Chesapeake Bay menhaden fishing protesters in small craft continue to harass Ocean Harvesters’ boats and fishermen by circling in front of the firms’ steamers attempting to keep boats from making sets.

Ocean Harvesters of Reedville, Va., harvests menhaden and sells it to Omega Protein, also located in Reedville. Omega Protein buys the fish from Ocean Harvesters and processes them into fish meal, fish oil, and other products.

Ocean Harvesters and Omega Protein are part of the only large menhaden reduction fishery in operation on the East Coast of the United States and have drawn protests from environmental groups throughout the mid-Atlantic who want to prevent menhaden reduction fishing on Chesapeake Bay.

“Over the past three years we have seen a few dozen of these recreational fishing boats racing to get in front of us and just circling so we either can’t get to where we want to go, or to try and block us from setting out nets,” says Monty Deihl chief executive officer of Ocean Harvesters. “These go hand-in-hand with the threats we get on social media and the coordinated effort to disrupt our operations.

“We have notified Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) on a few occasions when these things happen, but if we can’t get their registration number from the boat, then VMRC does not have anything to go on, and most of these interactions happen quickly, and after a few minutes these folks leave, probably realizing that VMRC may be coming out.

“The only one that has been prosecuted was the jet skier back in 2023.  That incident, and a few others, is what caused the General Assembly in 2024 to strengthen the law and increase the penalties for interference of commercial fishermen,” says Deihl.

The bill was HB-928, and it passed 99-0 in the House and 39-1 in the Senate.  It increased penalties to Class I misdemeanor which meant up to 12-month confinement and up to $2,500 fine. Some of the language read: “The Class 1 misdemeanor is for any person who knowingly and intentionally interferes with or impedes the operation of commercial fishing activity of a commercial fishing vessel within the territorial waters of the Commonwealth”

HB-928 was prompted by a dangerous engagement between a jet skier and an Ocean Harvesters menhaden fishing crew that occurred on September 23, 2023, which was documented in a video by a menhaden spotter pilot.

The incident occurred approximately 1.5 miles east of Buckroe Beach off Hampton, Va., in Chesapeake Bay. As an Ocean Harvesters’ crew was making a set, the rider of the jet ski ran his boat between the two purse boats and was able to get inside the set and out before the set was completed.

The incident on September 23 resulted in the arrest of the person driving the jet ski. He was found guilty and required to pay a $500 fine. The jet skier rode inside the net, sprayed the crew with his wake and yelled obscenities at them, according to an account by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition (MFC).

“The increased attention in the 2024 General Assembly greatly reduced the number of incidents for that 2024 fishing season, but it started back up in 2025,” says Deihl.