Lawsuit Planned Over Industrial Menhaden Harvesting in Virginia Waters

REEDVILLE, VIRGINIA — A recreational fishing organization plans to challenge Virginia’s management of Atlantic menhaden, arguing that state regulators have failed to meet their legal obligations to protect the ecologically important forage fish and the species that depend on it.

The Chesapeake Legal Alliance is preparing to file a lawsuit this month on behalf of the Southern Maryland Recreational Fishing Organization Inc. against the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, according to information provided by the fishing organization.

The planned lawsuit alleges that VMRC has violated Virginia Code § 28.2-203, which establishes requirements for the commission to prepare fishery management plans and sets standards for managing the commonwealth’s fisheries.

At the center of the dispute is the industrial-scale harvest of Atlantic menhaden in Virginia waters, including the Chesapeake Bay and waters near its entrance.

Omega Protein operates a reduction fishery that harvests menhaden for processing into fish meal, fish oil and other products. The company uses spotter aircraft to locate schools of menhaden and directs fishing vessels to the schools, where purse seine nets are used to capture large quantities of fish.

Critics of the fishery contend that removing large concentrations of menhaden from the Chesapeake Bay has consequences extending well beyond the menhaden population itself.

Menhaden are an important forage species in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, providing prey for striped bass, bluefish and other predatory fish, as well as marine mammals and birds.

Of particular concern to conservationists has been the Chesapeake Bay’s osprey population. Researchers and environmental advocates have raised concerns about poor reproductive success among some osprey populations in the lower Chesapeake Bay and whether the availability of menhaden, a significant food source for the birds, is contributing to the problem.

The Southern Maryland Recreational Fishing Organization argues that the industrial menhaden fishery also affects recreational anglers and commercial fishermen who depend on species that prey on menhaden, including striped bass.

The organization is calling for an end to industrial menhaden harvesting in Virginia waters. Under its proposal, industrial reduction fishing would be prohibited inside Virginia’s territorial waters and restricted to federal waters beginning 3 nautical miles offshore.

Such a change would effectively remove Omega Protein’s industrial reduction fishery from the Chesapeake Bay while leaving other forms of menhaden fishing subject to applicable state and federal regulations.

The dispute is part of a long-running debate over how menhaden should be managed. Supporters of tighter restrictions argue that management decisions should consider not only the number of menhaden available for harvest but also the fish’s role as a primary food source within the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.

The fishing industry has disputed claims that its operations are responsible for declines among predators and seabirds and has defended the menhaden fishery as regulated and sustainable.

The anticipated lawsuit could move that debate from fisheries commission meetings into the courts, where the central question will be whether Virginia’s existing management of the menhaden fishery complies with state law.

For SMRFO and other critics of the reduction fishery, the desired outcome is straightforward: end industrial-scale menhaden harvesting within Virginia waters and move those operations beyond the state’s 3-mile territorial limit.

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Wayne Creed

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