Stripers Forever MA members - last week the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission took an extremely modest step to cap the take of menhaden in Chesapeake Bay by a vote of 12 to 3. Modest is really an enormous understatement since the cap is set at 100% of the last 5 year's average, and the consensus of folks from the Chesapeake is that menhaden are already so scarce that stripers are starving. Some feel that the poor nutrition caused by the lack of menhaden may weaken the immune systems of the
bass and cause them to be susceptible to the well documented diseases now estimated to be present in 70% or more of the Bay's rockfish/stripers. Some science on menhaden says that the coastal menhaden population is fine, but do any of you see them? I sure don't, and I haven't in many years.
Virginia voted against the cap, since Reedville, VA is home to the menhaden industry, and the governor is afraid of losing the jobs. The Potomac River Fisheries Commission - which is a shill in the system to give commercial interests in Chesapeake Bay an extra vote - was vote #2, but incredibly MA was vote #3 in opposition.
While our focus remains 100% on striped bass gamefish, we are going to give this issue some attention for all the obvious reasons. I like to think of how much easier it would be to fight these forage issues if striped bass were a gamefish coastwide, and the industry recognized in each state was that created by 3,000,000 plus of us fishing for them. In the meantime, though, we will inform our members of upcoming opportunities for MA's delegation to the ASMFC to right its wrongs to the menhaden conservation. We can all start by letting Paul Diodati and the Governor of Massachusetts know how unhappy we are with their vote.
A charter captain from MD who is a SF member sent me the following information comprised largely of posts from a Chesapeake Bay website. The last post is stings a bit, and it is off the mark in a number of ways, but it does show the anger that some fishermen in the Bay feel towards MA's disregard for menhaden conservation and for the commercial fishery in MA that concentrates on killing breeding age female stripers.
Brad Burns
Brad,
I bring this to your attention for several reasons.
Fact #1 - Stripers Forever is working to make the rockfish a game fish. I agree with, and support that effort.
Fact #2 - The Chesapeake Bay is the spawning ground for the species... almost all of them to be found on the eastern seaboard.
Fact #3 - Menhaden is the primary food of the rockfish. Without food, the rockfish will not come here to spawn, or... if they do come here, their primary food will not be here and they will get sick and die. It is happening now.
Fact #4 - Omega Protein purse nets menhaden from the Chesapeake Bay completely UNREGULATED. They may take as many fish as they like. Why? Because Omega Protein contributes large sums of money to Virginia politicians.
Fact #5 - If this problem isn't solved, and if the commercial Menhaden industry isn't regulated (and quickly), your organization won't have a gamefish to support.
Fact #6 - The members of the MA delegation voted AGAINST regulating the menhaden industry. I wonder if the MA fisherman realize this, and furthermore... what that will mean to the big rockfish they enjoy catching in their waters? If you take away the Chesapeake nursery, they end up with without any fish to catch.
If you want to make the Striped Bass a gamefish, it has to have food in its nursery, and right now Omega Protein is netting all of the food that the spawning fish need.
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These are my notes from a Menhaden Matter press briefing:
A motion was passed to develop a draft addendum to the Menhaden Fishery Management Plan to restrict industrial menhaden fishing in the Bay and perhaps along the coast. The next step is for a public information document (PID) to be prepared, public comment taken, and the draft addendum developed. The Menhaden Management Board will probably act on the draft addendum at their August meeting. There will probably be 2-3 times for the public to comment from now until the August meeting. This action does not cap the harvest, it just starts the process, which should be completed by August.
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The following is a statement from Menhaden Matter -- an alliance of recreational anglers and environmentalists, including Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Coastal Conservation Association, Environmental Defense and the National Coalition for Marine Conservation -- regarding the cap on the industrial harvesting of menhaden proposed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) at its February 9th meeting in Alexandria, Virginia.
We want to commend Governor Robert Ehrlich and his Department of Natural Resources for their leadership in securing today’s commitment by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to seek a cap on the industrial harvesting of Atlantic Menhaden.
By proposing this catch limit, the commission has taken an important first step toward protecting a principal filter feeder of the bay’s waters and prime food source for striped bass.
We look forward to working with Governor Ehrlich to ensure that this cap is formally implemented and to secure the financial resources necessary to ensure that menhaden and the bay are protected.
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The addendum process allows for some leeway in the ultimate outcome, but the most likely scenario is that the addendum, if passed by the Menhaden Management Board, will cap harvest in the Bay at 110,000 metric tons for 2006 and 2007. That amount represents the previous 5 year average.
This is only a temporary measure to prevent things from getting worse while the Menhaden Technical Committee (the scientists) gathers the science to determine whether localized depletion in the Bay is real and what can be done about it. If the Technical Committee concludes what we believe, that it is a problem, the Menhaden Management Board will then have the political cover to institute further restrictions.
It's important to remember that we began addressing the menhaden problem in 1997, when the Menhaden Management Board was unlike the Management Board for any other species. Menhaden were managed by a "special" board made up of menhaden industry representatives, a classic fox guarding the hen house arrangement. It took 4 years to change this arrangement, and now menhaden are managed like the rest of the species under ASMFC's scope. Now that Board is acting. I know it's easy to be cynical and give up, but thank goodness we didn't.
Omega Protein fought today's actions, including lobbying other states' fisheries services, enlisting the help of VA's governor, and claiming that today's actions were illegal.
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It was my understanding that just last week Virginia refused to pass on to legislation a proposal to limit Omega's take and it was defeated 18-2 or something like that.
Congrats to Maryland but the real battle is with Omega in Reedville, Va.
These people are taking things to new levels and apparently have nobody to control their take. The number of pounds taken annually have grown by more than double each year. It is a crime that is going to affect all of us and the real actions from this won't be felt for a number of years as the preditor fish have nothing left to feed on.
It will take a monumental effort on the parts of mostly Virginians to get Omega under control.
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It's all just talk!!! The purpose of these meetings is to placate the recreational fisherman. If they were serious, something would have been done by now. How much research to they need!!! Wait until August? C'mon.
Check out this disclosure in the Omega's most recent Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission:
"In April 2003, the Company commenced building a new 100-metric ton per day fish oil processing facility at its Reedville, Virginia plant. The project is expected to be completed by mid-2004. The food-grade facility will include state-of-the-art processing equipment and controls that will allow the Company to refine, bleach, winterize and deodorize its menhaden fish oil and results in refined oil and will more than triple the Company’s existing refined fish oil production capacity. Overall, the Company expects to invest approximately $16 million in the new facility. "
It does not look like any menhaden harvest restictions will be coming anytime soon if these guys feel confident enough to invest $16,000,000 in a new plant that will increase refining capacity three fold. Bye, Bye LY. and bye bye rockfish!!!
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The ASMFC is made up of 15 members. The vote to cap the harvest was 12 to 3.
Virginia, Massachusetts and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission voted against the harvest limits.
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---LOOKS like some of us need to work on the State of MASS.--& thier anglers --Which is the plan of the day starting early-Tommorow--I don't know about you all---Im sick & tired of producing fish That migrate to be slaughered up & down the coast---& have NO support from the ones that benifit ---VA. & the Potomac I can understand-----Like raising hogs to the killing weight of 225# & taking the fences down for them wander,so the neighbors can have pork w/o cost----Reds, that Mass. thing is mindboggling ----Menhaden is the same thing--Come into the bay to mature , then never get to return as adults --Tough being a nursemaid, You only get to take care of things when they are young---OH WELL
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