To Save the Chesapeake Bay, Save This Fish

The following Letter to the Editor was published in the Washington Post on August 24, 2026. 

Mark Robichaux is right about the urgency of protecting Atlantic menhaden in his Aug. 19 online op-ed, “This little fish anchors the East Coast food web. A fight over it is brewing.” This fish is foundational to the food chain and feeds a wide variety of animals, including striped bass, osprey and whales.

Saving menhaden helps save the bay. Now, evidence of a crisis is impossible to ignore. Osprey chicks are starving to death at high rates. Catches have plummeted for small-scale menhaden fishermen. The Chesapeake Bay needs help.

Leaving more menhaden in the water is one of the fastest ways to benefit the ecosystem, and this strategy is supported by 92 percent of Virginia voters, according to a poll commissioned by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

The industry will say more science is needed to act. But research on menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay was delayed for years.

Waiting indefinitely while the bay circles the drain is irresponsible. It needs action today, before red flags turn into irreversible damage.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will soon seek public comment on a proposal that could cut the Chesapeake Bay’s industrial menhaden harvest by up to half. Everyone who cares about thriving waterways should tell the commission to approve conservation-minded reforms to protect the bay, coastal communities and the thousands of jobs that depend on a healthy ecosystem.

Public comment is now open through October 9. Stand with CBF and call on the ASMFC to approve conservation-minded reforms that better protect menhaden and support a healthy Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. Take Action Now!