Menhaden conservation bills killed in Va.

Richmond, Va. (Jan. 23, 2011)-- Virginia’s General Assembly quickly put an end to efforts to protect menhaden from overfishing when it killed five of six bills introduced during this year’s session.

The bills were drafted to help protect menhaden, which are a filter feeder valued for its ecological role in the Chesapeake Bay and an important food source for larger fish like striped bass and bluefish.

Much has been written about their ecological importantance for more than a decade, nonetheless, the oily fish are netted by the millions and turned into fish oil and pet food at a processing plant in Reedville.

Menhaden are the only species of fish managed by Virginia’s lawmakers.

Senate Bill 765 and House Bill 2280, the work of Sen. Ralph Northam, a Democrat from Norfolk, and Del. John Cosgrove, a Republican from Chesapeake, were drafted to take menhaden management out of the hands of state lawmakers and give it to the professionals at the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.

“I’d like to know one legislator smart enough to make scientific decisions about this fish species. It’s stupid that we do it this way,” said Cosgrove after the bill’s defeat on Thursday.

Northam’s bill is still scheduled for a hearing but its chances of passing are seen as slim.

HB 2369, sponsored by Del. Barry Knight, a Republican representing Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, was drafted to reduce the 109,020 metric ton cap on menhaden harvesting in the Chesapeake Bay by 20 percent each year. HB 1656, sponsored by Del. Harry Purkey, a Republican from Virginia Beach, attempted to ban menhaden harvesting within one mile of the shoreline of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Newport News and Hampton.

HB 1913 sponsored by Del. Jackson Miller, a Manassas Republican, attempted to end menhaden fishing by purse seine in the Rappahannock River and its tributaries. And, HB 2165, sponsored by Appomattox Del. Watkins Abbitt Jr., one of two independents in the House, called for a $10 per ton fee on menhaden caught in Virginia waters.

Omega Protein, which owns the Reedville plant, gave nearly $78,000 to politicians from May 2009 to April 2010. The plant is a major employer in the rural Northern Neck peninsula.