The TRCP will be encouraging anglers and conservationists to support stronger protections for menhaden in the Bay during the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s public comment period, starting later this month

Regional fisheries managers will soon be giving the public an opportunity to provide input to help shape the future of the Chesapeake Bay’s critically important menhaden fishery.

At their Aug. 5 meeting, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC)’s Menhaden Management Board voted 16-2 to publish a document exploring possible menhaden management changes into an official public comment period, which will be open late-August through October. The proposal will include options to reduce the Bay’s industrial menhaden harvest by up to 50% and additional options to more evenly distribute reduction fishing pressure across the fishing season. By advancing Draft Addendum II to Amendment 3, the Board has taken another step toward strengthening protections for Atlantic menhaden in the Bay.

Atlantic menhaden provide the foundation for a healthy Atlantic coast food web. They serve as essential fuel for striped bass, bluefish, tuna, whales, ospreys, and countless other predators, while also supporting commercial and recreational bait fisheries along the East Coast. Chesapeake Bay is the primary nursery area for Atlantic menhaden, making responsible management of this migratory species within the Bay essential to sustaining healthy fisheries and ecosystems along the entire Atlantic coast.

Initial Document Enhanced Through Collaboration

Since the Board first reviewed Draft Addendum II in May, the Chesapeake Bay Work Group and ASMFC’s Plan Development Team met several times to refine the document before bringing it back for consideration. Their work resulted in a stronger draft by clarifying management options, improving the organization of the document, and expanding the problem statement to better explain why additional management measures are being considered.

The revised problem statement recognizes that the availability of menhaden in Chesapeake Bay may be changing because of a combination of commercial fishing pressure, environmental conditions, habitat changes, and predator-prey dynamics. It also acknowledges growing concerns stemming from below-average fisheries landings and troubling population trends for several predator species that depend on menhaden as forage. While the document notes that sufficient Bay-specific science is not yet available to fully understand these changes, it concludes that precautionary management remains appropriate while additional research is undertaken over the next few years.

Importantly, the revised document identifies three management challenges the Board is seeking to address:

• The Chesapeake Bay Reduction Fishery Cap is currently not linked to coastwide total allowable catch (TAC) changes, meaning the proportion of coastwide harvest occurring in the Bay can increase even as the TAC decreases. And it was indeed decreased by 20% last fall, with no corresponding change to the Bay fishing cap.
• The Bay Cap is currently set only as an annual tonnage, rather than one segmented by season, which allows harvest to become concentrated over relatively short periods of the season. This potentially negatively affects forage fish availability for predators like osprey that rely on menhaden during their spring breeding season and other small-scale commercial fisheries in the Bay who harvest menhaden throughout the year.
• There is currently no regular timeframe for revisiting the Bay Cap, which may become even more important as new Bay-focused science becomes available in the near future, after state and federal funding sources will finally be dedicated to examining the Bay’s menhaden population and related fishery.

Lack of Science Warrants Precautionary Management

Here at the TRCP, we believe the board’s choices for final action this November should more fully reflect both the ASMFC’s ecosystem-based management framework and the original purpose of the Chesapeake Bay Reduction Fishery Cap.

The Bay Cap was originally established 20 years ago as a precautionary management measure to mitigate reduction fishing impacts in Chesapeake Bay while scientists worked toward developing a more scientifically based approach for Bay management. Today, the ASMFC and Commonwealth of Virginia are investing in research to better understand menhaden abundance, distribution, and ecosystem dynamics within Chesapeake Bay. But that research won’t be completed for years. Until those studies are completed, reducing the Bay Cap represents a prudent, precautionary action that remains consistent with the Bay Cap’s original conservation purpose.

TRCP will be urging the board to adopt a 50 percent reduction in the Chesapeake Bay Reduction Fishery Cap. This approach would provide meaningful precautionary protections for the Bay while ensuring the proportion of coastwide harvest occurring within the Bay does not increase if the board adopts additional coastwide catch reductions in November.

Make Your Voice Heard

The upcoming Addendum II public comment period will offer a critical opportunity for anglers, conservationists, and stakeholders who depend on healthy fisheries to help shape which management measures are chosen by the Menhaden Management Board at their November meeting.

Later this month, we will be providing additional guidance on how best to provide comments on addendum options to the ASMFC so that your voice can be heard. Stay tuned for more information.

Public participation has always helped advance ecosystem-based fisheries management for Atlantic menhaden, and it will be just as important during this comment period. Together, we can encourage the Menhaden Management Board to take precautionary action today while Bay-specific science starts to unfold.

Banner image of shark and menhaden courtesy Joanna Steidle