|
SAVE
THE BAIT:
Protect Menhaden in the Gulf of Mexico.
Menhaden are a small, oily fish that
play an extremely important role in the health of the Gulf of Mexico.
Menhaden spend their short lives swimming in large schools filtering
algae out of the water and converting it into their highly nutritious
flesh. This provides a crucial link between the primary producers of
energy --plants -- and the upper levels of the food chain, including
red drum, sharks, dolphins, pelicans, and a host of other sea life
that rely on menhaden.
Menhaden Catch (c) NOAA
Many anglers know menhaden by the
name pogie, or more simply, bait. Few things work as well as
menhaden to catch fish. What many people do not know is that the
menhaden fishery is a big business; the second largest fishery in the
United States. Two companies, Omega Protein and Daybrook Fisheries
catch on average more than 1 billion pounds of menhaden in the Gulf
of Mexico each year. The highly industrialized fishery uses planes
to spot the fish and large factory boats with vacuums to suck up the
fish from large encircling nets deployed by smaller boats. The
industry never sells any of this fish at a local market as no one
eats menhaden directly. All of these fish are "reduced" into
products such as fishmeal and fish oil for animal feed and other
industrial uses.
What you can do!
Write the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission and ask them to:
- Set a temporary cap on menhaden fishing and start an
assessment of menhaden that takes into account the needs of predators
and the important role that menhaden play as filter feeders.
- Require
industry-funded, government-trained observers on menhaden boats to
count the amount of other sea life that gets killed in their nets.
- Stop menhaden fishing when the annual quota is met.
Read on for more info...
Wasted
Sea life
Menhaden Fishing
In addition to the 1 billion pounds
of menhaden caught by the industry, the industry also catches and
kills an estimated 1 million pounds of sea life. Because the
industry does not have observers on board their boats, the species
composition of the inadvertent killing (bycatch) is unknown. It is
extremely important to find out if the industry is killing sport fish
such as red drum, or highly depleted species such as dusky sharks.
Government and anglers have done too
much work to protect marine wildlife for one industry made up of two
companies to deplete important species.
Texas
Takes the Lead
 The Texas Parks and Wildlife
Commission recognizes the importance menhaden and is proposing to cap
the amount caught in Texas state waters based on the average catch in
Texas state waters from 2002 - 2006. The cap is a step in the
right direction, but more needs to be done to ensure that menhaden
stay abundant and fulfill their role in the ecosystem.
Current management measures are
outdated and do not take into account the needs of predators and the
important role that menhaden play as filter feeders. Science-based
catch limits should be established that leave enough menhaden in the
water to help keep the water clean and feed Gulf menhaden predators.
The commission also needs to mandate
that menhaden boats carry observers. These industry funded,
government-trained and employed observers can quantify the amount of
wasted sea life and its species composition. With this new data, the
commission can mandate new devices to reduce the waste and close
areas to fishing to keep protected species from being caught.
What you can do!
Write the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission and ask them to:
- Set a temporary cap on menhaden fishing and start an assessment of menhaden that takes into account the needs of predators and the important role that menhaden play as filter feeders.
- Require industry-funded, government-trained observers on menhaden boats to count the amount of other sea life that gets killed in their nets.
- Stop menhaden fishing when the annual quota is met.
|
