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Date
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Update
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| April
12, 2006 |
-
Fish Oil and Waterd-Down Pilot Politics
Don't Mix
The Virginia Pilot should have studied
the matter a more closely before publishing
it recent editorial on fish (“If Only Menhaden
Wrote Campaign Checks”, April 10, 2006) .
Its editorial position ignores the facts, and
unfortunately reveals an apparent disdain
of hard working watermen of the Chesapeake Bay...
Review
the MRC's Letter to the Editor.
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| March
6, 2006 |
- Sportfishing
Writer Gone Overboard
Angus Phillips' recent sportfishing column ("Game
Hogs: The Chesapeake's Worst Enemy", Washington
Post, March 5, 2006) proves even landlocked
writers can cook up big fish stories...
Review
the MRC's Letter to the Editor.
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| February
6, 2006 |
- Virginia
Attorney General Finds in Favor of Menhaden
Fishermen
In a recent legal review of the Atlantic States
Marine Fisheries Commission's attempt to force
Virginia to adopt unscientific regulations within
its menhaden fishery, the Attorney General of
Virginia found the following:
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s
Menhaden Management Board exceeded adaptive
management authority when adopting menhaden
cap in Addendum II because (1) cap is wholly
new management measure, which cannot be implemented
by addendum; (2) when Atlantic menhaden stocks
have been declared "healthy," cap or quota cannot
be imposed unless menhaden are found to be overfished;
and (3) Atlantic Menhaden Fishery Management
Plan does not include prerequisite management
measure that can be varied by imposition of
cap through addendum. Should General Assembly
decline to adopt menhaden cap, Commonwealth
would not be out of compliance with Plan because
Commission failed to follow required procedures.
Review
the Entire Attorney General Opinion.
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| January
2, 2006 |
- Maryland
Department of Natural Resources Documents that
Fat Striped Bass and Bluefish in the Chesapeake
Bay are Beginning to Look Like "Blimps"
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
fishing reports throughout the 2005 fishing
season indicate that not only did sport anglers
enjoy "some of the best large fish angling
they've ever seen in the bay", but
also that the fish caught by these anglers were
both very healthy and very fat. According to
the DNR, ”One
thing is sure though is that [striped bass]
must be growing fast based on how much they're
eating; they are fat. If the striped bass are
fat, the bluefish are even fatter. Many are
starting to look like blimps; they just never
stop eating if given the chance. They almost
seem to ooze oil through their skin like warm
fat through cheesecloth when you hold them,
real grease balls.”
Review Maryland
DNR Reports and Photos.
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| January
2, 2006 |
- Chesapeake
Bay Program Scientists Confirm Menhaden Harvests
are Not Harming the Chesapeake Bay
In their Preview of the State of the
Bay Restoration and Protection Efforts and State
of Bay Health, Chesapeake Bay Program [CBP]
scientists confirm that menhaden harvests are
not harming the Chesapeake Bay. According to
the CBP report, "The single hottest
fisheries issue over the last year is the menhaden
harvest. Our best science says harvest is not
stressing the population. While some feel otherwise,
that is the conclusion the data supports."
The report also indicates that burgeoning striped
bass populations may be overpopulating the Bay.
According to the CBP report, "A strong
argument can be made that we have too many small
striped bass in the Bay and that is causing
disease, starvation, and forage fish problems."
Excerpts from the CBP Report
are available online.
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| July
5, 2005 |
- Maryland
Department of Natural Resources Official Fishing
Reports Indicate Chesapeake Bay Striped Bass
Are "Fat and Healthy"
Online fishing reports published by the
Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
indicate that striped bass harvests have been
outstanding this year, describing the Spring
trophy striper season as "stupendous",
and that early bag limits were the "norm
for captains and anglers who know what they
are doing." Despite allegations made by
some sport anglers that striped bass are "starving"
due to "shortages" of menhaden, the
DNR states that "all will agree that the
fish are fat and healthy."
Review
online accounts and photos from the MDDNR
and Maryland charter boat captains.
|
| October
25, 2004 |
- Scientific
Workshop Indicates Massive Chesapeake Bay Striped
Bass Populations May Be Harming Atlantic Menhaden
and Fishery Ecosystem.
Federal, state and academic fishery scientists
recently convened a workshop arranged by the
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
intended to examine the ecological role of Atlantic
menhaden, an important commercial- and prey-
species, and improve the scientific understanding
of its niche within the Chesapeake Bay.
Click here for details.
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| March
23, 2004 |
- Scientists
Reject Sport Anglers Seeking Menhaden Fishing
Ban in Bay
In a boost to conservative fisheries
management based on science, marine scientists
rejected two petitions introduced by a group
of Virginia sport anglers at a recent board
meeting of interstate fishery regulators.
One of these petitions aimed to ban all
modern fishing for the small, herring-like Atlantic
menhaden – commonly called “bunker” – in the
Chesapeake Bay, and would have needlessly eliminated
one of the oldest commercial fisheries in existence
in the United States.
Review
the Press Release
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| October,
2003 |
-
Menhaden
Resource Council Responds to Sport Anglers
Call to Close Bay Waters
Recently,
a small group of striped bass sport angling
enthusiasts from Northern Virginia called
the “National Coalition for Marine Conservation”
(“NCMC”) stated its intention to lobby to
ban the commercial harvest of Atlantic menhaden
fish in Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay waters.
Fortunately, such a prohibition is unnecessary
to ensure the continued wise conservation
of the menhaden fish population, as supported
by our state and federal fishery scientists
and experts charged with regulating this public
resource. Unfortunately, the NCMC is using
fear to promote their sport over the livelihood
of the Chesapeake Bay watermen and their families.
Review the Press
Release
|
| January,
2003 |
-
Atlantic
Menhaden Stock Is Healthy, Fishery Board Reports
American
Heart Association Recommends Daily Dose of
Fish Oil
The
Atlantic menhaden fishery, America’s leading
source of nutritionally desirable fish oil,
is healthy and is not being overfished, according
to the latest scientific report issued by
the Atlantic Menhaden Management Board (AMMB)
of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
Additionally, the American Heart Association
recently recommended that Americans consume
fish oil daily because the Omega-3 fatty acids
it contains can cut the risk of potentially
fatal irregular heartbeat associated with
heat attacks, lower blood pressure and reduce
the formation of blood clots which are linked
to heart attacks and strokes.
Review
the Press Release.
|
| October,
2002 |
- Omega
Protein Joins Paradise Creek Cleanup Team
 Omega
Protein, the nation's the largest U.S. menhaden
fishing company and leading producer of edible
fish oil, is contributing $50,000 in 2002-2003
to the restoration of Paradise Creek -- a tributary
of the Elizabeth River. The Elizabeth River
basin, on the Chesapeake Bay, is known as the
most polluted watershed in the U.S.
Review the
Press Release.
|
| December,
2001 |
- National
Marine Fisheries Service Announces Preliminary
2001 Atlantic Menhaden Landings & Age Compositions
Preliminary "final" Atlantic menhaden
landings for reduction through December 1, 2001
in thousands of "standard fish" and
metric tons (including 2000 and 1996-2000 five-year
average) are as follows:
| |
2001
|
2000
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Change |
5-yr.
avg. |
Change |
| Total
Standard Fish |
982,285 |
524,090 |
+30.1% |
678,770 |
+0.5% |
| Total
Metric Fish |
207,346 |
159,271 |
|
206,278 |
|
Note: to convert "standard fish" to
pounds, multiply by 670; to convert to metric
tons, multiply by 0.3039.
| Age
composition of menhaden port samples is
as follows: |
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| November,
2001 |
- National Marine Fisheries
Service Addresses Misleading Editorial Published
by the "Chesapeake Bay Ecological Foundation"
In response to an October, 2001 article in the
Bay Journal by the "Chesapeake Bay Ecological
Foundation" (CBEF) entitled Exploitation
of Menhaden Threatens Chesapeake's Restoration,
the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
Chesapeake Bay Office submitted a reasoned article
presenting the actual facts.
Specifically, the editorial by the CBEF's President
alleged that the Atlantic
States Marine Fisheries Commission
is "mismanaging"
the resource, and that "overfishing"
is occurring in the Chesapeake Bay, while "the
reduction fishery [was forced] to concentrate
their efforts entirely in Virginia’s portion
of the Bay and nearby coastal waters".
Pertinent to this issue, the so-called "Chesapeake
Bay Ecological Foundation" is apparently
comprised solely of one employee -- a sportfishing
charter captain.
Review the NMFS
Editorial [offsite link].
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