Yes, please “establish a moratorium on Chesapeake Bay Menhaden reduction fishing” and then *ban* Menhaden purse-seine fishing in *all Virginia waters.* The ecology of our Chesapeake Bay is suffering. The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It is a major ecological, economic, and cultural resource, providing habitat for over 300 species of fish, shellfish, and crabs. These resources belongs to 8.6 million Virginia’s. Please stop prioritizing one small company, Omega Protein, over the rest of us.

Virginia is the only state on the East Coast that permits industrial-scale purse seine reduction fishing for Atlantic menhaden in its state waters. Why have other US East Coast states and federal managers implemented bans? It has been to address overfishing, protect declining fish stocks, and prevent damage to marine ecosystems.

You are the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC). You are responsible for managing and protecting Virginia's tidal habitats (wetlands, dunes, beaches), regulating commercial and recreational saltwater fishing and enforcing conservation laws - to ensure sustainable use for the public good. 

For sustainable use for the public good, please establish a moratorium on Chesapeake Bay Menhaden reduction fishing” and then *ban* Menhaden purse-seine fishing in *all Virginia waters.* 

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2025 Sept:  https://www.cbf.org/news/virginians-overwhelmingly-back-reforming-industrial-menhaden-fishery-amid-troubling-signs/  “An overwhelming 92 percent of Virginia voters believe the state should leave more menhaden in the Bay, according to a poll of 600 registered Virginia voters conducted by a pair of research firms—one Republican and one Democrat—between July 30 and Aug. 5. 

Menhaden in Virginia’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay are the target of Omega Protein, a subsidiary of Canadian corporation Cooke, Inc., and its partner Ocean Harvesters. In what is called a reduction fishery, this industry uses spotter planes, enormous purse seine nets, and vacuum hoses to harvest more than 100 million pounds of menhaden annually from Virginia’s Bay waters. 

Longstanding concerns about the appropriate size of a menhaden fishery in Chesapeake Bay are gaining attention amid reports of plummeting menhaden catches by Maryland watermen and small-scale Virginia fishermen, as well as unprecedented levels of starving osprey chicks. Industry efforts to block science and data on Chesapeake Bay menhaden has left Virginia without enough information to effectively manage the fishery.  

“Virginians resoundingly want more menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay, and overwhelmingly back every single policy we tested for stricter management of the Bay’s menhaden fishery,” said Lori Weigel, a pollster with the Republican research firm New Bridge Strategy. 

“We almost never see this kind of consensus across party, age, and geography,” said Miranda Everitt, a pollster with the Democratic research firm FM3.”