Stripers Forever - MD, VA, DE - following this introduction we have pasted in a letter forwarded to us by a CCA MD member. SF focuses 100% on making the striped bass a gamefish, but we are very aware of other issues facing our favorite fish. Overfishing of menhaden is one of these issues. We understand that a number of groups, including the CCA, as well as some individual activists have worked hard on menhaden conservation, and we applaud all of their efforts.
Brad Burns Stripers Forever
MENHADEN MATTER THEY NEED YOUR HELP NOW!
Join Us
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
Public Hearing
Monday, July 12, 6:00 PM
Radisson Hotel Annapolis
210 Holiday Court, Annapolis, just off Route 50 and Riva Road
Directions to Radisson Hotel Annapolis: Take Route 50 to Exit 22 – Riva Road. Follow exit ramp to end and turn left on Riva Road (North). Turn left at 3
rd traffic light onto Holiday Court. Proceed up hill to hotel.
MENHADEN MATTER to CCA MD members. In our 2004 questionnaire 97% of you said menhaden restoration in the Chesapeake Bay should be a HIGH priority for our organization. Now is the time for you to speak up for menhaden and join CCA MD and other concerned, like-minded groups by attending the July 12
th Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) menhaden public hearing.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has risen to our challenge and is taking a lead role in working to address our concerns of declining menhaden populations on the coast and in the Chesapeake Bay. By attending this public hearing you will demonstrate to the DNR and our state leaders that Menhaden Matter and you support them in their efforts.
Atlantic Menhaden are small, oily fish, which play a big role in the major estuaries of the Atlantic Coast, especially the Chesapeake Bay. That’s why there is growing concern among scientists, conservationists and recreational anglers, who fear that the depletion (population is at historic lows) of this fish has put a resurgent striped bass population and the overall health of the Bay at risk.
MENHADEN MATTER because they are a critical source of forage for a wide variety of fish, including striped bass, as well as seabirds and marine mammals along the entire Atlantic coastline. Also known as bunker or pogies, menhaden are principal filter feeders, converting phytoplankton and decaying plant matter into biomass, while removing nutrients from our rivers and bays. This means more forage for striped bass and seabirds and a cleaner Bay.
MENHADEN MATTER TO MARYLAND
? Menhaden are a principal filter feeder of the Chesapeake Bay’s waters along with oysters, which are grossly depleted.
? The Chesapeake Bay serves as the main spawning ground for striped bass, which rely on menhaden to make up the bulk of their diet.
? Recreational fishing, including angling for striped bass, is important to Maryland, contributing more than $1.1 billion annually to the state’s economy and is put at risk by a low population of menhaden.
MARYLAND, like most Atlantic coast states, has closed its waters to the industrialized harvesting of the fish through purse seines and spotter planes. But, in the Virginia waters of the Chesapeake Bay, one Texas-based company currently takes about two-thirds of the entire East Coast catch – or more than 100,000 metric tons of fish annually.
BECAUSE MENHADEN MATTER, scientific, conservation and recreational fishing leaders have joined forces to ask the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a 15-state regulatory body, to consider taking interim management measures now to protect against overfishing of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay.
CCA MD believes that Atlantic menhaden stocks are being threatened due to a long-term down trend of recruitment (survival of young) in the Chesapeake Bay. Since the Bay provides approximately 45% of all the menhaden on the Atlantic Coast, the coastwide population, which is already at historically low levels of abundance, is at risk
CCA MD RECOMMENDS that the Atlantic Menhaden Board adopt a management strategy that
? includes more risk-adverse biological reference points, and
? maintains a yearly stock assessment until Chesapeake Bay menhaden recruitment significantly improves and the menhaden population reverses its decline.
The Maryland public hearing on July 12th will take comment on Addendum 1 of the ASMFC Atlantic Menhaden Management Plan. The purpose of Addendum 1 is to consider modifications of the plan's biological reference points, schedule for stock assessments and updating the habitat section of the plan. Click here to obtain a copy of Addendum 1. If you cannot attend, send comments to Assistant Secretary of Maryland’s DNR, Mike Slattery, and the ASMFC’s Nancy Wallace.
| 