Earlier this month, a ruling was made to the detriment of the Chesapeake Bay and
surrounding aquatic ecosystems. The proposed bill, and subsequent budget
allowances, would have allowed researchers to conduct a study about local Menhaden
populations. This, in turn, would have been instrumental in forming future conservation
actions across the Chesapeake Bay.
Before rolling around in proverbial political mud, I should probably explain what
Menhaden are and why they matter so much to those who may be unfamiliar.
Menhaden are a foraging fish that can be found all throughout the eastern seaboard of
the United States. Historically, their populations were abundant up and down the entire
eastern US coast, including Florida. In fact, we had a commercial processing plant near
Jacksonville which has been closed for decades due to overfishing.
Menhaden (also called bunker or pogies) filter-feed on tiny microorganisms, soaking up
all of the precious nutrients that they yield. They are loaded with oils that provide energy
for a multitude of predator species, making them one of the most important forage
species in the ocean. Simply put, menhaden are a crucial staple in terms of maintaining
equilibrium of the ecosystems in which they reside.
In the Chesapeake area, menhaden are a key prey species to critters such as striped bass, ospreys, and many more. Unfortunately, Virginia is prime real estate for the commercial reduction fishery fleet (in this case, ‘reduction’ fishery basically means the practice of catching fish for their byproducts instead of consumption- more specifically
for the purposes of fish oil and fish meal).
Because the oil from Menhaden is so valuable, humans compete with local fauna on a
commercial scale- to the extent that it appears to be throwing the local ecosystem out of
balance. For years now, the aforementioned predators that rely on Menhaden
consumption have been steadily declining in numbers. We cannot definitively attribute
this to Menhaden numbers, but it is certainly reasonable to assume that the absence of
this key staple has a direct impact on the abundance of the predators which feed on
them.
The primary harvester of Menhaden within the Chesapeake Bay has historically been
Omega Protein- although efforts have been made to cooperate with Omega to gather
data on their harvesting practices, they have refused to share anything with
conservation organizations. I'm not saying that there is definitive proof that Omegas
harvest is harmful to the Chesapeake Bay fishery- after all, their numbers have been
kept from the public, so how could we know? All I'm saying is that if they consider their
practices to be safe and sustainable, then why hide any of the data behind them?
I was fortunate enough to sit down with Chris Macaluso and gather details about the
proposed Menhaden study that failed to pass in a Virginia legislative session last week.
Chris is the Director of Marine Fisheries at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation
Partnership (TRCP), the organization that led the charge for the proposed Menhaden
study, along with a number of other groups and individuals in the Chesapeake Bay area
such as the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Virginia Saltwater Sportfishing
Association. The point of the proposed study was that although we suspect diminishing
Menhaden populations are affecting the Chesapeake Bay, we need more resources and
research to say for certain.
It is quite discouraging just how easily the legislation was shut down. Chris was fairly
surprised himself, considering that the budget allowances that were being asked for
added up to about one million dollars. This is no small amount of money, but in the
larger scheme of things, it may as well be a drop in the bucket- especially considering
the long-term economic implications that such a study may yield.
“The [Chesapeake] sportfishing industry has been declining for the past decade. This is
mostly due to the diminishing Striped Bass populations throughout the Chesapeake Bay
area. We believe, if this is due to declining Menhaden populations, that this study will
shine some light on this fact and allow us to take steps to mitigate these effects in the
future” Chris told me.
On the topic of future efforts pertaining to try and pass the legislation necessary to fund
and carry out the Menhaden study, Chris had this to say; “A defeat in one legislative
session is not a defeat to future scientific endeavors. These things take time, and the
TRCP is dedicated to working as hard as possible to help these materialize”.
He emphasized just how important this study would be, no matter what the results may
be. If you have any experience with scientific pursuits, this may be familiar to you- when
a study is conducted, you should never be gathering data to help support what you
already think is going on. You do the research and present the results whether they
support or debunk your previous hypotheses- it would be incredibly biased and self-
serving to go about it any other way.
There are numerous ways that the public can get involved with these pursuits in the
future. Most importantly, Chris vocalized, “Make your voice heard. The more people
that get into contact with lawmakers and remind them about the proposed Menhaden
study, the harder and harder it gets to keep putting off action for them. If enough people
make noise about a particular issue, change is sure to follow”
The other thing that you can do is stay informed with accurate, unbiased information.
We’re quite familiar with this over at the AAF- after all, education is one of the central
pillars under which we were founded. Keep your eyes and ears open in the future-
hopefully the next time we write on the subject, it will be under better circumstances.
Please show your support to the TRCP. They have much more detailed and up to date
information about the Menhaden study, since they’ve led the legislative efforts over the
past couple of years. To visit their website, click here: https://www.trcp.org/
If you feel up to it, even consider donating to them (and us, while you’re at it)- it would mean a lot and more
importantly, help make a positive impact on the fisheries around the country.