I strongly support this petition and limitations on the menhaden  commercial fishery so to support the many species of birds, including osprey, that depend on menhaden.  This has been an issue for decades and has now reached a critical point.

The Center for Conservation Biology at William and Mary has produced extensive research on this issue. Its report states, in part:

 "In 2023, The Center for Conservation Biology has documented the highest rate of osprey nest failure ever recorded within the lower Chesapeake Bay.  Only 17 of 167 nests monitored during the season produced any young.  The nesting population produced only 21 young resulting in a reproductive rate of 0.13 young per pair.  This rate is below that recorded during the height of the DDT era.  In order for the population to sustain itself, pairs should produce 1.15 young per pair.

"The poor reproductive performance documented during 2023 is a trend that has been observed for the past fifteen years.  In Mobjack Bay, productivity peaked during the 1980s and has declined to the present day.  Researchers within The Center believe that the ongoing decline in young production is driven by overharvest of Atlantic menhaden.  Forage fish such as menhaden, anchovy, sardine, capelin and herring play significant roles in marine ecosystems throughout the world.  These small schooling fish are responsible for transferring energy from plankton to higher-level predators such as osprey.  When forage fish are overharvested the marine food web is broken and higher-level predators suffer."

The Osprey is but one species affected: Please impose limitations on the commercial fishing for menhaden.

Sincerely,

Kay Slaughter

1503 Short 18th St, Charlottesville, VA 22902

Retired attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center