supports Funding for Menhaden Research

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger on Friday requested that lawmakers add $2 million to the biennial budget for research into the Chesapeake Bay menhaden population—funding that is vital to understanding the key forage fish and its importance to Bay ecology.

Governor Spanberger and her team deserve enormous credit for recognizing the importance of this research and working toward a solution on moving it forward.

The Bay is facing a crisis, and this research must be completed without delay. The Virginia Institute of Marine Science has stated that data on menhaden in the Bay remains “woefully inadequate,” and developed a plan for a menhaden study in 2023 together with a wide variety of stakeholders.

State funding for menhaden research has been delayed every year since then. House lawmakers had included the funding in earlier versions of their budget proposals this year, but it was not in the final deal the General Assembly this week sent to the Governor’s desk.

Recent polling shows that about 80 percent of Virginia voters support both state funding for a menhaden study, and support ending large-scale commercial menhaden fishing in the Bay pending further research.

Virginia is the only state along the Atlantic coast that still allows industrial menhaden fishing in state waters. That lone remaining industrial operation extracts over 100 million pounds of menhaden from Chesapeake Bay waters each year, with no scientific understanding of the impacts to the Bay’s ecology or coastal communities.

Menhaden are a small fish that are an important food for many species, including osprey, striped bass, bluefish, whales, and dolphins.

This month, a Bay-wide peer-reviewed study of osprey found widespread reproductive failure, documented an 80% decline in menhaden deliveries to nests, and concluded that menhaden availability is likely the primary driver.

For years, watermen, recreational anglers, birdwatchers, and local residents have reported seeing fewer menhaden schools and struggling osprey colonies.

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

“Governor Spanberger has shown important leadership in the face of persistent and likely worsening menhaden problems in the Chesapeake Bay. This is a solid down payment on urgently needed research.”

“Unfortunately, many questions remain about the health of the Bay’s menhaden population and the iconic species such as osprey that depend upon it. This is precisely why independent science on menhaden in the Bay is so important.”

“We want to thank Governor Spanberger, and we thank Delegate Betsy Carr in particular for her persistence on this issue. We urge the General Assembly to support this amendment.”