An analysis released by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition argues that federal fisheries managers treated economic concerns differently when weighing striped bass and menhaden management decisions at last year’s annual meeting of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC).
The report titled “When Jobs Count, and When They Don’t,” compares discussions from the Atlantic Striped Bass and Atlantic Menhaden management board meetings held during the ASMFC’s 2025 Annual Meeting.
According to the analysis, socio-economic impacts were a central factor in the striped bass debate, where commissioners ultimately opted for a proposed 12 percent reduction in harvest despite the stock being below target levels. Instead, the board maintained the status quo and formed a work group with representation from multiple sectors.
During that meeting, speakers and board members repeatedly cited the potential impacts on charter operators, recreational businesses, tackle manufacturers, and coastal economies.
In contrast, the report says similar concerns raised during the menhaden discussion, particularly those tied to industrial fishing jobs, did not carry the same weight in the final decision.
Representatives from the reduction fishery pointed to the economic importance fo the industry in Reedville, Virginia, including plant workers, vessel crews, and union families. Ocean Harvesters CEO Monty Deihl told the board that “100 percent” of employees are U.S. residents and that “94 percent live within 15 miles of that plant.”
Labor representatives also emphasized the stakes. Retired UFCW (United Food & Commercial Workers) Local 400 Official Kenny Pinkard said, I speak for all working people in Virginia,” noting that board decisions directly affect the “livelihood of these gentlemen behind me.”
Despite that testimony, the Atlantic Menhaden Management Board approved an immediate 20 percent reduction for 2026, even as the stock was described as healthy and not overfished.
The coalition’s analysis does not claim that economic concerns were ignored in the menhaden discussion, but rather that they were treated with less “depth, breadth, or procedural seriousness” than in the striped bass case.
“The ASMFC knows how to consider human consequences when it chooses to,” the report concludes, questioning why impacts to the recreational and service economy appeared to carry more influence than those affecting industrial fishing workers.
The analysis frames the outcome as a broader policy inconsistency, where economic impacts become more influential depending on which sector is affected.
