Highlights lifted from the press about the Bunker decision:
This past Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, issued a decision cracking down on overfishing in the Chesapeake Bay and paving the way for better management of the menhaden fishery. Ross found the State of Virginia out of compliance after foreign-owned Omega Protein willfully violated the fishing cap on menhaden, a key food source for striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay.
This decision comes at a critical time because menhaden’s top predator, Atlantic striped bass, is currently in poor condition and the Chesapeake Bay is the primary spawning and nursery area for the species. Reduction fishing for menhaden threatens the livelihoods of thousands of hard-working fishing guides and tackle shop owners and impacts everything from striped bass to whales.
The ASMFC’s Policy Board has some of the finest fishery managers in the country on it and they unanimously found Virginia out of compliance with the Menhaden Fishery Management Plan. Upholding the ASMFC’s non-compliance finding for Virginia was simply the right thing to do. Secretary Ross defended both the management system and the forage base in the Chesapeake Bay.
Healthy and sustainable forage fish and sportfish stocks are equally important to the recreational boating and fishing community and this decision is a major step toward protecting and rebuilding both of these critical populations.
Since October, tens of thousands of recreational anglers, including JCAA and Menhaden Defenders, dozens of businesses and organizations, and nine Governors along the east coast, and Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, all requested that the Secretary take action on this issue.
This action and the unprecedented move by Gov Northam could pave the way to change Virginia’s fishery management methods for the better: The Virginia General Assembly, which meets in early 2020, must now decide whether to transfer management of menhaden to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission or face a moratorium.
According to a recent scientific study, menhaden reduction fishing contributes to a nearly 30 percent decline in striped bass numbers. The striped bass fishing industry contributes $7.8 billion in GDP to the economy along the Atlantic coast.
Additionally, there was breaking news this morning that SAIGlobal, the organization responsible for granting Marine Stewardship Certification for sustainability to Omega, will now be revisiting the decision made earlier this year. Cooke seafoods, the parent organization that owns Omega protein was looking forward to claiming and profiting from the fact that the feed made from menhaden that was being used to feed salmon and fish farms around the world was sustainable. Cooke/Omega shot themselves in the foot by blatantly disregarding the Bay cap that was agreed upon and may suffer the consequences in more ways than one.
