Menhaden Need Love Too
Ed Sabin
Most environmentalists know the important service that oysters provide
the Bay by being filter feeders and removing algae from the water.
Menhaden are also important filter feeders which the Bay sorely needs
in the fight against eutrophication but menhaden don't get as much
recognition for this important function.
At certain points in their life cycle, menhaden swim in enormous
schools in the lower Bay. They are an important food source for rock,
blue, and other game fish. Unfotunately, one company, Omega Proteins of
Reedville, VA, harvests such enormous quantities of menhaden with their
fleet of trawlers and spotter planes that some experts believe the
fishery is in danger. Omega Proteins renders the menhaden into a
variety of products including animal feed, fish oil, and fertilizer.
Representatvie Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland's 1st Congressional
District, introduced a bill, HR3841, to close the reduction fishery for
menhaden in state and federal waters. It would require the Atlantic
States Marine Fisheries Commission to report to Congress within 5 years
on the health of the menhaden fishery and make recommendations
regarding long term management of the resource.
Please urge your congressional representative to co-sponsor this
legislation.
If you'd like additional information, contact Ed Sabin, at 410-255-7362
or email esabin1@comcast.net.
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