Virginia Could Push Pause on Industrial Menhaden Fishing in Chesapeake Bay

Virginia lawmakers this month are considering a suite of bills that could provide much-needed Chesapeake Bay menhaden science and overhaul the industrial menhaden fishery in the Commonwealth.

Those include separate proposals to better distribute menhaden catches in the Chesapeake Bay, implement a robust observer program to ensure compliance with regulations, and institute a pause on industrial-scale menhaden fishing in the Bay while the Commonwealth undertakes research.

These legislative efforts are the result of escalating concerns about the impact of climate change on the region’s fisheries and the menhaden extraction industry’s concentrated harvest in and around the Chesapeake Bay.

Osprey chicks are starving at unprecedented levels in parts of the Bay where they traditionally depend on menhaden for food. Small-scale watermen on the Bay who catch menhaden for bait have seen their catches plummet. In Virginia, small-scale bait harvest dropped from 5.4 million pounds in 2019 to less than 1 million pounds in 2024, according to data from the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.

Menhaden are a key to the Bay’s food web. These small fish are a nutritious staple for many larger animals, including striped bass, redfish, osprey, dolphins, and humpback whales.

One industry with a processing plant in Virginia is responsible for the harvest of more than 100 million pounds of menhaden in the Bay each year. Omega Protein and their partner Ocean Harvesters extract about 70 percent of menhaden caught along the East Coast. Much of the fishery is concentrated inside the Chesapeake Bay, a sensitive nursery area for hundreds of species.

Science specific to menhaden in the Bay is lacking. But a new assessment by fisheries experts shows far fewer menhaden than previously thought along the Atlantic Coast from Maine to Florida. In previous years, bills to launch a Chesapeake-specific menhaden study have failed amidst concerns by Omega Protein’s lobbyists.

Legislation under consideration this session would provide much-needed accountability and additional conservation and protection. That includes:

• Approving a pause on industrial menhaden fishing inside the Chesapeake Bay until comprehensive research shows it is not harming the ecosystem. The industry could still fish in the Atlantic Ocean, as they already do regularly, and would not experience an overall reduction in their harvest quota. (HB1048, patroned by Delegate Betsy Carr).
• Establishing a Menhaden Science Fund led by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (SB474, patroned by Senator David Marsden).
• Reducing the harm of the industrial menhaden industry by setting different harvest limits at different points in the year, as well as requiring fisheries observers on industrial menhaden fishing trips to collect data and ensure compliance (HB1049, patroned by Delegate Betsy Carr).

Virginians overwhelmingly support reform. According to recent bipartisan polling, 92 percent of Virginia voters want to leave more menhaden in Chesapeake Bay, while 79 percent support ending large-scale commercial menhaden fishing in the Bay until there is more science.

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

“Virginia is facing a crisis. All the warning signs point towards very real problems with the Bay’s menhaden population.

“Omega Protein’s industrial-scale menhaden extraction risks causing long-term harm to the cherished Chesapeake Bay estuary. It’s common sense to pause industrial menhaden fishing in the Chesapeake Bay until science can show whether it’s sustainable.

“Directly and indirectly, menhaden are essential to the livelihoods of countless Virginia small businesses, families, and communities. Responsibly managing the fishery protects the menhaden industry’s own workers, who have the most to lose if the fishery collapses.

“Polls show Virginians overwhelmingly support menhaden fishery reform. It’s long past time that the Commonwealth more conservatively manages the menhaden fishery for all that rely on this public resource.”

“We look forward to working with legislators and the Spanberger Administration to chart a sustainable, productive future for the Bay’s fisheries and the Commonwealth’s coastal communities.”