Menhaden Management Meeting Results in Lackluster Coastwide Catch Reductions

Chesapeake Bay Menhaden Reform on the Horizon

Reacting to a new assessment that shows the menhaden population is significantly weaker than previously thought, fisheries regulators yesterday took a minor step to reduce the coastwide menhaden fishing quota along the Atlantic.  

The action took place at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) annual meeting in Dewey Beach, Delaware. After a series of competing motions, the ASMFC’s Menhaden Management Board adopted a 20 percent quota reduction for the 2026 fishing season. It put off adopting quotas for 2027 and 2028 until its next annual meeting in the fall of 2026.

This comes on the heels of an assessment ASMFC released earlier this month, which found that the menhaden population is 37 percent lower along the Atlantic Coast than previously thought. The ASMFC menhaden stock assessments resulted in forecasts indicating the need for a 54 percent cut to the menhaden harvest to meet the needs of predators like striped bass, osprey, and marine mammals.   

Menhaden are a small fish that are an important food for many species. These fish are also the target of a major industrial reduction fishery concentrated in Virginia’s portion of Chesapeake Bay, where warning signs linked to menhaden are growing.   

Menhaden are not making it to Maryland waters like they once did. Since 2017, Maryland has been unable to harvest even half of its small quota. In 2024, Maryland harvested less than 10 percent of its menhaden quota. The decline in local menhaden is directly impacting Maryland’s crab fishery due to increased bait costs, putting increased economic strain on Maryland watermen.  

Additionally, osprey chicks are starving at unprecedented rates in parts of the Bay where menhaden are traditionally a staple of the bird’s diet, according to new research. Data also shows plummeting menhaden catches in Maryland and Virginia by local watermen who harvest the fish for bait—a much smaller separate fishery than the massive industrial reduction operation.   

The new ASMFC assessments consider the menhaden population along the entire coast, from Maine to Florida. However, they do not specifically consider the effects of concentrating the menhaden fishery in and around the Chesapeake Bay, where science remains “woefully inadequate,” according to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.   

This week the ASMFC also initiated the process to develop new options to manage the menhaden reduction fishery in the Chesapeake Bay. The addendum will include options that consider potential reductions to the Chesapeake Bay menhaden reduction harvest, as well as distributing the harvest more evenly throughout the season.  

Fishery managers will develop those options over the coming months, and the Menhaden Management Board could approve this addendum for public comment at the February 2026 ASMFC Meeting.   

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

“This is nothing more than a performative nod to ecosystem-based fisheries management. The ASMFC failed to fully respond to the science, jeopardizing the ability of menhaden to fulfill their role in the food chain. This lack of meaningful action is not only risky for menhaden, but also the many fisheries and small businesses that depend on a thriving ecosystem.  

“In a bright spot, the ASMFC did launch a longer process to address menhaden concerns in the Chesapeake Bay. We will continue working with our partners and the ASMFC to advocate for strong protections for menhaden in the Bay.”