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Making Waves Making Waves Summer Winter 2016 2020
Guest Commentary by Jeremy Cox, Courtesy Bay Journal
Menhaden Catch Cut to Help Striped Bass, But is it Enough? by Jeremy Cox, Bay Journal
O
ne of the most crucial fish in the Chesapeake Bay’s aquatic food web is getting more protection from potential overfishing, but not as much as some environmentalists and state fishery managers had wanted. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission agreed Oct. 20 to cut the allowable commercial harvest of Atlantic menhaden 10% from what it has been the last three years.
The vote by the commission’s Menhaden Management Board was 13–5 in favor of the 10% reduction, with state delegations from Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Rhode Island in opposition.
That means the maximum commercial harvest in all East Coast waters for 2021 and 2022 would be 194,000 metric tons. A 51,000-metric ton cap on how much of the menhaden catch can come from the Chesapeake Bay would remain unThe commission’s decision marked a historic shift changed. in the way it establishes catch levels. Traditionally, policymakers have relied on abundance and During the annual meeting of the commission, death rates of a single species to make that call. which regulates migratory species in state waIn August, commission members switched to an ters, backers of a measure to reduce catches by “ecological reference point” that accounts for 20% fell short of the support required for approvmenhaden's value as food for predators, especial- al. ly striped bass. “In any good marriage, there has to be a comproWhile the menhaden population is considered mise,” said A.G. "Spud" Woodward, a retired relatively robust, striped bass numbers are low. Georgia fisheries manager who is the board’s The big dilemma for regulators: Should the small, chairman. oily fish be managed for the small striped bass population that exists now or the larger one they Every Chesapeake Bay watershed state on the board — Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylenvision building? vania and Virginia — sided with the 10% cut.
