Omega Reedville General Manager Responds

[SlateDog]

This letter to the editor was in this weeks Southside Sentinel newspaper responding to a previous letter regarding Omega's menhaden fishing in the bay. The quick take aways from their perspective is that 1) menhaden are not a primary striper food source 2) the menhaden is causing the bay to run out of oxygen anyway so we need less of them 3) they are good guys because they don't fish on weekends or holidays 4) the menhaden and striper fishery is perfectly healthy 5) there is no striper by-catch and finally 6) anybody that believes to the contrary does not know what they are talking about. So everything is just peachy. Amazing.......here is the actual letter:

To the Editor:
In response to the Letter to the Editor titled “Keep menhaden fishing fleet out of the Bay,” I would like to set the record straight. Menhaden are filter feeders, but unlike the letter writer’s claim, their diet does not consist of phytoplankton alone. Young menhaden (under age 1) do eat phytoplankton, but once enhaden surpass age 1, studies show they eat primarily zooplankton. This feeding causes menhaden to excrete large amounts of ammonia, which contributes to the Bay’s already significant dead zone. These facts can be verified by reading the research of Dr. Ted Durbin, University of Rhode Island, and various studies conducted at the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences (VIMS). Commercial menhaden fishing does not cause the disappearance of striped bass. Menhaden comprise a mere 8% of stripped bass diets, according to VIMS. Further, Omega Protein does not catch striped bass as verified in several by catch studies and VMRC daily inspections. The suggestion that Omega Protein will not limit its catch until “the last fish is taken” is absurd. The industry strongly supports a sustained fishery and has a policy of voluntarily not fishing on weekends and holidays. Omega Protein has invested millions of dollars toward longterm plant improvements. The fishery has successfully operated in the Chesapeake Bay for over 130 years and the fish continue to migrate into the Bay each year in abundance. The menhaden stock has been proven healthy and not overfished, as managed and verified by the ASMFC. The commercial menhaden fishery is one of the most regulated and studied fisheries in the world, another fact ignored by industry opponents. The real disappointment here is that commercial waterman continue to be falsely attacked by those who don’t understand or care to learn the facts.

Monty Deihl
General Manager
Omega Protein Inc.
Reedville

[GregB]

I say folks should give these guys a break. They have been doing this for over a century and haven't caught them all yet. There are fewer boats fishing for them now than twenty years ago. They employ many Virginians in an area where there aren't very many other job choices.

[Waynesboro]

Have to disagree - having fished the area during the past fall season, I was unable to catch a striper on a 9" shad. Switching to 4" and 6" shads solved this problem. Those fishing in the Potomac and north did not encounter this same phenomena. Pretty safe to assume that the larger menhaden had been removed from the southern waters.

Just look at last falls reports. Seems pretty logical to me that if the fish are no longer hitting the larger baits, it is because food of that size is not available in the area, and the 9" shads aren't recognized as food. I did not experience this the previous two years - so something certainly changed. Does someone else have a logical explanation for what is happening in the VA waters of the bay?

[captaingeorge]

I observed the same things but I'm unsure what it means. I also observed there was plenty of bait and plenty of striped bass.
Another observation is that fish were biting almost exclusively on "electric chicken" while in past years they would bite white or chartreuse.
How you gonna spin that to blame Omega??;-)

[rocksandblues]

he is correct on the bycatch

[Tom Powers]

Except the last big VIMS bycatch study was done when the striped bass populations were near the all time lows.

[captaingeorge]

Except the last big VIMS bycatch study was done when the striped bass populations were near the all time lows.
So it's fair to say that based on the latest available scientific data, he is correct?

[Tom Powers]

No if you extrapolate the survey data (at at time when striped bass stocks were depressed) they caught something like 100,000 pounds of striped bass.

Furthermore they do not count the striped bass that are corralled up in the purse seines (in water depleted of oxygen for how ever long it takes them to get them out) sucked up the tube; banged up against the "large fish filter bars" and thrown back over the side of the boat as bycatch. While it might not be official bycatch it certainly is bykill when it doesn't survive the ordeal, which BTW no one knows the survival rate of those fish.

[captaingeorge]

Oh, I see. You don't like the existing data so you will extrapolate something from it that you do like.:thumbup:

[rocksandblues]

i have spoken with several menhaden capts. One is a friend. They say that the crew can get enough for one meal for their family during a trip. Bait fish school up on instinct when scared. rockfish scatter. there is an unreal amount of noise when they set their nets. the purse boats are very loud. just think about how the fishing shuts down when a few boats go over a school of rockfish. and we are trying to be quiet.

[Tom Powers]

Captain George. . .

Extrapolate. . . to take existing data and carry it forward in a linear fashion (or second order or exponential but I used linear in this case) to estimate a value based on a larger value of the X variable.

Or to say it in another way . . . No I mean if you take the ratio of the sample size in pounds of menhaden to bycatch of striped bass in pounds and multiply it by the total catch of menhaden you extrapolate a total harvest of a given bycatch of striped bass.

[captaingeorge]

Thank you but I already understand the meaning of extrapolated data. I am also aware of it's limitations. But, if you think this tack will work for you, I wish you luck.
Do you honestly believe extrapolated bycatch data carries more weight, legal or otherwise, than daily inspections by the VMRC?

[Waynesboro]

My response was focused on the absence of menhaden, as related to the articles that have appeared on this site. Having fished only three fall seasons in this region, I am in no position to comment on state of the striper population. My personal observation is that in the region around the Rappahannock river, the large menhaden seem to have disappeared this fall.
I can also comment that while trolling in the river about 200 feet from the OMEGA boats last November, we caught two large stripers, so apparently those fish aren't all that disturbed by the racket from the OMEGA boats.

For those that are interested, here is a link to the menhaden articles

http://www.tidalfish.com/forums/content.php/599-Menhaden-Muddle-Chesapeake-Bay-Menhaden

[Tom Powers]

Capt George. . . that is the way that most all fisheries management works on such issues. . .For instance in any given year the total recreational harvest in VA is based in part on telephone conversations had with like 7,000 recreational fishermen.

[captaingeorge]

My personal observation is that in the region around the Rappahannock river, the large menhaden seem to have disappeared this fall.
Again, I agree with you that last year's striper bite was better on smaller baits. But that doesn't necessarily mean larger menhaden aren't around. There is no way you can know that. It's a guess, no more, no less.
There were a few days on the Rapp when I marked some very large rockfish on my quite sophisticated fishfinders but didn't catch them. Using your reasoning, should I assume that they weren't there?

[captaingeorge]

Capt George. . . that is the way that most all fisheries management works on such issues. . .For instance in any given year the total recreational harvest in VA is based in part on telephone conversations had with like 7,000 recreational fishermen.
I understand that concept and worked for awhile as a "fishcounter". But rec harvest isn't what we were discussing. Rec harvest data must be extrapolated since it's impossible to do otherwise. It's not impossible to physically monitor bycatch in the menhaden fishing process in the Chesapeake Bay and that, in fact, is precisely what is done.

[WhiteStoneBridge]

WOW Slatedog. Thanks for posting. I guess since Zapata/Haynie/Omega have been doing this for 130 years and because they employ Virginians, we should all just back off. Especially since all these dirty filter feeders are contributing to the ammonia pollution. These guys are drinking too much of the corporate kool aid to be taken seriously anymore.

[SlateDog]

I don't have scientific data, natural data, real time observations or any other form of data to bring to either side of this debate. It just seems pretty simple however for average everyday people to conclude that nothing Omega is doing is helping the bay, the menhaden themselves, or the variety of species that depend on the menhaden for important segments of their life cycles. The best that Omega can achieve in this debate is a finding of neutral or zero negative impact on the environment and its biology (with a positive economic impact however on much needed employment for citizens of Virginia). I posted this merely because I felt like the gentleman from Omega was tending to lean towards the theory that in addition to the positive economic impact Omega has on the lives of their workers and their shareholders that they were somehow helping the bay and its fishery. Sometimes nature takes it upon herself to wipe out animal or plant species. We don't and won't always understand the reasons. Man of course man has a long standing and proven ability to do the same though generally for reasons of sustenance, economics or in some cases pure sport. I can't say whether we are witnessing one of those events but I can't make myself believe that Omega is somehow evironmentally and/or biologically good for us, the bay or its inhabitants.

[Coan Ranger]

I am encouraged to see some rational thought from some of my fellow fishermen. We need to remember those many cases in which our interests are threatened by legislation or political correctness instigated by those emoting, not thinking. I personally believe that there is room on the bay for both commercial and sport fishermen under scientific and reasoned regulation. At present, there is an abundance of both rockfish and menhaden in the bay and it's tributaries.

[gwag]

Extrapolate = educated guess

[gwag]

extrapolate=educated guess

[Kevin Smith]

I think there is room for both commercial and recreational fishing, when science is used to make sure the fishery is healthy enough, but cannot ignore what I see when fishing inside of the bay.

We lack the abundance of Menhaden inside of the bay that was present about 5-7 years ago and the Menhaden Reduction catch records confirm this.

In addition grey trout stocks have collapsed, blue fish cannot recover and stripers are feeding hard during the fall season in Maryland's portion of the bay, but once they get to VA waters the bite slows tremendously.

We find stripers feeding hard up the rivers where the Menhaden fleet doesn't fish, but we don't see them feeding once the reach the bay. IE Potomac River

Cut open a striper caught in Maryland waters or stripers caught on the ocean front-they have healthy amounts of Menhaden in their stomachs and rarely have leasions. Cut open a striper in Virginia waters and you will find their stomachs are almost empty (except they may have have a crab, shrimp, trout, spot or croaker) and they often have leasions.

Kevin
Weekend Mistress
CCA VA, Stripers Forever

[CyberDish]

It's posts like this that are the reason the CCA has had such an ABYSMAL track record in the fight against the commercial fishing fleet. Kevin.. I'm disapointed... It's obvious that you feel strongly about this topic, and USUALLY you put forth a decent argument.... But this last post of your was just pure BS.
Come on man... You are better than this....

[Mr. James Cokey]

Again, I agree with you that last year's striper bite was better on smaller baits. But that doesn't necessarily mean larger menhaden aren't around. There is no way you can know that. It's a guess, no more, no less.
There were a few days on the Rapp when I marked some very large rockfish on my quite sophisticated fishfinders but didn't catch them. Using your reasoning, should I assume that they weren't there?

no way, you have a, you say "fishfinder" which is sonar that will tell you not only how big the fish is but what kind. Thanks for the laugh.

[captaingeorge]

I'd venture that most guys in this neck of the woods with decent color fishfinders can tell fish-type and relative size. Not that difficult for guys that actually fish now and then.:D

[BLUEYZWAITN]

When I was a kid I used to fish out Of Deale Md.. I remember being up on the Flying Bridge seeing the Schools and schools of menhaden rolling thru the bay. It was a temendous site .. ... I wonder who was the first one to figure out that Menahden had the Omega-3 I wonder where the bay would be if it was never discovered .... I wish I could spit some Beach nut in that Dudes Eye... HW Jr

[rocksandblues]

no way, you have a, you say "fishfinder" which is sonar that will tell you not only how big the fish is but what kind. Thanks for the laugh.

Actually, you can. Experience counts

[s&n]

Smaller menhaden/same poundage,more fish taken to make quota.Come on guys,

[rappahanockman]

There's another editorial letter in this weeks Southside Sentinel.
Let's see if Omega responds again!