Forage Fish Recovery | Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

Like other small but critically important forage fish, menhaden and herring play a central role in marine food webs. These tiny, oily baitfish are an essential food source for larger fish species, including some of the most economically important sportfish: striped bass, redfish, bluefin tuna, bluefish, speckled trout, weakfish, tarpon, summer flounder, and sharks. Whales, dolphins, seabirds, and other marine species also consume these forage fish in large quantities.

But not all forage fish are managed with consideration for their vital role in coastal ecosystems.

In fact, commercial harvest of Atlantic and Gulf menhaden has increased to meet the demand of what’s called a “reduction fishery,” which reduces billions of menhaden into livestock feed, fish oil, fish meal, fertilizers, cosmetics, and other products. More menhaden are commercially harvested each year than any other fish in the lower 48 states—more than a billion pounds are caught per year on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

Atlantic herring are also netted by the millions, mostly to be sold as lobster trap bait rather than being left as food for larger fish and wildlife, or used as bait for low-impact recreational fishing. The mass removal of these species puts predators at risk and undermines the health of marine ecosystems.

This is why sportsmen and sportswomen are calling for regional fisheries managers to change their approach to managing forage fish like menhaden and herring.

Serving A Larger Purpose To The Ecosystem

If nothing changes, excessive removal of these important forage fish can damage our coastal ecosystems and harm America’s outdoor recreation economy. Here’s how leaving more forage fish in the water for predators would benefit anglers and communities that rely on recreational fishing.

Where We Work

The TRCP has partnered with other leading voices in the recreational fishing sector—including the American Sportfishing Association, Coastal Conservation Association, National Marine Manufacturers Association, Virginia Saltwater Sportfishing Association, Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, and others—to encourage fisheries managers to leave more forage fish in the water for gamefish and protect sensitive ecosystems from industrial fishing wherever this practice is still taking place. Click on an area of focus to see our most recent efforts and get involved.

Atlantic Coast

The TRCP has been working to improve management of Atlantic menhaden since 2017, and our community has already secured some important wins. More recently, we have begun similar efforts in New England, focusing on better management of Atlantic herring.

After years of advocacy from anglers and recreational fishing business leaders, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted unanimously in August 2020 to implement “ecological reference points” in menhaden management and account for the small baitfish’s impact on fish all the way up the food chain, leaving enough menhaden in the water to support the coastwide striped bass population. This is key for our recreational fishing opportunities, because studies show that menhaden reduction fishing contributes to a nearly 30-percent decline in striped bass numbers.

Now, our menhaden efforts include supporting continued improvements to the management model to benefit striped bass populations and pushing for additional conservation measures for menhaden and other forage fish species. On the Atlantic herring front, we are working to reinstitute a buffer zone along the New England coast to keep herring midwater trawlers out of the nearshore area. This will enhance the recovery of the currently depleted Atlantic herring stock and leave more herring in the water for sportfish populations.

Chesapeake Bay

Now, anglers are calling on Governor Glenn Youngkin to move menhaden reduction fishing out of the Chesapeake Bay until science shows that it isn’t having an impact on fish and habitat. To limit the possibility of net spills in the Bay, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by Virginia and Omega Protein before the 2023 fishing season, in which Omega Protein agreed to negligible date and location closures in the Bay. Thousands of anglers are watching the reduction fishery to make sure it doesn’t violate its agreements, and are supportive of limiting industrial menhaden fishing in the Bay to enhance sportfish populations and create jobs.

Gulf of Mexico

In a recent study, Gulf menhaden—called pogies in Louisiana—were found to support the diets of 32 predator groups, including redfish, speckled trout, king and Spanish mackerel, blacktip sharks, gag grouper, dolphins, jacks, tuna, and mahi mahi. Reduction fishing for pogies reduces the availability of this critically important forage base and has other impacts on predator species, including potential declines from needless bycatch.

Further, shallow-water purse seining for menhaden contributes to beach erosion and damages nursery and spawning habitats for redfish, speckled trout, sharks, jacks, mackerels, blue crabs, and other species. To ensure that Louisiana’s coastal habitat can continue to support billions of dollars in revenue from recreational fishing and wildlife tourism, as well as thousands of vital jobs, the TRCP and its sportfishing partners have been calling for a regulated buffer zone that would restrict industrial menhaden harvest to deeper waters, reducing habitat impacts and conflicts between pogie boats and anglers.

In the 2022 state legislative session, Louisiana lawmakers considered a bipartisan bill that would have, for the first time, set a catch limit on nearshore industrial menhaden harvest and required regular reporting on menhaden harvested in state waters. Despite having passed the House in April 2022, a Senate committee ultimately killed the legislation. Still, more decision-makers are beginning to question whether the pogie industry is, in fact, causing no harm to coastal fisheries or habitat.

For all of these reasons, our goals in the Gulf region include establishing an ecological management model for menhaden and supporting state legislation and policies that prioritize menhaden conservation and protect sensitive habitat from damage during menhaden harvest activities.

Tiny Fish, Mighty Purpose

How Baitfish Drive Sportfishing

If you want great sportfishing,
you need healthy forage fish

But not all forage fish are managed with consideration for their vital role in coastal ecosystems.

This is why sportsmen and sportswomen are calling for regional fisheries managers to change their approach to managing forage fish like menhaden and herring.

Serving A Larger Purpose To The Ecosystem