Menhaden

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is on the threshold of making a game-changing decision: Whether to allow the menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay to be fished to extinction, or to act decisively to save this vital mid-chain food fish. Overfishing the Chesapeake Bay menhaden is exactly the kind of situation ASMFC is empowered to regulate by reducing commercial fishing takes or imposing moratoriums. The decimation of the bay's menhaden population to historic lows deals a severe blow to the area's entire symbiotic oceanic food chain.

Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler says he's considering going to court if the interstate panel that regulates Atlantic coast fishing for menhaden doesn't cut back enough the catch of a Virginia-based fleet that takes the lion's share of the forage fish. Speaking at a Chesapeake Bay scientific symposium in Baltimore on Monday, Gansler said he was "working with" the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission as it ponders tightening harvest limits on menhaden. Called by some "the most important fish in the sea," menhaden are a food source for many other fish and wildlife, including ospreys and striped bass, Maryland's state fish.

As Candus Thomson 's days as an outdoor writer are numbered, she seems determined to take more shots (some cheaper than others) at commercial fishermen, and the menhaden industry in particular. Having worked as both a journalist and a commercial fisherman, I refuse to let her broadsides go unanswered. If you believe Ms. Thomson's recent Outdoors Girl blog entry, ("Rachel Maddow, the Atlantic infrastructure needs you," Aug. 9), a menhaden plant with 300 employees and its hired gun lobbyists are holding an entire ecosystem hostage.

Two important decisions emerged from the recent meeting of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission that should have a positive impact on the Chesapeake Bay's striped bass (rockfish) industry. The first was a decision not to restrict the harvest of striped bass, the other to significantly curb the Atlantic menhaden catch. How could a decision to leave alone rockfish, a species highly prized by commercial fishermen and recreational anglers alike, while restricting the harvest of the lowly menhaden, an oily little fish that no self-respecting hook-and-line fisherman would use for anything other than bait, be a win for conservationists and the fishing industry?

Few experiences compare to boating in the Chesapeake Bay at dawn, gliding among blue herons and submerged oak trees. As a nature lover and conservationist, I often take young students to the Chesapeake to teach them about ocean ecology. Lately, these nascent outdoorsmen have been noticing disturbances in the complex chain of marine life that sustains the ocean and its estuaries. An alarming 70 percent of adult striped bass sampled in the Chesapeake Bay are infected with a serious condition called mycobacteriosis, and these ailing fish are migrating from their nursery in the bay all along the Atlantic Coast.

SALT LAKE CITY - This was going to be about fun and games. That's what drives the Outdoor Retailer trade show, the twice-annual event that fills the city's Salt Palace with the gear and goodies that you, dear consumer, will be lusting after next year. But despite a record number of people at the show, there's a sense of the same old, same old. Maybe we're on another technological plateau, where the only changes to the average consumer's eye are in the colors and dazzling variety options offered on a given product.

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler on Wednesday asked the interstate agency that manages the fishing of Atlantic menhaden to increase protection for the fish, which scientists say is an integral part of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is considering updates to its management plan for the menhaden and Gansler submitted comments to the commission requesting that the threshold for overfishing be nearly doubled from the current rate. "The Commission's interstate fishery management plan … for the menhaden has so far failed to adequately protect the menhaden fishery, particularly from overfishing," Gansler said in his comments.

Protecting menhaden, the small fish that nourishes striped bass and other species, moved a bit closer to reality Wednesday when East Coast fisheries managers unanimously agreed to review the science that forms the foundation of regulations. Recreational anglers and conservation groups applauded the vote by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to prepare more conservative benchmarks for menhaden that would lead to greater abundance. They had been frustrated by a nine-year process that became mired in interstate politics and intense lobbying by commercial interests.

Ten ugly truths to ponder as you take part in the spring striped bass fishing season — enjoy it while it lasts. Fact: In 2001, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved management objectives and benchmarks to protect the Atlantic menhaden, a small fish that lives in the Chesapeake Bay and along the Atlantic Coast that filters water and is a major food source for striped bass and other important fish and bird species....

It doesn't take a crystal ball filled with filthy Chesapeake Bay water to realize that when it comes to protecting menhaden, the folks charged with doing so aren't likely to do a blessed thing in time for the 2011 commercial fishing season. Just as sure as Omega Protein has trawlers and huge nets to scoop up menhaden — a keystone bay species and the favored food of striped bass — the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is poised to do absolutely nothing during Tuesday's 90-minute meeting despite a vote to do something almost three months ago. That's right.

The interstate panel that oversees fishing along the Eastern Seaboard voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to cut the menhaden catch by up to 37 percent next year in an effort to protect the species and, by extension, striped bass. The 14-3 vote by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission was hailed by environmentalists and criticized by commercial fishermen who make their living catching menhaden for processing into animal feed and dietary supplements and for bait. "This is historic," said Ken Hinman of the National Coalition for Marine Conservation.

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler on Wednesday asked the interstate agency that manages the fishing of Atlantic menhaden to increase protection for the fish, which scientists say is an integral part of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is considering updates to its management plan for the menhaden and Gansler submitted comments to the commission requesting that the threshold for overfishing be nearly doubled from the current rate. "The Commission's interstate fishery management plan … for the menhaden has so far failed to adequately protect the menhaden fishery, particularly from overfishing," Gansler said in his comments.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is on the threshold of making a game-changing decision: Whether to allow the menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay to be fished to extinction, or to act decisively to save this vital mid-chain food fish. Overfishing the Chesapeake Bay menhaden is exactly the kind of situation ASMFC is empowered to regulate by reducing commercial fishing takes or imposing moratoriums. The decimation of the bay's menhaden population to historic lows deals a severe blow to the area's entire symbiotic oceanic food chain.

A big fight is brewing over a little fish - a fish that no one wants to eat but that many regard as the most important in the sea. Catch restrictions loom on menhaden, which is too unsavory to grace a dinner plate but much sought by commercial fishermen. They catch them in staggering numbers to be ground into animal feed, to extract their heart-healthy oils for humans and to be used as bait to catch other fish, including Maryland's iconic blue crabs. Menhaden also play a vital role in the Chesapeake Bay's ecosystem, feeding on plankton and serving themselves as food for many of the fish, birds and animals that people do eat or care about.

Equating the stocking of menhaden in Maryland's waters to a set of traffic lights, Mike Waine sees the current plight somewhere closer to red than green. Waine, the fisheries management coordinator for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, said Tuesday's two-hour hearing in Annapolis helped gauge the public's view on the overfishing of menhaden — and the future management of the species. Once considered a delicacy, menhaden are now more highly regarded as the main forager of unwanted algae as well as a source of food for the region's striped bass population.

As Candus Thomson 's days as an outdoor writer are numbered, she seems determined to take more shots (some cheaper than others) at commercial fishermen, and the menhaden industry in particular. Having worked as both a journalist and a commercial fisherman, I refuse to let her broadsides go unanswered. If you believe Ms. Thomson's recent Outdoors Girl blog entry, ("Rachel Maddow, the Atlantic infrastructure needs you," Aug. 9), a menhaden plant with 300 employees and its hired gun lobbyists are holding an entire ecosystem hostage.

Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler says he's considering going to court if the interstate panel that regulates Atlantic coast fishing for menhaden doesn't cut back enough the catch of a Virginia-based fleet that takes the lion's share of the forage fish. Speaking at a Chesapeake Bay scientific symposium in Baltimore on Monday, Gansler said he was "working with" the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission as it ponders tightening harvest limits on menhaden. Called by some "the most important fish in the sea," menhaden are a food source for many other fish and wildlife, including ospreys and striped bass, Maryland's state fish.

Big fish eat little fish. Except when something bigger gets in between. A lot of Chesapeake Bay recreational anglers believe something bigger is getting between the rockfish and the menhaden: commercial fishermen based in Virginia. Bay anglers know the silver-sided menhaden well. Find a large school of them and the stripers, blues and Spanish macks can't be far away. They also know that these little fish are terrific "filter feeders," eating the goo that causes the dead zones in the bay. With the oyster population in the tank, the bay needs all the alternate filters it can get. But any talk of menhaden these days at fishing clubs and tackle shops is bound to turn to concerns that there aren't as many around as there were, say, a decade ago. There's a lot of "if this is true, this also must be true" thinking involved here.

SALT LAKE CITY - This was going to be about fun and games. That's what drives the Outdoor Retailer trade show, the twice-annual event that fills the city's Salt Palace with the gear and goodies that you, dear consumer, will be lusting after next year. But despite a record number of people at the show, there's a sense of the same old, same old. Maybe we're on another technological plateau, where the only changes to the average consumer's eye are in the colors and dazzling variety options offered on a given product.

Few experiences compare to boating in the Chesapeake Bay at dawn, gliding among blue herons and submerged oak trees. As a nature lover and conservationist, I often take young students to the Chesapeake to teach them about ocean ecology. Lately, these nascent outdoorsmen have been noticing disturbances in the complex chain of marine life that sustains the ocean and its estuaries. An alarming 70 percent of adult striped bass sampled in the Chesapeake Bay are infected with a serious condition called mycobacteriosis, and these ailing fish are migrating from their nursery in the bay all along the Atlantic Coast.