The crucial role menhaden play in the ecological balance of the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean has been well documented for years. Though very few people, if any, eat this keystone species, menhaden (aka bunker) are an extremely important food for many marine species including stripers, whales, and sea birds. Additionally, bunker are filter feeders, helping remove excess nutrients that can ignite algae blooms, which contribute to the Bay’s dead zones.
As awareness has increased about the importance of this little fish, so too has the fight over how many of them can be harvested without harming the stock. That’s why, a few years ago when menhaden numbers dipped, conservation groups joined with tens of thousands of charter boat captains and sport anglers to demand the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission cap the harvest. They did, at 80 percent of the previous three years.
Omega Protein, a Texas-based company that takes the lion’s share of the menhaden from North American waters, responded by calling it government overreach that would force them to eliminate the jobs. Using spotter planes and purse seine boats to suck up huge quantities of menhaden, Omega runs its industrial-scale reduction fishery out of Reedville, VA, where it employs a couple hundred people. The company boils down the oily fishes for use in the manufacturing of cosmetics, animal feed, and diet supplements.
When the most recent stock assessment found the menhaden population to be in pretty good shape (the extent of localized depletion in areas such as the Chesapeake Bay remains uncertain, however), Omega predictably called for increasing its allocation. Some argued that this underscored the fact that for Omega, it was all about the bottom line and demonstrated the company’s continued lack of concern for the fish. Critics also pointed to the fact that in 2012 Omega also saw its highest ever third quarter revenues, nearly $78 million, according to published reports. Federal data shows the company has landed more than 47 billion pounds of menhaden from the Atlantic Ocean from the years between 1950 and 2012.
So just how much does the overall Atlantic menhaden commercial fishery impact the region’s economic and social well being? That’s what the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) wants to find out. The coastal board is requesting proposals from researchers to conduct a socioeconomic study, beginning late winter 2016, of Atlantic menhaden commercial fisheries. The cost is expected to be about $80,000, with funding provided through a cooperative agreement with NOAA Fisheries.
The ASMFC said its main goal is to identify as many contributors to the coastwide commercial fishery as possible, including those in the bait fishery, which in the Bay are typically pound netters. The ASMFC also wants to identifying individuals, families, communities, and related businesses to better characterize the stakeholders involved in the menhaden fisheries.
To glean this data, researchers will collect a wide sway of information—landings, value, participation, capacity utilization—from state agencies as well as from wholesalers and purchasers, among others. They also want to know the number and types of employees associated with commercial menhaden operations. It is expected the study will be part of the Board’s menhaden management strategies beginning in 2017.
“We anticipate this project will be key to assisting the board with future decisions on the management of the menhaden resource,” stated Robert Boyles, chair of the commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board. “As such, we are hopeful state agencies and stakeholders will fully and openly participate in the collection of new socioeconomic information.”
More about "Bugfish"
- The Bay is an important nursery area for juvenile menhaden because of its rich supply of plankton.
- Menhaden are so oily that they are nearly inedible for humans.
- Native Americans likely used menhaden to fertilize their corn fields. They called the fish "munnawhatteaug," a word for fertilizer.
- A large crustacean parasite is often found in menhaden mouths. This is why the fish are also called bugfish or bugmouth. From the Chesapeake Bay Program Field Guide
by Capt. Chris D. Dollar
Editor’s note: In this new monthly column, Chris Dollar will highlight conservation issues, leaders, and fish species. Please send your comments and ideas to [email protected]