The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) is asking for public comment on a proposal to extend the cap on the reduction harvest of menhaden in Chesapeake Bay through 2013. Addendum IV to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden offers just two options: Option 1, the status quo, which would allow the 5-year cap implemented in 2006 to expire at the end of 2010; and Option 2, extending the bay cap another 3 years.
The National Coalition for Marine Conservation (NCMC) supports Option 1 and strongly opposes maintaining the existing cap of 109,020 metric tons (~240 million pounds) a year.
NCMC supported the original bay cap in 2005 as an interim measure while researchers looked deeper into the ecological status of Atlantic menhaden and the ASMFC developed a long-term ecosystem-based approach to management that would protect menhaden's critical role as forage for predators such as striped bass and many other fish species as well as seabirds.
"The commission has been dragging its heels long enough, and we refuse to let them put off menhaden conservation for another 3 years, which is what this addendum will do," says NCMC president Ken Hinman. "The ASMFC should scrap this plan and begin immediately working on real conservation measures to replace the cap at the end of 2010."
Please contact the ASMFC by October 9 and tell them you oppose extending the cap for Atlantic menhaden. And/or, attend a public hearing:
September 29, 2009 at 6:00 pm in Newport News, VA
October 5, 2009 at 6:00 pm in Freeport, ME
October 6, 2009 at 5:30 pm in Annapolis, MD
Visit our web site for full story and instructions on how to comment.
http://www.savethefish.org/action_items_striped_bass_EAN.htm
