The federal authority that oversees our marine resources finally understands how we need to preserve species at both ends of the food chain.
The Atlantic States Maine Fisheries Commission voted this past week to reduce the menhaden harvest by almost 37 percent. Anglers have always known how important this species is on the food chain, feeding everything from tuna, to bluefish and striped bass.
The Narragansett Indians called the fish munnawhatteaug, “that which manures,” soon corrupted to “menhaden” by the English colonists. Along a good part of the mid-Atlantic they’re known as bunker and further north as pogy.
Termed “the ocean’s unlikely hero” by author H. Bruce Franklin, menhaden have shaped America’s national — and natural — history. Many saltwater anglers on the East Coast might realize their fishing success is dependent on menhaden because these small forage fish support many of the Atlantic’s most important recreational fisheries.
The commission has regulatory oversight of menhaden harvest and other fisheries in state waters from Maine through eastern Florida. The current benchmarks used by the commission show the menhaden stock is undergoing overfishing, and overfishing has occurred in the menhaden fishery in 32 of the last 54 years.
Nearly all of the commercial menhaden harvest is caught by Omega Protein Corp., whose factory processes the hundreds of millions of pounds of menhaden caught annually primarily for fish meal and oil. Menhaden oil is used in animal feed, dietary supplements and other commercial products.
Why the historic change in how menhaden are managed, and why now?
“The ASMFC took a fresh look at the state of the resource, considered emerging standards for conserving forage fish like menhaden, and listened, not just to the industry, but to the broad public constituency the commission represents,” says Ken Hinman, president of the National Coalition for Marine Conservation (NCMC).
For 10 years, the NCMC participated in nearly every meeting that had anything to do with menhaden held by ASMFC or other state/federal management and research institutions. “The reason we’ve devoted so much attention to this little fish is simple,” says Hinman. “An abundance of menhaden is of crucial importance to the future of striped bass, bluefish, bluefin tuna, osprey and other seabirds, whales, the health of east coast estuaries like Chesapeake Bay, and the future sustainability of many Atlantic fisheries, recreational and commercial.”
ken.moran@nypost.com