A group of congressional U.S. lawmakers have written a letter to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) urging it to cut the quota of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay.
Lead by U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) and U.S. Representative Sarah Elfreth (D-Maryland), the lawmakers called for the ASMFC to “implement strong protections” for Atlantic menhaden. That includes choosing the most cautious management measures for the quota – which would also reduce the catch available.
“It is our view that Atlantic menhaden are a public resource that benefit Atlantic coast communities in many ways, and so managing this species for long-term sustainability is key,” the letter states.
The letter cited recent studies that found declines in the osprey population in the Chesapeake Bay, and linked that decline to “declining menhaden populations” in the area.
“Until better menhaden abundance data is available to inform management decisions, the Commission must put in place additional precautionary management measures, using the ecological reference point target as a goal, to ease pressure on vulnerable species that depend on menhaden,” the letter states.
The letter is the latest in a continuing debate over the role menhaden fishing may or not play in the decline of osprey in the area. The ASMFC is being petitioned to initiate a reallocation process for the menhaden fishery, along with a push to reduce the 51,000 metric ton (MT) cap on menhaden fishing currently in pace in the Chesapeake Bay.
ASMFC has already reduced that cap once before, cutting it from 87,216 MT to 51,000 MT – a decision which resulted in a dispute between the commission and the state of Virginia, with the state ignoring the decision, the main menhaden fishing company announcing it would exceed the cap, and the commission voting to find Virginia out of compliance in 2019.
The dispute wasn’t the end of the debate over menhaden fishing in the Chesapeake, and the fishery has seen heavy debate between environmentalists and recreational fishing advocates and the menhaden fishing industry.
The industry condemned the congressional letter, calling it premature.
“The Virginia Institute of Marine Science confirms that scientists lack sufficient data to determine adult menhaden abundance or survival in the Chesapeake Bay,” The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition said in a release. “And there is no scientifically established Bay-specific harvest threshold or validated adult abundance index demonstrating that commercial fishing has depleted menhaden to an unsustainable level.”
The coalition said funding from Virginia as well as from the U.S. federal government has been devoted to a Chesapeake Bay-specific study of menhaden, but Van Hollen – who advocated for that funding – is now leading an effort to impose restrictions before the research he helped fund is complete.
“The signers of the congressional letter were misled into believing that Atlantic menhaden are overfished,” the coalition wrote. “The facts are clear: according to the ASMFC’s latest assessment, Atlantic menhaden are not overfished, and overfishing is not occurring.”
