The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) is seeking public comments on Draft Addendum II to Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden (PDF). The three issues considered in the plan are the Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery cap, the timing of the menhaden harvest, and implementing a prescribed revisiting of the cap.
The deadline for comments is October 9.
The mechanics of commenting
In their role as Virginia rep to the ASMFC, Virginia Marine Resources Commission is holding two public hearings on the draft addendum. The first is Saturday, September 19, 10:00 am to Noon at Northumberland High School (201 Academic Ln, Heathsville) and the second is Monday, Sepetember 28, 6:00 - 8:00 pm at VMRC (380 Fenwick Rd, Building 96, Fort Monroe).
If attending in person is not feasible, several options exist:
- Online via the public comment survey
- Online via comment box (scroll down)
- Email comments@asmfc.org (subject line: Atlantic Menhaden Draft Addendum II)
- Mail: James Boyle, ASMFC, 1050 N. Highland Street, Suite 200-N, Arlington, VA 22201
Remember, the deadline for submitting comments is October 9.
Highlights of the draft plan
ASMFC explains the problem:
The availability of menhaden in Chesapeake Bay may be affected by changes in total abundance, size distribution of the population, and timing of spatial distribution in the Bay, which can be caused by fishing pressure, environmental conditions, habitat suitability, and/or changing predation pressures on a limited spatial and temporal scale. Such changes in menhaden availability may affect the species’ ability to fulfill its ecological and/or economic functions. Recent observations of below average commercial fisheries landings and concerning population trends in several species that use menhaden as prey within Chesapeake Bay suggest that availability of menhaden in Chesapeake Bay may be changing due to one or more of the above drivers. Of the predator species included in the ecological reference point (ERP) assessment, which accounts for menhaden’s role as a forage fish, the latest coastwide assessments indicate striped bass is overfished, bluefish are presently rebuilding, weakfish are depleted due to high levels of natural mortality, and spiny dogfish reproductive output is declining but stabilizing (ASMFC, 2024).
Although there are currently not sufficient scientific data available to comprehensively characterize the abundance and distribution of menhaden throughout Chesapeake Bay and the influence of fishing pressure on menhaden, the Commission has been using proactive measures to manage this species in the face of uncertainty and to support both ecological and fishery objectives. Specifically, since 2006, the Chesapeake Bay Reduction Fishery Cap (Bay Cap) has limited harvest of menhaden by the reduction fishery (henceforth, “reduction harvest”) within Chesapeake Bay. This draft addendum responds to concerns that the Bay Cap does not control how harvest is distributed throughout the fishing season and that the amount of the Bay Cap does not reflect changes to the coastwide total allowable catch (TAC).
Regarding the Chesapeake Bay Reduction Fishery Cap,
The first issue addressed in the draft addendum is that the Bay Cap is not linked to the overall TAC. Large changes to the TAC without a corresponding change to the Bay Cap significantly alter the percent of the reduction landings (and total landings) that can be taken from Chesapeake Bay, a critical nursery area for menhaden.
The timing of the harvest:
The second issue this draft addendum aims to address is that the Bay Cap is an annual measure without any associated controls on how reduction harvest is distributed throughout the fishing season. This leaves the potential for a concentration of reduction fishery landings in a short time period, as seen in 2023 and 2024, when over 50% of the Bay reduction fishery landings were taken in a 6-week period in mid-summer. When this occurs, it is possible that these higher-than-normal catch rates could affect availability of menhaden to other fisheries or predators, which is what the Bay Cap was intended to prevent. Consequently, this draft addendum considers establishing quota periods for the Bay Cap to redistribute reduction fishery landings across the reduction fishery season, rather than concentrating them in the beginning and middle of the season.
Scheduling bay cap reviews:
Lastly, given the breadth of changes proposed to the Bay Cap in this draft addendum, the uncertainties about whether recent trends in Chesapeake Bay menhaden landings and availability will continue, plus planned research intended to help design a scientifically-based Bay Cap setting process, this draft addendum includes an option that would require a revisit of the Bay Cap provisions every three years at a minimum. Currently, there is no set timeframe for revisiting the Bay Cap.
Advocacy by environmental organizations
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Tell ASMFC: We Must Protect Menhaden! Adopt Addendum II! call to action.
CBF supports the following options in Draft Addendum II:
3.1 Chesapeake Bay Reduction Fishery Cap Amount: Support option C1e that would reduce the Bay Cap by 50 percent and limits it to 13.6 percent of the Coastwide Catch Limit (TAC). Also, support option C2a which sets an upper limit of 51,000mt for the Bay Cap, which is the current level.
3.2 Chesapeake Bay Cap Distribution: Support option B2 which establishes three even length quota periods for the Bay Cap, but distributes harvest 25 percent in period 1, 25 percent in period 2, and 50 percent into period 3. Also, support option B which establishes quota period overage payback and rollover of unused quota within a fishing year.
3.3 Chesapeake Bay Reduction Fishery Cap Revisit Provision: Support option B Revisit Provision to reassess the efficacy of these new management tools every 3 years.
Additional information about menhaden in the bay can be found on savemenhaden.org.
Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
TRCP is encouraging those who support their recommendations to sign a petition to ASMFC. The organization’s recs are: Make the amount of Bay harvest responsive to coastwide management on the Atlantic; make the timing of harvest more precautionary to protect menhaden predators; make those timing limits actually mean something, by not allowing overharvest in certain periods; make the entire system adaptable, with regular intervals to review how management is working.
Learn more about the einvironmental value of menhaden in TRCP’s video series Menhaden: The Most Important Fish in the Sea.
