As a 60-year employee of Omega Protein, and now Ocean Harvesters, I can say that the harvest of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay is lower now than in history due to 'precautionary regulations' which are admittedly not even based on science.  The science is strong that striped bass fishery is experiencing overfishing regularly year after year and trying to blame menhaden fishing for lack of striped bass lacks any scientific support.  Look at the example when striped bass were being overfished in the 1980s; a complete moratorium was placed on striped bass fishing and within a few years that stock was declared 'completely recovered', yet during that period menhaden fishing in the Bay was harvesting 150,000 metric tons yearly while today the regulated harvest cap in the Bay is only 51,000 metric tons.  Look at the ASMFC Menhaden Stock Assessment and then look at the Striped Bass Stock Assessment and there's the science