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According to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the overall Atlantic coast stock of menhaden is robust as of 2006.[9] However, according to Paul Greenberg, who has called for a ban on fishing menhaden in US federal waters and the Chesapeake bay, the continued harvesting of menhaden (especially by Omega Proteins) is having detrimental effects on the population, which in turn is affecting populations of fish that feed on menhaden and especially on water quality:[7]
The muddy brown color of the Long Island Sound and the growing dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay are the direct result of inadequate water filtration — a job that was once carried out by menhaden. An adult menhaden can rid four to six gallons of water of algae in a minute. Imagine then the water-cleaning capacity of the half-billion menhaden we "reduce" into oil every year.
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