For the second time in three months, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) decided to put off taking any action against Virginia and its menhaden fishery for Chesapeake Bay.
By a 13-5 vote, the commission at its meeting on Tuesday 7 August chose to delay ruling whether the state is out of compliance for not implementing a 51,000-metric ton cap on the amount of fish Virginia could harvest from the bay for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. The council is now scheduled to consider action in February.
The council could have asked Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to take action against the state because the state missed a 15 April deadline for implementing a plan to meet the cap, which was set last year. Sanctions against the state could include a ban on menhaden fishing until a management plan is in place.
However, a primary reason the council chose to table the motion again was the fact that the fishery is currently not overfished. Chip Lynch, a NOAA attorney, told members an out of compliance finding for a fishery that’s not overfished would be an unprecedented move.
In May, the commission gave the state three months because it believed the state would not hit the cap prior to this month.
Omega Protein harvests menhaden out of the bay and processes it at its Reedville, Virginia facility. The 140-year-old plant employs about 125 people, with that number doubling during peak fishing season. The fish is caught because of the rich omega-3 fat content, which is used to create nutritional supplements and used as a key component in developing fertilizers and cosmetics.
Company representatives said the fishery is being managed properly. State officials added the current harvest totals show the fishery is well under the current cap and will likely not even hit the cap this season.
"The law clearly states that a state can only be found in non-compliance if it has failed to implement regulations 'necessary for the conservation of the fishery,'" said Ben Landry, Director of Public Affairs for Omega Protein in a statement. "It is also clear that there is nothing in the current operations of the menhaden fishery that would justify a non-compliance finding."
