New Jersey Recs Seek Menhaden Catch Control

 Asbury Park Press, New Jersey's rec fishermen show support for cutting menhaden bay quota

The majority of New Jersey recreational stakeholders who spoke at Tuesday's public hearing on the Chesapeake Bay menhaden cap favor cutting the reduction fleet's bay harvest by as much as 50%.

Capt. Paul Eidman, who spearheads the non-profit Menhaden Defenders and chairs the Jersey Coast Angler's Association forage species committee, said the most precautionary options presented by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission would best address the concerns over the health of the menhaden population as well as sustaining striped bass and ospreys.

 

"What happens in the Chesapeake Bay effects the entire East Coast," Eidman said. "The bay is the largest nursery on the coast and the fish that begin their lives there, such as striped bass, migrate to New Jersey waters. New Jersey has a direct stake in getting this right."

The Bay Cap is the quota of menhaden Virginia allocates to the reduction fleet operating out of Reedsville, Virginia for harvest from the Chesapeake Bay. The cap is currently 51,000 metric tons annually.

Of the East Coast states, Virginia gets the lion's share of the total coastwide allowable catch, or TAC, for menhaden, which is 186,840 metric tons for the entire coast. Virginia gets 75.21% of the TAC, or roughly 139,000 metric tons. It then gives 90.04%, or about 125,000 metric tons of its quota to the reduction fleet.

I get the feeling something is going to change soon. Rick Hutzel at the Balmer Banner,  Finding balance on Chesapeake menhaden, the most important fish in the bay