CCA MISSISSIPPI

www.ccamississippi.org

Government Relations Committee, F. J. Eicke, Chairman, CaptEicke@AOL.com                                                                                 

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ATLANTIC MENHADEN ISSUE DECIDED; IS GULF OF MEXICO NEXT?

Boston MA, November 9, 2011. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASFMC) voted to sharply reduce the allowable catch of menhaden by as much as 37 percent compared to 2010 levels after a review found the species had been overfished and needed to rebuild.  Composed of member states from Florida to Maine along the Atlantic seaboard, only two states, Virginia and New Jersey, voted against the reduction. Virginia is home to the Omega Protein fleet and plant in Reedsville, the only remaining reduction plant on the East Coast, and is the same company that has plants in Louisiana and in Moss Point, MS.

     The main area of concern is around the Chesapeake Bay where scientists have documented lesions on striped bass that point to the low level of forage fish (i.e. menhaden being a primary species) to meet the needs of this predator and others. Menhaden stocks have dropped over the years with the Atlantic Coastal Menhaden Abundance Survey for the period 1979 to 2009 showing a precipitous drop (estimated at 86%). Such a decline in a fish stock is obviously reason for concern but particularly with this forage species at the base of the food chain.

     The Omega Protein fishing fleet accounts for about 80% of the catch to supply its reduction plant while perhaps 20% is caught by bait boats. The issue, however, had gained the attention of recreational fishermen and conservation groups such as Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) along the Atlantic coast with numerous articles appearing in newspapers addressing the issues and then-pending ASFMC action. Approximately 90,000 public comments were received by the ASFMC with most in favor of steep catch reductions.

      When many anglers talk of “The Most Important Fish in the Sea” (the book title of H. Bruce Franklin’s historical accounting of the fishery and industry from colonial times), they are pointing to the menhaden. What makes this oily fish so important is its place in the food chain as the primary forage fish for predator species (notably striped bass in the more northern Atlantic states). The reduction industry (based on the fishery that uses airplane spotters and purse seines) takes millions of pounds of menhaden from the waters open to such fishing and converts these to fish oil, feed for commercial livestock and aquaculture, among others. The ASFMC reduction will leave about 60,000 million pounds of menhaden in the Atlantic waters to begin the task of providing this vital forage source and as a reproduction base sufficient to regenerate the species.

     With Omega Protein opining that this reduction will severely impact the Atlantic reduction industry, the Gulf of Mexico (where catch exceeds that in the Atlantic) is likely to witness increased activity from the Louisiana and Mississippi Omega Protein fleets and the Daybrook fleet out of Empire, LA.  The reduction industry is a profit-oriented activity, as any business should be, but the raw material on which this industry depends is a marine resource that is now known to be vulnerable to overfishing and ecosystem disruption. The die is now cast with the action of the ASFMC transferring concern among recreational anglers and environmentalists who monitor the well-being of the Gulf of Mexico. 

     In the Gulf of Mexico, the menhaden fishery is regulated by each state since the catch in federal waters is apparently negligible. Catch is reported to the National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS). The Gulf States Marine Fishery Commission (GSMFC) is the consortium comparable to the ASFMC but without regulatory authority. In Mississippi, because only one plant exists, landings at Moss Point are reported but do not indicate where caught. The result is that the catch in Mississippi waters (primarily from the Sound and witnessed regularly from shore) is unknown because such “proprietary information” is not made public.

     Florida effectively eliminated menhaden fishing in state waters with the passage years ago of the net ban focused on gillnets but including purse seines. Texas more recently limited catch to the historical level from their territorial waters. Some menhaden are taken in the Alabama area of the Mississippi Sound but the major target areas are Louisiana and Mississippi waters. A slip by an Omega Protein official during Commission on Marine Resources (CMR) debate on the Mississippi menhaden reduction fishery was that 25 to 40 million pounds are caught on average from our waters. By statute, the menhaden fishery in Mississippi is allowed a five percent bycatch excluding reddrum only. With no data available on catch or bycatch, the impact of this fishery is an unknown but clearly removes major poundage from Mississippi waters.

     Regulation of the menhaden industry in Mississippi is shared by the legislature and CMR, with the latter deeming action unnecessary in a recent rejection of regulation by the Save The Bait Coalition that CCA Mississippi supported. GSFMC only acts in an advisory and data-gathering role through a Menhaden Panel that is heavily populated with industry representation. GSMFC produces a stock assessment for menhaden but this fish is not like others since the main function is forage for predator species such as sharks, reddrum, tarpon, dolphins, and many others. Recreational anglers fish with menhaden (called pogies locally) because the fish they seek find these oily little fish attractive.        

     Mississippi’s recreational anglers watched with interest as the ASFMC proceedings reached their conclusion on November 9.  Few Atlantic states continue to allow the reduction fishery to function in state waters, leaving the bulk of the problem to Virginia. Regulation in Virginia is in the hands of the Legislature (with all the political influences that apply when a major company may suffer loss of income due, in this case, to conservation issues). As in the past when regulation was recommended, the dictates of the VA Legislature in denying regulation is now  essentially overruled by the ASFMC action.  

      For such a little fish that is not valued as sustenance for humans, menhaden are creating quite a stir. And it’s about time! Is the Gulf of Mexico next to suffer overfishing and exploitation? The issues are complex but the focus must be on conservation.