During its November meeting, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) voted by an overwhelming margin to approve a new fishing target level for menhaden in an effort to increase its abundance and its availability as a forage species for striped bass, bluefish, Atlantic tuna and other important saltwater species. This critical step to conserve menhaden could reduce harvest of this important, but declining, forage fish by up to 37 percent. Menhaden stocks have declined 88 percent over the last 25 years, and are at their lowest numbers in recorded history. Often called “the most important fish in the sea”, menhaden have shaped America’s national, and natural, history.
The current benchmarks used by the commission show that the menhaden stock is undergoing overfishing, and overfishing has occurred in the menhaden fishery in 32 of the last 54 years. The fishery, the largest on the East Coast by weight, this sentence doesn’t make sense to me, is it fishing jargon? has exceeded the designated “safe fishing target” every year since 1960. As a result, the population is at less than 10 percent of historic levels.
About three-quarters of the Atlantic menhaden catch comes from the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding ocean waters. Most of these fish are ground up and reduced to fish meal and oil for use as dietary supplements, fertilizer, farm animal feed, and pet food.
Saltwater fishing, whale watching, and bird watching, which rely on species that eat menhaden, generate hundreds of millions of dollars per year on the East Coast, so the new benchmarks will help sustain our coastal economies and communities.
This important decision by the ASMFC was made after extensive research and input from both conservation groups and recreational fishing alliances. We would like to thank everyone involved with this legislation – it’s a great day for menhaden!