subject: The Real Scoop About Menhaden [print this page] This increadible bait fish,that gets hit from all sides from predators is being decimated from industrial fishing pressure, from Omega Protein of Reedville,Virginia,which was 58% owned by George Bush up until 2007.The company was started as Zappata Oil and was being put out of business by Japanese Super Tankers and changed the name to Omega Protein.With spotter planes and purse seining factory ships the little guy was no match and most of the spawning stock was wiped out.
Spawning as they migrate along the Atlantic Coast, their offspring move into coastal waters, including the Chesapeake and Narragansett Bays where they join into the population.
In the 1950s when populations were healthy it was capable of meeting prey demand of striped bass and supporting a fishery. the 1950s catch records show 8yr.old fish were fairly common 10yr. old fish were also in the spawning stock. Year 5+ fish, are the most important of the spawning stock,Yr.5 fish or older produce up to 10 times more eggs than first-spawn yr.3 females.
From 1988 to 1993 the oldest fish in the spawning population, were decimated on their summer feeding grounds leading to a collapse in their northern regions.
The SovietUnion,and a Maine company,contracted to supply menhaden to Russian factory ships,to be processed.
The collapse reflected in menhaden bait landings,which were down 98% in the New England region during the early 1990s.
The NMFS created an index,in the 80's to estimate egg production,that indicated older menhaden from the New England region had the potential to contribute 39 percent of the menhaden egg productionfor the fishery.
The factory ship operations in the Gulf of Maine severely reduced egg production.
The commercial fishery largely depends on age-2 menhaden, in 2005, approximately 72 percent of the commercial landings by number were sub-adult menhaden
(ages 0-2).
The removal of menhaden , mostly age-2 fish, raises concern that the menhaden are being caught before they reach spawning age.
In 2005, commercial landings fell to 146,860 mt, the lowest level since the NMFS began keeping records in 1940.
In 1991 the NMFS publicized a marine fisheries Review titled: "Assessment and Management of Atlantic and Gulf Menhaden Stocks." The summary cautioned: " "The expansion of fishing on the spawning stock in New England waters concurrently with increasing fishing pressure on pre-spawning menhaden off Virginia and North Carolina in the fall prompts concern for maintenance of the Atlantic menhaden resource."
With the increase of striped bass, caution is needed because the data can significantly overestimate spawning stock if the natural mortality rates(predation)
are not taken into account.
The NMFS' continues to estimate menhaden spawning stock levels that are supposed to guarantee goodrecruitment, even though the data indicates a healthy spawning stock doesn't exist and menhaden recruitment has continued to remain low for more than a decade.
The menhaden population is in big trouble,with the high percentage of spawning stock being harvested and the low levels of recruitment.
