Fact and Fiction
STATEMENT: The menhaden fishery is the oldest fishery in the United States.
FACT: This statement is factual. Historical records show that menhaden, called bunker, mossback, pogy, among other common names, were harvested along the Atlantic coast for fertilizer in the 1700s and for fish meal and oil as early as the mid 1800s.
STATEMENT: Menhaden are too oily for humans to eat.
FICTION: This statement is not true. Records show that menhaden were used for human consumption in the 1800s, winning medals for their value as food in 1873 and 1874 in Vienna and Bremen, respectively. Quoting from G. Brown Goode in his book A History of the Menhaden, “It need only be said that they have been carefully tested by many unprejudiced judges in the city of Washington, and that the verdict has always been that they were almost equal to French sardines of the best brands.”
STATEMENT: Menhaden are an important food fish for many other animals, including fish, mammals and birds.
FACT: This statement is factual. On the Atlantic coast, menhaden are consumed by such species as striped bass, bluefish and flounder, to name but a few. In the Gulf of Mexico, species such as red drum, spotted seatrout, flounder and a host of other fish species prey on menhaden. Marine mammals and sea birds, most notably the osprey, also use menhaden as forage. Menhaden occur in large schools, like other members of the family clupeidae, and are attractive prey for hungry predators.
STATEMENT: Both the Atlantic and Gulf menhaden populations are overfished.
FICTON: Though this statement is often heard, it is not true. Both the Atlantic and Gulf menhaden are subject to regular stock assessments (a method to estimate the status of the population) conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The most recent assessments (2010 for the Atlantic and 2006 for the Gulf) show that menhaden are not overfished and overfishing is not occurring. This is good news, because it gives us the assurance that both populations of menhaden are able to sustain themselves into the future, and that current levels of harvest in the commercial fishery are not harmful to the populations.
STATEMENT: Menhaden are filter feeders and exclusively eat suspended algae called phytoplankton.
FICTION: This statement is not true. Menhaden are known as filter feeding omnivores. This means that they swim with their mouths open and filter particles of whatever is suspended in the water in front of them. This includes phytoplankton, but it also includes zooplankton (small planktonic animals) and detrital matter (disintegrating plant material). The gills of adult menhaden form a kind of basket through which the water is sieved. Particles that are too small, mostly small phytoplankton, pass through the gills and return to the water; however, some phytoplankton does pass into the gut. Larger particles, mostly large phytoplankton and zooplankton, pass into the gut. Recent scientific study has found that the gill basket is optimally designed to collect particles the size of zooplankton and large phytoplankton. Additional research is finding that not all of the phytoplankton that passes into the gut of the menhaden is digested. Some of it passes through the gut and is excreted undigested.
STATEMENT: Since menhaden occur in such vast schools (numbering in the hundreds of thousands of fish) and consume vast quantities of phytoplankton, menhaden have the capability to positively affect water quality in our bays and estuaries.
FICTON: This statement is not true. Yes, menhaden do occur in vast schools that number in the hundreds of thousands of fish; however, as stated above, menhaden do not exclusively feed on phytoplankton. Some people have even said that an unfished population of menhaden would have the capacity to clean Chesapeake Bay of unwanted algal blooms (made up of phytoplankton). Many bays and estuaries in the United States are polluted with an overabundance of nitrogen and phosphorus that comes from runoff from land. These substances come from fertilizers, detergents and other chemicals that find their way into our coastal waters through runoff. While it would be wonderful if menhaden could swoop in and clean up our mess, it’s just not possible. The fact is, menhaden do not have the capacity to reduce unwanted phytoplankton blooms that arise from manmade sources, primarily because they eat mostly zooplankton. In addition, recent research has shown that menhaden excrete high levels of nitrogen (in the form of ammonia) into the water where they are feeding. While it is unlikely that such a level of nitrogen (ammonia) would significantly contribute to the existing manmade nitrogen, it is clear that feeding menhaden do not contribute to making water quality better, as proven in a recent scientific study conducted by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
STATEMENT: Because of the large purse seines used in the commercial menhaden fishery, a large number of other fish, known as bycatch, are caught in the net along with the menhaden.
FICTION: This statement is not true. While literally every fishery has some bycatch associated with it, some large and some small, the menhaden bycatch is the lowest in the United States marine commercial fisheries. In a recent (2008) letter to Congressman Robert Wittman in preparation for a Congressional hearing on menhaden, Dr. James Balsiger, acting Assistant Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, stated “Several studies have been conducted to document the level of bycatch in the menhaden fisheries along the U.S. East Coast. All studies have shown that bycatch levels are generally less than 1% of the total catch. A study of the bycatch in the Atlantic menhaden fishery conducted in the early 1990s by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science [By-catch and the fishery for Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia patronus) in the Mid-Atlantic Bight. Austin, H., J. Kirkely, and J. Lucy. 1994. Virginia Sea Grant Marine Resources Advisory No. 53] concluded that, ‘Relative to total harvest (menhaden and by-catch), by-catch was estimated to account for 0.04097% of the total menhaden harvest by numbers.’ Bycatch of recreational species was determined to be extremely low in terms of numbers. For example, bluefish accounted for 0.0075% of the total catch [of menhaden by numbers].” Several studies of menhaden bycatch have also been conducted in the Gulf of Mexico and found similar low levels of bycatch. Such low bycatch gives us comfort in knowing that our fishing operations are not needlessly harming other species of marine organisms.
STATEMENT: There is a prediction that marine aquaculture will be increasing significantly over the next several years, and since menhaden meal and oil are additives to many aquaculture feeds, the demand for those additives will increase. With this increasing demand for fish meal and oil will come an increase in harvest of U.S. domestic menhaden to meet that demand.
FICTION: This statement is not true. While ordinary market circumstances would predict that increased demand would be met with increasing product, the menhaden industry is anything but ordinary. Omega Protein Corporation recognizes that our existence depends on the long-term sustainability of the Atlantic and Gulf menhaden, so we are very careful to conduct fishing activities that are compatible with that long-term sustainability. In addition, even though there may be an increasing demand for menhaden meal and oil, it would require a substantial infusion of new capital to build more boats and more processing plants to accommodate a significant increase in production. It is likely that the amount of capital needed to fund such a venture would far exceed reasonable returns. Bottom line, the U.S. domestic menhaden fishery will not be expanding to meet projected demand due to aquaculture or any other product.
STATEMENT: The benefits of fish meal and oil derived from menhaden can be provided by substitutes as additives in animal feeds and human health products.
FICTION: This statement is not true. Soy meal and oil are used in many instances for animal feed and to produce oil products, and many people believe that it would be more ecologically acceptable to substitute soy products for menhaden products. This is a misconception since meal and oil from soy beans contains high levels of Omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-6 fatty acids are essential fatty acids required by the body; however, typical American diets have resulted in an imbalance in levels of Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids. This imbalance of Omega-6 fatty acids can lead to a number of illnesses, including coronary heart disease and depression, among others.