Menhaden need your help

[Frank Kearney]

Menhaden need your help

CCA VA LEGISLATION ALERT

The most important fish in the sea
needs your help

Atlantic Menhaden - Ecologically Important in the Chesapeake Bay

Contact your Senator and Delegate Today and tell them that you support Senate Bill 185 and House Bill 294. SB 185 and HB 294 will move management of menhaden in Virginia from the Legislature to Virginia Marine Resources Commission.

The bills, SB 185 filed by Senator Ralph S. Northam (D-Norfolk) and [B]HB 294 filed by Delegate John A. Cosgrove (R-Chesapeake), would shift the management of Virginia's menhaden fishery from the halls of the General Assembly to the fisheries professionals at the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC).

The VMRC now manages all other salt-water fisheries in Virginia, including the commercially important blue crab, striped bass, and oyster populations. Only menhaden are managed by the legislature, which meets once a year and cannot respond quickly to scientific advancements regarding this complex fishery. By contrast, VMRC meets monthly to consider new research findings and other data and routinely makes necessary changes to fisheries regulations. This legislation includes a provision that any moratorium proposed for the fishery must be approved by the General Assembly. This is consistent with the approach used in other fisheries such as sturgeon.

CCA Virginia requests that all saltwater anglers and conservation minded individuals contact their senators and delegates to communicate with them about their personal concerns about the management of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay. Hand written and typed letters mailed or faxed to the delegate or senator or phone calls are the best way to communicate with your representative and emails work but are less effective than other means. If you need a sample letter then one is provided below but a personal letter or phone call from you in your own words on your feelings about management of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay is the most effective.

SAMPLE LETTER
The Honorable (Delegate/Senator's First and Last Name)
910 Capitol Square
Richmond, Virginia 23219

Dear Senator or Delegate,

I strongly support the proposed legislation in Senate Bill 185 and HB 294 that would move management of menhaden in Virginia from the Legislature to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission where other saltwater species are managed by VMRC.

Sincerely,

Your Name Address Phone Number

If you do not know what Senator or Delegate represents you then you can go to at website and type in your address and the contact information on your senator and delegate will appear with a block available for you to send a message to your senator and/or delegate and that information is available on the General Assembly Website at http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform

SB 185 will go first to the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee and if passed by the committee will move to the Senate and the members of that senate committee are as follows:
Ticer, Patricia S. (Ch) (804) 698-7530 district30@senate.virginia.gov
Whipple, Mary Margaret (804) 698-7531 district31@senate.virginia.gov
Hanger, Emmett W., Jr. (804) 698-7524 district24@senate.virginia.gov
Watkins, John (804) 698-7510 district10@senate.virginia.gov
Reynolds, Wm. Roscoe (804) 698-7520 district20@senate.virginia.gov
Puckett, Phillip P. (804) 698-7538 district38@senate.virginia.gov
Ruff, Frank M. Jr. (804) 698-7515 district15@senate.virginia.gov
Blevins, Harry B. (804) 698-7514 district14@senate.virginia.gov
Deeds, R. Creigh (804) 698-7525 district25@senate.virginia.gov
Obenshain, Mark D. (804) 698-7526 district26@senate.virginia.gov
McDougle, Ryan T. (804) 698-7504 district04@senate.virginia.gov
McEachin, Donald A. (804) 698-7509 district09@senate.virginia.gov
Petersen, Chap (804) 698-7534 district34@senate.virginia.gov
Northam, Ralph S. (804) 698-7506 district06@senate.virginia.gov
Stuart, Richard H. (804) 698-7528 district28@senate.virginia.gov

HB 294 will go first to the House Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and if passed by the committee will move to the House of Delegates and the members of the House of Delgates committee are as follows:
Morgan, Harvey (Ch) Gloucester, (804) 698-1098 DelHMorgan@house.virginia.gov
Ware, R. Lee (VCh) Powhatan, (804) 698-1065 DelLWare@house.virginia.gov
Cox, M. Kirkland Cox Chesterfield, (804) 698-1066 DelKCox@house.virginia.gov
Sherwood, Beverly J. Winchester, (804) 698-1029 DelBSherwood@house.virginia.gov
Wright, Thomas C. Jr. Victoria, (804) 698-1061 DelTWright@house.virginia.gov
Orrock, Robert D. Sr. Thornburg, (804) 698-1054 DelBOrrock@house.virginia.gov
Scott, Edward T. Culpeper, (804) 698-1030 DelEScott@house.virginia.gov
Marshall, Daniel W. III, Danville, (804) 698-1014 DelDMarshall@house.virginia.gov
Lohr, Matthew J. Harrisonburg, (804) 698-1026 DelMLohr@house.virginia.gov
Poindexter, Charles D. Glade Hill, (804) 698-1009 DelCPoindexter@house.virginia.gov
Pogge, Brenda L. Yorktown, (804) 698-1096 DelBPogge@house.virginia.gov
Knight, Barry (804) 698-1081 DelBKnight@house.virginia.gov
Bell, Richard P. (804) 698-1020 DelDBell@house.virginia.gov
Edmunds, James E. II (804) 698-1060 DelJEdmunds@house.virginia.gov
Plum, Kenneth R. Reston, (804) 698-1036 DelKPlum@house.virginia.gov
Shuler, James M. Blacksburg, (804) 698-1012 DelJShuler@house.virginia.gov
Lewis, Lynwood W. Jr. Accomac, (804) 698-1000 DelLLewis@house.virginia.gov
Bulova, David L. Fairfax Station, (804) 698-1037 DelDBulova@house.virginia.gov
Sickles, Mark D. (804) 698-1043 DelMSickles@house.virginia.gov
Englin, David L. (804) 698-1045 DelDEnglin@house.virginia.gov
James, Matthew (804) 698-1080 DelMJames@house.virginia.gov
Torian, Luke E. (804) 698-1052 DelLTorian@house.virginia.gov


The preceding was provided as a public service by the Coastal Conservation Association Virginia (CCA VA). Feel free to forward it to your associates. If you have any comments concerning this issue, or would like to have your name added/removed from the distribution list, reply to this message. The purpose of CCA is to advise and educate the public on the conservation of marine resources. CCA VA is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization whose goal is to Conserve, Protect, and Restore marine resources for the benefit of all Virginians. Please visit our website located at www.ccavirginia.org for more information.

Email CCAVA@cox.net

[samuels]

Thanks Frank! I don't seem to be able to hang on to those numbers myself.

[Frank Kearney]

Time CNN Magazine Article at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...953700,00.html
Monday, Jan. 25, 2010
The Trouble with Fish Oil
By Tim Padgett

The appetite for omega-3 fatty acids — hailed by studies as a weapon against ailments from heart disease to Alzheimer's to depression — appears to be endless. Since 2006, the U.S. market for omega-3 supplements has doubled, to an estimated $1 billion, and that doesn't count the billions of dollars more that consumers paid for infant formula, orange juice, breakfast cereals and a host of other products that have added these wonder nutrients.

But is the fatty-acid craze threatening our ecosystem? The best omega-3 source is oily fish like salmon, mackerel and sardines. Environmentalists fear that some species — especially a small filter feeder called menhaden, which plays a critical role in the aquatic food chain — are being overfished for oil supplements. Bigger fish prey on menhaden, which eat omega-3-rich algae and in doing so clean the ocean waters off the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. By filtering up to 7 gal. (about 26 L) per min., menhaden help prevent oxygen-depleting algal blooms that lead to underwater dead zones. (See the top 10 green ideas of 2009.)

Although few Americans have heard of menhaden, its protection is a big enough worry that 13 of 15 Atlantic states have banned from their waters the fish-oil company that catches 90% of the country's menhaden. The Houston-based Omega Protein insists the menhaden population is healthy. But while the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission says menhaden don't yet face overfishing on a coastal scale, it is limiting the industrial harvest of the fish in Chesapeake Bay, hard hit of late by dead zones. "The devastation of the marine environment has to be taken into account," says H. Bruce Franklin, a professor of American studies at Rutgers University and the author of a recent book on menhaden, The Most Important Fish in the Sea. (See TIME's photo-essay "Scenes from the Tuna Trade.")

The declining menhaden population isn't the only concern swimming around fish-based omega-3 supplements. Mercury consumption is another, as are the needs of vegetarians. The good news there is that plant sources like flaxseed and canola oils have one of the omega-3 fatties, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). The bad news is that they don't contain docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) or eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), the more important omega-3 nutrients. Our bodies can convert ALA into DHA and EPA, but the process is limited and slow. (See "The Year in Health 2009: From A to Z.")

A more efficient source of omega-3s is emerging, however, and it's made straight from the algae that give menhaden and other fish so many healthful fatty acids. Maryland biotech company Martek, which farms myriad algal strains in massive tanks, is marketing life'sDHA, an algal omega-3 supplement rich in DHA, which is especially beneficial to the brain.

Martek and others are also developing oilseed-algae hybrids that are packed with a larger array of fatty acids, according to Adam Ismail, director of the Global Organization for EPA & DHA Omega-3, a Salt Lake City trade group. "This is a really interesting new area we're heading into," he says. And given consumer demand for omega-3s, it's likely to be a booming one.

[Kevin Smith]

Frank,

Thanks for posting this. I will be visiting, calling and writing them early this coming week.

Kevin
Weekend Mistress