On the heels of the Virginia General Assembly approving a $205 billion biennial budget on June 22 without including funding for the menhaden study, Governor Abigail Spanberger proposed adding amendments that include $2 million for the menhaden study.
Spanberger’s amendment states “out of this appropriation, $1 million will go towards the (menhaden) study the first year and $1 million the second year from the general fund and is designated for Atlantic menhaden research and reporting.
“This report will be generated by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) in collaboration with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), and with the cooperation of relevant stakeholders, including recreational anglers, the reduction and bait fishery sectors, and non-governmental organizations. VIMS will create an annual proposal to draw from this funding until delivery of the final report that provides an approach to setting a scientifically defensible Chesapeake Bay harvest cap.
“The development of this approach may be informed by research on (i) the seasonal abundance of Atlantic menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay; (ii) the movement rates of Atlantic menhaden between the Atlantic coast and the Chesapeake Bay; (iii) the impacts of predator (e.g. striped bass, osprey, and other species) demand and consumption of Atlantic menhaden on the Atlantic menhaden population; (iv) the spatial and temporal patterns of the Atlantic menhaden commercial fishing effort in the Chesapeake Bay; (v) and the possibility of localized depletion of Atlantic menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay.
“This work can utilize recommendations from the report delivered October 1, 2023, titled “Atlantic Menhaden Research Planning” and/or the expected December 2026 deliverables from the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS)-funded project titled “Development of a Research Roadmap for Atlantic Menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay.
“The Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement and the Virginia Economic Development Authority, in consultation with the Menhaden Management Advisory Committee of the VMRC, will contribute analysis and recommendations to the Menhaden report on potential workforce impacts.
“Beginning with fiscal year 2028 and in subsequent fiscal years thereafter, VMRC shall provide new scientific data and research products generated under this item by VIMS, to inform the annual discussion and deliberations of Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) on any proposed changes to the coast-wide or Chesapeake Bay total allowable catch levels.
“The committee report shall include (i) projected workforce impacts from coast-wide and Chesapeake Bay changes in total allowable catch, and (ii) recommendations for addressing impacts to workers by changes in total allowable catch.
“VIMS shall present report progress, current findings and any recommendations, along with their annual proposal to draw from the menhaden funding for the following year to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources, the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources, the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources, the Ecological Reference Points Workgroup of ASMFC, and the Menhaden Management Advisory Committee of VMRC, yearly by October 1."
CEO of Ocean Harvester Monty Deihl’s responds
"We are extremely pleased that Gov. Abigail Spanberger has announced her intention to send budget language to the General Assembly that includes a study of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the VIMS in collaboration with the VMRC to develop a scientific study of the Bay’s Atlantic menhaden population. We were especially pleased to see that the ongoing work being funded by the (SCEMFIS), a National Science Foundation-supported cooperative research center, will be available to support the study. The SCEMFIS-funded researchers from VIMS, NOAA, and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science have already provided a great deal of scientific guidance as part of their roadmap project to identify the research needed to support a science-based Bay harvest cap.
“We hope the Virginia General Assembly will adopt the Governor's amendment, and we look forward to working with stakeholders involved in the process, says Deihl.
“Last, we are also very grateful to the legislators who have worked to help ensure that jobs are protected and the study is based on sound scientific data."
Ocean Harvesters owns and operates a fleet of more than 30 fishing vessels in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of America. The company's purse-seine fishing operation is exclusively engaged in the harvest of menhaden and Virginia’s Reedville operation is the only reduction menhaden fishing operation on the East Coast.
The Virginia General Assembly is scheduled to reconvene on Monday, June 29, to vote on the amendment, along with 13 other revisions to the budget by the governor.
