Tensions Rise Over Menhaden Fishing in the Chesapeake Bay

Ocean Harvesters and its parent contractor, Omega Protein, operate the only large-scale menhaden “reduction” fishery left on the East Coast — a fleet that nets millions of the fish each year to be ground into fishmeal and fish oil at a Reedville, Virginia, plant. For years, that operation has drawn sustained protest from recreational anglers and environmental groups across the mid-Atlantic who want reduction fishing banned from the Chesapeake Bay altogether.

Confrontations on the Water

Monty Deihl, chief executive officer of Ocean Harvesters, says the standoff has moved from petitions to open confrontation on the water.

“Over the past three years we have seen a few dozen of these recreational fishing boats racing to get in front of us and just circling,” Deihl said, describing efforts to block his crews from setting their nets. He said the incidents “go hand-in-hand” with online threats and what he calls a coordinated campaign to disrupt operations.

Deihl said his company has reported the confrontations to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), but enforcement has been difficult. Interactions often end within minutes, he said, before officers can arrive or a boat’s registration number can be recorded.

A Jet Ski Incident and a New Law

The only case that led to prosecution stemmed from an incident on September 23, 2023, roughly 1.5 miles east of Buckroe Beach off Hampton, Virginia. As an Ocean Harvesters crew was setting its nets, a jet ski rider drove between the two purse boats, cutting through the net before it closed, according to an account from the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition. The rider reportedly sprayed the crew with his wake and shouted obscenities before leaving. The episode was captured on video by a company spotter pilot.

The jet ski operator was arrested and later found guilty, paying a $500 fine.

That case, along with several similar confrontations, prompted the Virginia General Assembly to toughen the law in 2024. House Bill 928 passed the House 99-0 and the Senate 39-1, elevating interference with commercial fishing operations to a Class 1 misdemeanor — punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine. The law applies to anyone who “knowingly and intentionally interferes with or impedes” a commercial fishing vessel in Virginia waters.

The Larger Fight Over Menhaden

The confrontations are a visible symptom of a broader regulatory battle that has intensified since 2025. Menhaden are a foundational forage fish in the Bay’s food web, and conservation groups — including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) — argue that the reduction fishery is pulling too many of them out of the bay before they can spread north toward Maryland, which bans reduction fishing entirely.

Much of the recent debate centers on studies tying declining osprey reproduction and struggling Atlantic striped bass populations to menhaden scarcity in the Bay. CBF and allied groups have pushed the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), which manages the coastwide fishery, to cut catch limits sharply — pointing to technical analyses suggesting cuts as high as 50 percent may be needed to protect the ecosystem.

Ocean Harvesters and Omega Protein dispute that their fishing is the cause, arguing there is no solid evidence of overfishing and noting that ASMFC’s own stock assessments have generally found the coastwide menhaden population healthy. Industry representatives also point to independent research — including a University of Southern Mississippi study on predator diets — suggesting menhaden are not as dominant a food source for ocean predators as critics claim, and that other environmental factors may better explain the Bay’s declines.

Regulators have so far taken a middle path. In October 2025, ASMFC approved only a 20 percent reduction in the coastwide catch limit for 2026, well short of the 50-plus percent some scientists and conservation groups sought. Through 2026, the commission has continued weighing additional Bay-specific restrictions, including seasonal quota periods meant to let more menhaden migrate into the upper Bay before the fleet can catch them; a decision has been repeatedly delayed and is now expected at ASMFC’s winter 2026 meeting.

In Virginia’s General Assembly, several 2026 bills aimed at restricting or pausing Bay reduction fishing failed after industry opposition, but lawmakers did approve $2 million, requested by Governor Glenn Youngkin’s successor Governor Abigail Spanberger, to fund a two-year study of Chesapeake Bay menhaden by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science — research both sides say has been needed for years to settle the underlying scientific dispute.

For now, the reduction fishery continues to operate under existing state and coastwide quotas while the new research gets underway and regulators weigh further restrictions. Supporters of the fishery emphasize the hundreds of jobs it supports in Reedville and warn against acting on incomplete science. Critics counter that the Bay’s ecosystem — and the recreational and commercial fisheries that depend on it — cannot afford to wait years for definitive answers. Both the legal crackdown on on-water interference and the regulatory fight over catch limits are likely to continue running in parallel for the foreseeable future.

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Wayne Creed

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