Big decisions loom on menhaden harvests in Chesapeake Bay, East Coast

Omega, Ocean Harvesters and their employees and supporters oppose any cuts. They warn that hundreds of jobs are at risk, well-paying union jobs that have supported generations of Northern Neck families, including many African American fishermen.

But conservationists, bird lovers and recreational anglers contend that harvest cutbacks are essential to halting the slump in osprey reproduction and rebuilding the striped bass population from several years of overfishing.

The Chesapeake has been under a menhaden harvest cap since 2006, which the commission imposed then in response to fears that the growing menhaden harvest in the Bay could be causing a “localized depletion” of the fish there. Officials said then that the cap was precautionary until research could tell if such fears were warranted.

That remains uncertain — federal and state funding finally came through this year to study the issue — but the commission has maintained the cap and even reduced it twice since then. The current Bay catch ceiling stands at 51,000 metric tons.

Meanwhile, in recent years, biologists have reported the faltering reproduction of osprey around the Chesapeake and along the coast. They found evidence of food stress in areas where menhaden have been a staple of the birds’ diet.The commission began discussing precautionary cuts in response but was torn by the lack of research to support it. The issue came to a head after Maryland officials reported plummeting menhaden catches among the state’s bait fishermen.

More than 48,000 people weighed in earlier this fall on whether to curtail the menhaden harvest in the Bay. The vast majority favored cutting it by 50% — the maximum under consideration by the commission.

Omega and its supporters argue that it’s premature to lower the Bay harvest cap until research can show its operation is depleting the Chesapeake’s menhaden stock.  But supporters of the move contend it’s a necessary precaution even amid uncertainty about the precise cause of the osprey and bait harvest declines.

Uncertainty likewise hangs over what to do about the menhaden catch coastwide, which has been limited since 2013. The commission determined four years ago that menhaden were not overfished and approved a 20% increase in the allowable harvest.

But a reassessment in 2025 found that the commission’s model of the menhaden population had overestimated its abundance and reduced it by about a third. The commission’s experts warned that the harvest would need to be curtailed to ensure that enough fish are left for the migratory striped bass population to feed upon.

The experts said a 54% cut in the coastwide harvest would provide a 50-50 chance of meeting the striped bass rebuilding target by 2029.  But Ocean Harvesters and Maine lobster harvesters, who use menhaden for bait, warned of severe economic consequences to them. The commission opted for a 20% reduction for 2026 and put off deciding additional limits until this month’s meeting.

Now, the commission’s experts project that a 39% further reduction in coastwide catch would be needed to have an even chance of meeting the striped bass recovery target. Recreational anglers and conservationists want fishery managers to cut the harvest by at least that much, with some calling for even larger cuts.

Mike Wilberg, a University of Maryland fisheries science professor, has challenged the need for further cuts, saying the 2025 reassessment finding  menhaden less abundant made “fatal flaws” in its analysis.

Lobster harvesters and other fishing interests in New England, meanwhile, want a larger share of the overall menhaden catch, which the commission allocates by state.

“As Atlantic herring landings have declined, Maine’s menhaden landings have increased, and menhaden have become a critically important source of fresh bait for Maine’s lobster fleet,” noted Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobsterman’s Association.

Any substantial reallocation would likely affect Omega, since Virginia is currently allotted 75% of the coastwide menhaden quota, and 90% of that goes to the reduction fishery.