Public Comments Overwhelmingly Support Menhaden Reforms in Chesapeake Bay

Fisheries panel to vote on proposed limits in November

Pressure is mounting while a major fisheries panel prepares to consider much-needed reductions to the Chesapeake Bay industrial menhaden harvest, as public comments released this week show the vast majority support significant new limits.

The newly released data, ahead of an expected vote on the new limits next month, comes as members of Congress are calling on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) to act on menhaden.

Public comments on proposed changes to menhaden reduction fishing in the Chesapeake Bay overwhelmingly supported options that would reduce the menhaden harvest within the Bay and distribute it throughout the season to protect predators and reduce conflict with bait fisheries, according to data released by the ASMFC.

The commission received more than 48,000 comments on the proposal, known as Draft Addendum II, during the public comment period that ran from August 27-October 9. All told, more than 42,000 comments favored options that would result in significant cuts to the harvest and would impose new quota periods.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) supports the strongest options on the table, which include:

• Cutting the Chesapeake Bay Reduction Fishery Cap in half
• Setting the Cap based on the coastwide catch limit
• Creating three quota periods to better spread the harvest out throughout the season

These conservation measures would leave more menhaden in the water to support the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem and bolster struggling predators and communities that depend on this critical forage fish.

More than 24,000 people signed on to support CBF’s official public comment letter, while an additional 17,000 commenters echoed support for this option.

Members of Congress from states along the Atlantic Coast have similarly weighed in to support new regulations. In Maryland, a group of 29 bipartisan state legislators and the Annapolis City Council supported major conservation-minded menhaden reforms.

“Annapolis relies on the Chesapeake Bay, and the Chesapeake Bay relies on menhaden—as one of the key foundations of its food chain,” said Alderman Harry Huntley, a sponsor of the Annapolis resolution.

“The City Council was happy to do our part by calling on the ASMFC to cut the Bay cap by 50% and implement other important conservation measures.”

Menhaden are a key fish in marine food chains, feeding osprey, striped bass, and other wildlife. The menhadenreduction fishery is an industrial operation concentrated in the Virginia waters of the Chesapeake Bay, where a fleet of vessels catches more than 100 million pounds of the fish each year.

The reforms the ASMFC is considering respond to worsening concerns tied to menhaden availability in the Bay, including starving osprey chicks and plummeting catches for watermen who use menhaden for bait.

As these warning signs escalate, 92 percent of Virginia voters support leaving more menhaden in the Bay, according to recent polling.

The ASMFC is expected to consider the proposed changes on Nov. 10-11 at the commission’s annual meeting.

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

“The public has spoken. They’re demanding that the ASMFC act to conserve menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay.

“Up and down the Atlantic Coast, concerned residents, anglers, birders, and lawmakers are likewise calling for strengthening menhaden protections in the Chesapeake Bay. By adopting the strongest options in Draft Addendum II, ASMFC can relieve pressure on this struggling estuary by leaving more menhaden in the water to support the Bay, the fish and wildlife, and the communities that depend on a healthy menhaden population.”