Virginia’s menhaden reduction fishery is under attack in the State General Assembly, as three bills have been introduced that would prohibit, regulate catch limits, or monitor more closely the state’s fishery.
Reedville, Va., is home to Omega Protein and its fishing partner Ocean Harvesters that purse seine for Atlantic menhaden in Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. It is the only reduction menhaden fishery on the Atlantic East Coast. Omega Protein produces 8,000 metric tons of fish oil and 40,000 short tons of fish meal annually.
Environmental groups want the fishery gone from the Chesapeake Bay because they argue it is depleting the bay’s menhaden population to a point that it is negatively impacting the bay’s environment. If not gone, they want better science and stricter monitoring of the fishery.
Representatives from Ocean Harvesters argue that there is already “good science” available showing that the bay is not overfished. The argument has reached the Virginia General Assembly.
House Bill 1048
House Bill 1048, introduced in January by Betsy B. Carr, D-Richmond, directs the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) to “prohibit all . . . purse seine menhaden by the reduction fishery until research specific to the bay demonstrated that the . . . fishery does not negatively impact other fisheries of menhaden-dependent species.”
The bill states, “determination that the fishery does not create a negative impact shall be made by the state Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources and certified in writing to the Virginia Code Commission.”
House bill 1049
Carr also introduced House Bill 1049, which directs VMRC to create and maintain a system to manage quotas over defined periods under the Chesapeake Bay menhaden cap.
This is designed to ensure that removal of menhaden from the Chesapeake Bay is more evenly distributed throughout the harvest season and to mitigate the negative impacts of concentrated, high-volume menhaden removals from the bay, the bill states.
The bill directs VMRC to establish either a monthly-based system or a trimester-based system that provides that “no unused or underutilized portion of a quota period be carried or rolled over into the following quota period.”
Finally, the bill requires VMRC to ensure that 10 percent of all fishing trips carry at least one trained observer to document the composition and weight of the actual catch, and shall be reported to the VMRC.
Both House Bills 1048 and 1049 have been referred to the state's House Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources committee for study.
Senate Bill 474
State Senator David Marsden, D-Fairfax, has proposed Senate Bill 474 to establish the Atlantic Menhaden Research Fund to be used by VMRC to conduct a menhaden population study and report to the General Assembly each year.
This bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations for further study.
