Update Assessment Confirms Sustainable Atlantic Menhaden Stock

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 02, 2017 -- Today, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) was presented with an updated stock assessment that shows Atlantic menhaden is neither overfished nor experiencing overfishing. These positive conclusions mirror the results of the ASMFC’s 2015 benchmark assessment of Atlantic menhaden, which showed a healthy and sustainable stock.

Figure 6.2.3.4 (Source: ASMFC 2017 Atlantic Menhaden Stock Assessment Update) Table 7.2.1.1 (Source: ASMFC 2017 Atlantic Menhaden Stock Assessment Update)

The 2017 Atlantic Menhaden Stock Assessment Update, prepared by the ASMFC’s Atlantic Menhaden Stock Assessment Subcommittee using data through the 2016 fishing year, shows that fishing mortality remains well below the ASMFC’s target levels (see Table 7.2.1.1). The assessment further indicates that the target has not been exceeded for many years; this includes 2012, when the ASMFC cut Atlantic menhaden catch rates by 20 percent based on a flawed stock assessment.

“We’ve maintained for years that Atlantic menhaden is being managed sustainably, and today’s update assessment continues to prove our case,” said Peter Himchak, Senior Fisheries Scientist at Omega Protein, a member of the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition. “Coalition members who make their living in the menhaden fishery have worked diligently to safeguard this resource, and today’s findings validate their hard work.”

The Assessment Update approved today also shows an increase in Atlantic menhaden biomass and numbers of individual fish (see Figure 6.2.3.4). Taken in combination, positive trends for both biomass and numbers of individual menhaden are strong indications of a healthy menhaden stock.

In 2012, the ASMFC slashed Atlantic menhaden catch rates after a flawed stock assessment indicated menhaden was being overfished. However, a 2015 assessment using improved methods and better science showed that menhaden had not been overfished in 2012 or at any time since the 1960s, and that the stock was healthy. Based on these positive results, the ASMFC raised the catch quota for Atlantic menhaden in both 2015 and 2016, but catch rates remain below 2012 levels when quota reductions were implemented.

“This update assessment further confirms our view that the 2012 harvest cuts were unwarranted and not based on sound science,” said Jeff Kaelin, Government Relations Coordinator at Lund’s Fisheries, another Coalition member. “In large part due to those cuts, we are underfishing this resource and unnecessarily hurting the fishermen who depend on it. The ASMFC’s menhaden board has options before it that could restore the fishery to pre-2012 levels, and we ask that they give those options the consideration they deserve.”

About the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition 
The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition is a collective of menhaden fishermen, related businesses, and supporting industries. Comprised of businesses along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, the Coalition conducts media and public outreach on behalf of the menhaden industry to ensure that members of the public, media, and government are informed of important issues, events, and facts about the fishery.

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e86bc0bd-1e6a-4d79-86f1-97e675145de0

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d04d352c-d32b-4a7e-8329-cae364891a53

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/44d784d6-6740-4e06-821a-f291723edb1e

Bob Vanasse
Menhaden Fisheries Coalition
202-333-2628
[email protected]