CHESAPEAKE BAY, Va. (WAVY) — Hard to believe there’s a through line that connects dog food, sport fishing and cosmetics, but it continues to create a gulf between industry and conservationists.
It’s menhaden, an oil-rich fish that turns up in several places, including as a key component in the Chesapeake Bay’s ecosystem.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has created a working group to study the correlation between sea bids and the stock of menhaden in the bay.
“We’re still seeing a tremendous amount of fish in the bay, particularly in the lower bay,” said Ben Landry, spokesman for Ocean Harvesters and its associated firm Omega Protein.
Menhaden are an essential part of the Bay’s food chain and its economy. They’re a food source for several species of sportfish. Seabirds also prey on menhaden, and that was part of a study by the U.S. Geological Survey that was presented earlier this week at a meeting of the ASMFC.
“Not only did the USGS presentation highlight the concerns about the success of ospreys here in the Chesapeake Bay, folks who’ve been watching ospreys in this region have been documenting the concerns as well,” said Chris Moore, executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Omega Protein hauls in hundreds of tons of menhaden each workday. They convert the fish into protein-rich oil that’s used in food supplements, cosmetics and other items. Landry said the concerns about the food chain are overblown.
“The way that CBF had laid it out was that there was this overwhelming evidence that menhaden fishing is harming osprey and that simply was not what was discussed,” Landry said.
A USGS researcher found an 1,800% increase of ospreys in the Bay since the late 1960s. Landry said that large increase should more than offset a much smaller recent decline.
“The report showed that in the last few years maybe a 5% to 8% decline,” Landry said.
“For the last two years in Virginia, we’ve tried to develop some of the science about Atlantic menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay, but unfortunately Omega Protein has moved to block that or delay that in both years,” Moore said, a claim that Omega flatly denies, saying both Omega and Ocean Harvesters are on the record supporting a five-year study.
The working group that will study the correlation between the menhaden and osprey populations has no time limit for presenting its findings. The next multi-year-study estimates for the menhaden stock are expected in October of next year.
