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Below is a clipping from the RISAA email list --- note that this is NOT regarding the pogie boats in the bay, but the reduction boats in the Chesapeake and along the coast
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It is important that recreational anglers have a good showing at the ASMFC
Public Hearing on Menhaden tonight. This hearing will take place at 6:00 p.m.
at Corless Auditorium, URI Bay Campus, Narragansett.
The hearing concerns the Reduction Fishery and the industrial taking of Menhaden
that effects the whole coast.
While the stock is assessed on a coastwide basis, the majority of landings
(~65%) come from the Chesapeake Bay raising concerns about localized
depletion. At this time, the data to evaluate localized depletion
is not available, but a number of red flags indicate there are problems.
According to the ASMFC, menhaden are not overfished, yet anglers up and down the
coast will confirm that something is wrong - that stocks have been down for a
number of years.
Part of the problem, I believe, is that Omega Protein, the large reduction
company in Virginia, removes so many menhaden from the population, that what's
left then has to migrate along the cost. Predation and other causes further
reduce the migrating stocks. By the time the fish arrive in New England,
there's barely nothing left.
Please note that this meeting tonight is NOT about our local "pogy boat." It
concerns whether or not to restrict the taking of menhaden in the Chesapeake and
along the coast.
REC ANGLERS SHOULD SUPPORT:
1) CAP THE MENHADEN HARVEST IN THE CHESAPEAKE AND COASTWIDE
2) THE CAP SHOULD BE PLACED ON THE REDUCTION FISHERY ONLY
3) THE CAP SHOULD BE THE AVERAGE TAKE FOR THE PAST 5 YEARS
4) THE CAP SHOULD BE IN PLACE FOR AT LEAST 5 YEARS
Five years should be allowed for scientists to study the problem.
Also, a five year average used to place the cap is reasonable and recommended by
most of the national marine conservation organizations. Trying to place a cap
at a lower amount would likely result in a court order to scrap the plan. The 5
year average would cap Omega Protein at 105,800 tons (they want 135,000 tons).
Their average take between '85 and '97 was 150,000 tons!
Do we wonder why there aren't as much menhaden in are area as their used to be?
SHOW UP AT THIS HEARING! It is important that the record reflect the fact that
Rhode Island recreational anglers have an interest in the future of menhaden.
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