Themis
Well-known member
Affects us up here as well as you guys in the Chesapeake.
PUBLISHED IN THE ASBURY PARK PRESS Oct. 24, 2007
Bills target industrial menhaden fishing
By KIRK MOORE
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
Congressmen from New Jersey and Maryland are proposing
bans on industrial menhaden fishing
in federal waters, a move that would prevent
Virginia-based Omega Protein Corp. from returning
to waters off New Jersey.
Reps. Jim Saxton, R-N.J., and Wayne Gilchrest,
R-Md., are respectively sponsors of bills HR
3840 and HR 3841. Saxton's legislation would suspend
menhaden fishing for industrial uses in
federal waters between three and 200 miles offshore
""until a scientifically-determined catch
level can be established that also considers the role
of menhaden in the ecosystem,''
according to a statement from Saxton.
Gilchrest's measure would impose on outright ban on
the menhaden reduction fishery, which
processes millions of the small, oily fish also known
as bunker. Omega uses them to make
omega-3 food additives, protein meal and and
industrial ingredients.
""He's talking about putting an end to this
industry, as it should be,'' said H. Bruce
Franklin, a Rutgers University English professor,
angler and author of ""The Most Important
Fish in the Sea,'' a critical history of the reduction
fleet.
The industrial fishery has already been banned in
the waters of 13 coastal states,
including New Jersey, where it's been prohibited since
2002, Franklin said. Recreational
fishing advocates say conditions for other species
higher on the food chain, such as striped
bass and bluefish, improved with the expulsion of
Omega's fleet, based at Reedville, Va.
Now most of Omega's fish come from Chesapeake Bay,
where regulators last year set a new
annual catch limit. Recently, North Carolina banned
menhaden fishing in some of its waters,
too, said Ben Landry, deputy director of government
affairs for Omega.
Omega boats fished outside New Jersey's three-mile
territorial limit in 2006, said
Franklin, who visited offices on Capitol Hill a few
months ago to talk about menhaden.
""The fabulous ecology of this coast depended to a
large extent on menhaden,'' Franklin
said.
As ""forage fish'' for other species, menhaden are
an energy bridge that convert tiny
plants called phytoplankton into protein and fish oil
that feed larger predators, he says.
Omega and its supporters contend the menhaden
stocks are big and well-managed enough to
accommodate the fishery. But recreational advocates
note other trends, like a 31 percent
decline in the catch of menhaden used as fishing bait
from 2005 to 2006, said Jeff Sagnip
Hollendonner, a Saxton aide.
""The main problem is people's ignorance. Apart
from people who fish and marine biologists,
most people don't know anything about this fish,''
Franklin said. ""My feeling is that 10
years from now this industry won't exist; they will
either be legislated out of existence, or
they will fish themselves out.''
PUBLISHED IN THE ASBURY PARK PRESS Oct. 24, 2007
Bills target industrial menhaden fishing
By KIRK MOORE
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
Congressmen from New Jersey and Maryland are proposing
bans on industrial menhaden fishing
in federal waters, a move that would prevent
Virginia-based Omega Protein Corp. from returning
to waters off New Jersey.
Reps. Jim Saxton, R-N.J., and Wayne Gilchrest,
R-Md., are respectively sponsors of bills HR
3840 and HR 3841. Saxton's legislation would suspend
menhaden fishing for industrial uses in
federal waters between three and 200 miles offshore
""until a scientifically-determined catch
level can be established that also considers the role
of menhaden in the ecosystem,''
according to a statement from Saxton.
Gilchrest's measure would impose on outright ban on
the menhaden reduction fishery, which
processes millions of the small, oily fish also known
as bunker. Omega uses them to make
omega-3 food additives, protein meal and and
industrial ingredients.
""He's talking about putting an end to this
industry, as it should be,'' said H. Bruce
Franklin, a Rutgers University English professor,
angler and author of ""The Most Important
Fish in the Sea,'' a critical history of the reduction
fleet.
The industrial fishery has already been banned in
the waters of 13 coastal states,
including New Jersey, where it's been prohibited since
2002, Franklin said. Recreational
fishing advocates say conditions for other species
higher on the food chain, such as striped
bass and bluefish, improved with the expulsion of
Omega's fleet, based at Reedville, Va.
Now most of Omega's fish come from Chesapeake Bay,
where regulators last year set a new
annual catch limit. Recently, North Carolina banned
menhaden fishing in some of its waters,
too, said Ben Landry, deputy director of government
affairs for Omega.
Omega boats fished outside New Jersey's three-mile
territorial limit in 2006, said
Franklin, who visited offices on Capitol Hill a few
months ago to talk about menhaden.
""The fabulous ecology of this coast depended to a
large extent on menhaden,'' Franklin
said.
As ""forage fish'' for other species, menhaden are
an energy bridge that convert tiny
plants called phytoplankton into protein and fish oil
that feed larger predators, he says.
Omega and its supporters contend the menhaden
stocks are big and well-managed enough to
accommodate the fishery. But recreational advocates
note other trends, like a 31 percent
decline in the catch of menhaden used as fishing bait
from 2005 to 2006, said Jeff Sagnip
Hollendonner, a Saxton aide.
""The main problem is people's ignorance. Apart
from people who fish and marine biologists,
most people don't know anything about this fish,''
Franklin said. ""My feeling is that 10
years from now this industry won't exist; they will
either be legislated out of existence, or
they will fish themselves out.''
