Tag Archives: Menhaden Fisheries Coalition
Atlantic menhaden not overharvested, fisheries commission concludes
An updated menhaden population assessment that takes into account the ecological role of the species as a popular food for other fish deems the coastwide stock to be in good shape. The latest assessment, presented to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Aug. 3, incorporates data collected through last year. It concluded that “overfishing is not occurring, and the stock is not considered overfished.” But even with the new methodology, the latest assessment concluded the overall stock was healthy, a finding immediately touted by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition, a group representing commercial harvesters. >click to read< 10:26
Louisiana HB1033: Legislation Would Have Major Costs, New Report Details Fishery’s Economic Value
Despite attempts at further regulation, the Gulf menhaden fishery is already being sustainably managed. The most recent stock assessment found that the species is not overfished nor is overfishing occurring. Since 2019, the Gulf menhaden fishery has been certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council. “This report demonstrates that these proposals would likely cause real economic harm to not just the menhaden fishery, but to the coastal communities that rely on it,” said Ben Landry, Director of Public Affairs at Ocean Harvesters, which operates a fleet of menhaden fishing vessels. “Severely restricting our fishermen in state waters is both damaging and unnecessary.” The report looked at the direct, indirect, and induced impacts of the fishery, which is one of the largest in the region. >click to read< 13:56
Opinion: Menhaden decision sticks to science-based fisheries management
This month, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission updated its menhaden management plan, taking into account the increasing menhaden stock. The commission was heavily lobbied by the fishing industry and by a coalition of environmentalists and sport-fishing interests led by a unit of the Pew Charitable Trusts. The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition wanted to increase its allowable catch by about 40 percent, to 280,000 metric tons per season. The environmental coalition wanted to leave more fish in the ocean, which the MFC figured would cut the industry’s catch by about a quarter, to 147,000 tons. click here to read the story 08:12
Decision coming Monday on Menhaden management
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will decide on a new management plan for Atlantic menhaden at a meeting near Baltimore on Monday. Fishermen and environmentalists have a lot riding on how much of the resource is set aside for fishing, and how much is left for wildlife predators. Known as Amendment 3, the new rule will set the future course for managing the forage fish species eaten by many other fish, birds like osprey, dolphins and whales. click here to read the story Atlantic Menhaden Management Board – The Board will meet to consider approval of Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden. click here to read 3 sets of meeting materials 10:35
VANASSE: Menhaden oped full of fish tales
The Asbury Park Press has been a source of accurate information regarding the menhaden fishery, thanks in large part to the solid reporting done by reporter Dan Radel. Unfortunately, an April 30 opinion piece by Paul Eidman, “Don’t increase menhaden catch limits,” contained a number of misleading and inaccurate statements. Eidman asserted that the current menhaden assessment “is based on a ‘single species’ model that does not take into account,,, Read the rest here 08:43
Menhaden: The stock is healthy, so should harvest cuts remain?
February, a regional fisheries commission reversed course and announced Atlantic menhaden were neither being overfished nor experiencing overfishing — an important finding for Virginia, which has the only menhaden rendering plant left on the East Coast. Next month, the will meet in Northern Virginia to decide if that new benchmark assessment is convincing enough to lift a controversial 20 percent coast-wide reduction in the commercial fishery imposed in 2013. Read the rest here 21:02
Coast-wide sightings of large schools of Atlantic menhaden support 2014 stock assessment methods, findings
April 1, 2015 (Menhaden Fisheries Coalition) — A new report compiled by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition reaffirms the positive results of the 2014 Atlantic Menhaden Benchmark Stock Assessment. The report compares the latest stock assessment’s findings to numerous reported sightings of large schools of the species along the Atlantic coast. The Coalition’s conclusions reveal a compelling consensus among scientific experts, fishermen, and journalists that the species is healthy, wide-ranging, and sustainably managed. Read the rest here 08:25
New Atlantic menhaden assessment to be reviewed at upcoming management meeting, reveals healthy stock and sustainable fishery
This week at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Winter Meeting in Alexandria, Va., the Menhaden Management Board will consider the just-released 2014 Atlantic Menhaden Stock Assessment and Peer Review Report for management use. The assessment’s revised models and data sources are substantially improved from previous assessments and indicate that fishery-independent causes, including environmental conditions, have the greatest impact on the otherwise healthy stock and sustainable fishery. Read the rest here 09:40
Report: Atlantic menhaden are in better shape than regulators thought
Environmentalists and commercial fishermen have clashed for years over Atlantic menhaden and whether there are still plenty of the little fish left in the sea. Now a draft of a that incorporates more comprehensive data from coastal states stretching back to the 1950s, as well as alternative model scenarios, appears to indicate menhaden might not be in such bad shape after all. Read the rest here 08:00
Pew/NatGeo Column Oversimplifies Ecosystem-Based Management of “Forage Fish”
WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) May 7, 2014 — In a recent article, “The ABCs of Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management-Part II,” the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Director of Federal Fisheries Policy and National Geographic online guest writer, Lee Crockett, focuses on the management of “forage fish” — a much used, though highly debated categorization for a number of small, marine species. The article’s title suggests,,, Read more here 14:13
