The coastwide catch limit and Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery catch cap for this keystone forage fish were both reduced; cuts are still inadequate to support striped bass and other predators

This week, Atlantic fisheries managers voted to provide greater protections for a critically important baitfish, but with decisions that fell short of following the most recent science or aligning with overwhelming public sentiment.

At its annual meeting in Rhode Island, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Menhaden Management Board considered three major issues that will influence how Atlantic menhaden – a keystone baitfish species, also called bunker or pogies, that underpins Atlantic ecosystems – are managed in the years ahead. After much disagreement among 18 members representing coastal states, two federal agencies, and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission, the Board ultimately voted to reduce the Atlantic menhaden catch quota by 9% annually over the next two years; to cut the Chesapeake Bay catch cap by a third over two years; and to postpone a decision on reallocating menhaden catch quota between states until the Commission’s January 2027 meeting.

The decisions did not align with what nearly 50,000 commenting members of the public had asked for – namely, to slash the Atlantic quota by a full 39% to follow the ASMFC’s own ecosystem-based management targets and to cut the Bay cap by half, as a form of precautionary management in the face of struggling coastal osprey and striped bass populations, which rely heavily on menhaden as a primary prey, and significantly reduced landings of menhaden by the Bay’s bait fishery.  

The new catch limit has a 99% probability of not meeting the ecosystem-based fishing mortality target.

“While we are encouraged by the Chesapeake Bay cap reductions in particular, this was unfortunately another year of the ASMFC failing to manage menhaden according to its own ecosystem-based science,” said Jaclyn Lunaas, forage fish program manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.

She said the decisions came as a disappointment to the conservation and recreational angling community, which had sought a science-backed 39% reduction in the coastwide catch limit and 50% cut to the Chesapeake Bay cap, with recreational angling-oriented organizations like TRCP also hoping the Board would vote to initiate a process to reallocate the coastwide quota among states. Right now, Virginia is allotted a full 75% of the coastwide quota, with the remainder divided amongst all other Atlantic states – including New England states that increasingly rely on menhaden as bait.

The stakes of these decisions extend beyond the Virginia-based reduction fishery, which accounts for the majority of the Atlantic menhaden harvest and “reduces” its catch into fish meal and oil for aquaculture, livestock feed, pet food, and other industrial products. Menhaden support a wide range of predators in Chesapeake Bay and broader Atlantic food webs. Healthy menhaden populations are also essential for the long-term sustainability of local commercial and recreational fisheries.

“The Board elected to establish the lowest coastwide quota in the history of the fishery, which is seemingly a positive outlook for conservation, but this decision will not meaningfully reduce actual harvest by the industrial reduction sector,” Lunaas said. She explained that the menhaden reduction industry’s fleet, which is essentially allotted nearly three-quarters of the total allowed Atlantic menhaden harvest, has in recent years been unable to land roughly a quarter of its allocated annual quota.

“On the water, this quota reduction will only impact the catch available to the bait sector, limiting access to a critical resource for commercial bait harvesters, recreational fisheries, and the coastal businesses they support, not to mention the striped bass, ospreys, whales and other predators that depend on menhaden.”

The TRCP has been advocating for science-based management that recognizes menhaden’s role as a critical food source for striped bass and other predators while supporting sustainable fisheries and coastal communities.

Coastwide Quota Cut

The Board’s first major decision was setting the total allowable catch (TAC) for Atlantic menhaden for 2027–2028. The TAC establishes the maximum amount of menhaden that can be harvested coastwide and plays a critical role in determining whether enough forage remains in the water to support the broader marine ecosystem, especially for striped bass. In perhaps the biggest disappointment to conservation groups, the Board reduced the coastwide menhaden catch limit by only 9% annually for two years, adopting a TAC of 170,000 metric tons for 2027 and 155,000 metric tons for 2028 – representing an overall cut of 17% over two years. These cuts are in addition to the 20% TAC reduction the Board mandated last year for the 2026 fishing season.

Even with these additional reductions, the allowed limit will still far exceed what is recommended by the latest science. The new catch limit has a 99% probability of not meeting the ecosystem-based fishing mortality target, which was developed by the ASMFC to ensure enough menhaden remain in the water to account for their ecological role and to provide a precautionary buffer against the overfishing threshold. Voting members from Maryland, North Carolina, Florida, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York all supported a greater, science-backed quota cut, but were outvoted by other states and federal representatives for the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, following the lead of requests from Virginia and Maine.

“The Commission must be held accountable for not supporting management measures which ensure enough menhaden remain in the water to play their ecosystem role – namely as forage for striped bass rebuilding,” said Lunaas.

After being reduced by 34% over two years, the new Chesapeake Bay catch cap will be the lowest in history.

Chesapeake Bay Catch Cap Reduced

The Menhaden Management Board next discussed multiple management changes through Draft Addendum II to Amendment 3, which proposed adjustments to how the menhaden reduction fishery operates in Chesapeake Bay. The Board voted to link the Chesapeake Bay Reduction Fishing Cap to a proportion of the coastwide catch quota, yielding a new Bay Cap that will be reduced by 34% after two years, with an initial cut of 27% in 2027. This represents the lowest Bay Cap in history.

The Board also approved a provision which will require them to revisit the Bay Cap every three years, to ensure regular review based on any new data available. Yet, they opted to avoid mandating the reduction industry to spread the harvest into seasonal limits, chiefly to help ensure enough menhaden are available for nesting ospreys in the spring and early summer.

These measures, while not as comprehensive as the TRCP, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, American Sportfishing Association, Coastal Conservation Association, and other partners called for, will likely reduce harvest pressure in the Bay and potentially lead to positive ecological outcomes for iconic Bay predators like striped bass and osprey. In the meanwhile, however, managers and conservationists must wait at least two years for new science to support further Bay Cap decisions, once data are available from research recently funded by NOAA Fisheries and Virginia, after years of requests and failed legislation in the commonwealth.

Board Punts on Catch Reallocation

The Board also considered whether to initiate a formal process to reallocate how the coastwide menhaden quota is divided among Atlantic states. Although the coastwide TAC determines the total amount of menhaden that can be harvested, state allocations determine where that harvest can occur and which communities have access to the resource.

In the final minutes of the two-day meeting, the Board ultimately decided to postpone the discussion on reallocation until the Commission’s January 2027 meeting. The TRCP had urged the Board to initiate a formal state quota reallocation process at this meeting, to ensure sufficient time was provided for staff analysis and stakeholder input before management measure implementation in the 2028 fishing season.

The formula was last updated in 2022 using average landings from 2018, 2019, and 2021. As a result, allocations continue to rely on historical fishing patterns that may not reflect current menhaden availability, fishery participation, or the economic needs of coastal communities.

“The decisions made this week have different implications, but they are connected by a common challenge – the need to manage menhaden as both a commercially harvested, economically valuable species and as a critical foundation of the marine food web,” said Lunaas. “TRCP will continue working with fisheries managers, conservation partners, recreational anglers, and coastal communities on the long-term success of menhaden management, which depends on recognizing the full value of this resource and ensuring that management decisions reflect the needs of the entire ecosystem.”

Banner image courtesy Joanna Steidle