Fisheries regulator cuts menhaden catch limit, adopting uneasy compromise proposed by Maine – WTOP News
- On Wednesday, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted to reduce the Chesapeake Bay menhaden harvest cap from 51,000 metric tons to 33,847 metric tons by 2028, cutting the industrial catch limit by roughly one-third.
- Public pressure mounted as more than 48,000 comments cited concerns that dwindling menhaden populations are starving striped bass and osprey, driving regulators to restrict the forage fish harvest.
- Omega Protein, a subsidiary of Cooke Inc. operating the last remaining menhaden processing plant in Reedville, Virginia, opposed the decision, warning the cut threatens local jobs and regional economic stability.
- Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen's Association, expressed relief the reduction was less restrictive than other proposals, noting that splitting cuts over two years will help the fishery adjust.
- The commission also reduced the coastwide total allowable catch to 170,000 metric tons in 2027 and 155,000 metric tons in 2028, while Congress appropriated $2.5 million for research to inform future management strategies by 2028.
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19 Articles
A closer look at Menhaden quota cut - enough, or too much?
Fisheries regulator cuts menhaden catch limit, adopting uneasy compromise proposed by Maine – WTOP News
Debate has raged up and down the East Coast this year over a small fish that plays a mighty role in the marine ecosystem: Atlantic menhaden, also known as bunker or pogies. This week, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted to reduce the total menhaden catch limit along the Atlantic coastline, beginning with a...
Winnipeg Free Press
Fisheries regulator cuts menhaden catch limit, adopting uneasy compromise proposed by Maine
Debate has raged up and down the East Coast this year over a small fish that plays a mighty role in the marine ecosystem: Atlantic menhaden, also known as bunker or pogies.
Officials vote to reduce menhaden catch limits within the Chesapeake Bay
The Atlantic Marine Fisheries Commission’s Menhaden Management Board on Wednesday voted to reduce how much of the oily forage fish can be harvested from the Chesapeake Bay, after thousands of public comments called for tighter restrictions on the only reduction fishery allowed inside the tributary. Menhaden management has been a hot button issue across the […]
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