Environmentalists Are Wrong About Menhaden Fishery
Fishing companies are at odds with Rhode Island environmental advocacy groups over proposed changes for the menhaden fishing industry, Changes to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden are up for a vote at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission meeting in Maryland this Monday and Tuesday. Meghan Lapp, fishery liaison for the Rhode Island-based Seafreeze Ltd, said that temporary plan shouldn’t be implemented because it’s based off of science that isn’t applicable to menhaden. click here to read the story 12:19
The entire premise that the”larger fish” are somehow finicky enough to be dependent on a single species, or even a relatively small number of specific species, of smaller fish for their survival is on its face ridiculous, and either innocently ignorant and misinformed or not so innocently agenda-driven disingenuous. “Larger fish” have been surviving far longer than we humans. These animals are not stupid, and I dare say, in situations such as what to eat and how to survive, are considerably smarter with a clarity of purpose our species rarely displays.
If a Fish such as a Striped Bass or a Tuna or a Cod can’t find any Menhaden, for instance, guess what, THEY WILL EAT SOMETHING ELSE!!! Something else such as Herring, Squid, Mackerel, Red Hake, Silver Hake, Scup, Flounder, clams, Eels, small Sea Bass, small Striped Bass, small Cod, probably small Tunas (if they can catch them) and small anythingatalls, or whatever they can get into their mouths without too much risk! Menhaden stock populations are mercurial as are most prolific breeders. And as Meghan Lapp and Jeff Kaelin have stated above, their density is more a function of breeding and growing conditions than any thing else.