PROVIDENCE – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved Amendment 3, a move that increased the coast-wide quota for menhaden by 8 percent for 2018 and 2019 at 216,00 metric tons.
Menhaden are small bait fish that can spawn year-round in inshore waters off the Atlantic coast. Menhaden have many commercial applications such as bait for fish, oil for human consumption and manufacturing, as well as oil as a fuel source. The fish are typically targeted by reduction fisheries and bait fisheries.
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“Through adoption of Amendment 3 and the setting of the 2018 and 2019 TAC [total allowable catch] at a risk‐averse level, the Board has demonstrated its continued commitment to manage the menhaden resource in a way that balances menhaden’s ecological role with the needs of its stakeholders,” Board Chair Robert Ballou said of Rhode Island in a statement.
The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition, an organization that represents 30 companies on the East Coast, including three in the Providence metropolitan area, praised the ASMFC for approving an increase to the quota.
In a release, the MFC said, “The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition reiterates its thanks to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission for allowing science to prevail in setting reference points for Atlantic menhaden, and rejecting the Lenfest Forage Fish Task Force ‘rule-of-thumb’ approach in favor of the development of species-specific ecological reference points.”
The MFC was referencing an organization that sent a letter from 117 scientists advocating an alteration in the commission’s ecological reference points for quota management until a 2019 stock update. The group had been advocating for a boarder examination of menhaden’s impact on the ecosystem, as opposed to single species-specific ecological reference points.
The MFC criticized the commission for what the ASMCF called a “conservative” increase.
“The MFC believes it is unfortunate, however, that on the second day of the meeting, politics prevailed,” the release continued. “Our members argue that the ASMFC did not follow the best available science in setting the overall menhaden quota level. Although the best available science would have allowed an increase from 200,000 metric tons to 314,000 MT with only a minimal risk of overfishing, we believe the Commission succumbed to political pressure in raising the quota just 8 percent, to 216,000 MT.”
The MFC had challenged the assertion that further protections were needed for menhaden, citing its own analysis of the ASMFC 2017 update stock assessment, which asserted that a majority of menhaden already remain in the water to serve an ecological role.
The commission’s decision was also not lauded by those seeking higher menhaden protections.
“While the Board’s action was not supported by the majority of public comment received, it is still a conservative management action relative to our understanding of stock status and many of the positive signals we see in the current stock conditions,” said Ballou. “While the Amendment maintains the current reference points, the Board placed the development of menhaden‐specific ecological reference points as its highest priority,”
Ballou also noted that stocks of menhaden were not currently at any risk for overfishing with the current increase.
“Specifically, the 2017 Stock Assessment Update indicated the resource remains healthy, with increases in abundance particularly in the northern states,” Ballou continued. “Risks to the resource under our current reference points are well understood, while changes to the TAC under the general forage fish guidelines are not as well understood. Further, the approved TAC, which represents a modest 8% increase in the coastwide quota, has zero percent chance of subjecting the resource to overfishing or causing it to be overfished.”
The commission also approved the continuation of the practice of quota transfer from state to state.
The quota increase in Rhode Island was set at 0.52 percent of the total increase for the East Coast.
Earlier this month, Rhode Island environmentalists called for more strict protections for the menhaden leading up to the commission’s vote.
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor.
