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Conservation Opinon:Striper Food: Menhaden.....Is the Adult Menhaden Population in Trouble in the Northeast?By Richard Colagiovanni RI State Representative Striped Bass Advisory Panel, ASMFC (from Jersey Coast Anglers Association March 2005 Newsletter) Throughout the Atlantic Coast, a specialized fish dons several “hats” as an important member of the coastal food chain. A filter feeding bait fish that converts plankton to nutrient and caloric rich oily flesh-which in turn-is consumed by many coastal and inshore pelagic predatory fish including bluefish, weakfish, sharks, assorted tuna, and our renowned striped bass. This fish is a crucial element is this marine food chain. Atlantic Menhaden (a.k.a. pogie, bunker, fatfish) spawn, filter the waters, grow to adults-and along this growth cycle are dined on readily by predatory fish. All is well until human need for menhaden enters the picture. Now comes into play the industrialized harvest of menhaden-for human needs ranging from protein/essential elements for food/vitamin type supplements, margarine, cosmetics, paints, lobster and crab trap baits, recreational/commercial hook baits, and poultry feed (when dining at the fast-food “Colonel”, your fried chicken leg was probably fattened on menhaden netted along the our Atlantic coast). Granted food production and assorted products that are utilized by our human population are honorable uses for our natural resources. However, other coastal fisheries in the northeast-both recreational and commercial-are beginning to question the amount of the harvest, location of the harvest, and the size of the menhaden at time of being removed from the coastal food chain. Historically, menhaden ranged on the U.S. Atlantic coast from Florida, north into the state of Maine. With increased demand for menhaden, fresh, salted, and industrial processed, huge numbers of this fish are being removed from the biomass (total fish population measured in pounds, tons, etc.). The bulk of these menhaden are netted between the Carolina’s and New Jersey. Currently, the core of the remaining adult menhaden is frequenting the waters of New York south to Virginia. Sure, some adult menhaden appear in small numbers on occasion in the back coves of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. However most years, they don’t show up at all. The seasonal range has shrunken by almost 40 percent. Granted, many juvenile menhaden, in huge schools, annually, swarm the New England shores. Yes these small fish are an important food source late summer and throughout the fall for many fish, including the striped bass, bluefish, summer flounder, sea bass, etc. The question is: WHERE ARE THE ADULT MENHADEN in the northeast of their range? Now, one may argue the many facets of manmade and natural reasons for this coastal shortfall of adults. Could it be a change in water temperature, types and amounts of plankton-vast improvement of waste water treatment facilities removing plankton feeding nutrients, predatory fish consumption of adults and juveniles? Could it be removing great amounts of adults and mid-size menhaden along the mid-Atlantic Coast by industrial means be a factor? Granted, this brief overview of the ADULT MENHADEN Population in the northeast is in NO WAY to replace the hard fisheries science that is utilized in preparing management regulations for coastal fish species. Fishery management science is still in its infancy. However, we must respect it. Furthermore, with respect, our angling public should question the assessment of the stocks as it relates to what biomass is considered normal. The fisherman on the water is a prime source of observed and anecdotal information when assessing fish populations by these observations. Granted, the hard facts of rigid scientific framework are not adhered to for such observations. But many marine biologists and scientists don’t factor in these observations. Numerous fishing individuals-the ones who spend countless hours, days, weeks, months, years on the water-recreational, charter, and commercial-have come together with the same question and opinion-when it concerns the lack of adult menhaden in the northeast-it’s likely a simple question of excess harvest along the mid-Atlantic states-thus lowering the core menhaden biomass (pounds of adult & sub adult) to not allow for total coastwise expansion of the menhaden population-to fill out it’s historical natural range on the Atlantic Coast. Without going into great detail, there are numerous Federal, State, University, and private foundation studies that assess the conditions of our coastal fisheries. One is THE ATLANTIC STATES FISHERIES COMMISSION (ASMFC)-a quasi- Federal commission that is entrusted with management of many coastal fish from Florida to Maine. Within this management framework, technical committees comprised of qualified Marine Biologists, Scientists, and field data gathering Statisticians (catch surveys, etc.). For example, under their recommendations, they have made great headway in formulation of the management plan for the restoration of striped bass along our Atlantic Coast. Chesapeake Bay’s habitat problem-which includes the menhaden –is being addressed by state and federal marine oriented agencies and departments. The ASMFC in cooperation with Federal and State Agencies are beginning to implement multi-species management programs-not managing one fish species separately. The total interaction-the relationship of one fish to another (and other habitat requirements)-thus forming a full management plans for implementation. Many of us do not challenge these findings. We just want a greater degree of common sense to begin to adjust the menhaden harvest-so the population can extend itself back into it’s full historic range so necessary for a healthy coastal fisheries. All the coastal ecosystem components (fish), the multiple-use angling public, deserve this full restoration of the Atlantic Menhaden Population.
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