ASMFC O(mega)Shay responds...

[fly flinger]

Mr. Staley,

Thanks for asking about this as there as been considerable mis-information
circulated about this issue. I do not see this as a conflict of interest.
For the record, the decision to participate was made in consultation with
Commission leadership; I was not paid by Omega to make the video; Omega
Protein did not write what I said. I do not vote on menhaden management
issues, or on any other Commission management board. For what it is worth,
my counter part at the Gulf States Commission appeared in a video made by
Omega's predecessor, Zapata Protein. I am not aware of any criticism he
received for doing that.

My comments were intended to promote ASMFC's principles of sustainable
management of fisheries through the use of sound science and full catch
reporting. Having this message included in Omega Protein's materials was
an opportunity to reinforce their commitment to live within these
principles. The words I used were primarily taken from previous statements
made at the Menhaden Management Board, Congressional testimony, and stock
status reports as they existed when I spoke.

My reason for appearing in the video was to promote the vision and goals of
the ASMFC. I would be happy to consider partnering with other groups who
would like to get the message out about the importance of science-based,
sustainable fisheries management with full catch reporting and their
support for those principles. This has been a consistent message of mine
over the years, as readers of our newsletter can attest. John O'Shea

My Reply:

[Kevin Smith]

Fly Finger,

What is nothing that a bull stuff response:

1.) No he doesn't vote on Menhaden, but he is the Executive Director and a high ranking leader (the boss) of the ASMFC and therefore he should lead by example.
2.) This video is a clear message to the folks that work underneath Mr. O Shea. That message is "OMEGA is a valued partner of the ASMFC, Mr. O Shea values the relationship and please don't do anything to upset that relationship."
3.) Following his logic, does his appearance in the video mean the folks working for him can do the same? Maybe his predecessor did it, but that doesn't make it right either.
4.) His response letter includes more defense of OMEGA living within the guide lines, but his organization helps to determine the guide lines. How can he not see the conflict?

Thanks for posting this poor excuse for his role as a supposed leader.

Kevin
Weekend Mistress

[fly flinger]

Kevin:

All $hit More Fish Collapse

[goose70]

Kevin, your concerns seem mostly valid to me and I still am bothered that O'Shea appeared in this commercial as an Executive Director of ASMFC, not in some other role. No reasonable person would interpret that as anything other than an ASMFC endorsement of Omega Protien.

However, I do think that Mr. O'Shea provided a surprisingly candid, detailed response to your letter. For that I give him at least some credit. I also think that he raises at least one valid point, as I learn more about the ASMFC. If his Ex. Dir. role is that of an administrator and not policymaker (that is, he does not vote to make policy), then the conflict of interest concern is at least diminished, if not eliminated altogether. Of course, the other voting members have direct conflicts of interests, given that many of them are frontline stakeholders. Maybe the problem lies more in the structure of the ASMFC. Maybe the problem is a basic function of federalism that cannot be easily resolved. Like many issues, this one gets more complex as we peel away the layers.

On another note, the graph that you cite is interesting, besides the obvious. The mini-spike in 2002-2006 roughly tracks the striped bass population. If striped bass were the cause of any menhaden decline, then you would expect the menhaden population to track the opposite of the striper population. Just spitballing here, but the graph seems to present a couple of possibilites:

(1) the striper population is inextricably linked to the menhaden population in the obvious prey-predator way that many recreational fisherman have been arguing;or

(2) the stipers and menhaden are both responding to a broader, man-made influence such as pollution or loss of suitable spawning habitat; or

(3) the striper and menhaden are both responding the same natural occurence, such as changing ocean currents, sea temperature, etc.

[Kevin Smith]

Jeff,

The chart is data from the ASMFC.

You are right that there may be other factors that may influence the health of Menhaden & Stripers and so you bring up a very point/argument. Unfortunately there will never be enough science to prove without a doubt the impact that man and/or different animals have on one another.

Your question(s) above makes me think about another example of blaming the health of the stripers for the demise of another Chesapeake favorite by the commercial fishermen. For years the crab fishermen blamed the increase in stripers for the falling crab populations, while they continued the practice of dredging crabs (including egg covered females) from the mud in their winter grounds in the lower bay, which killed over 50% of what they threw back. About 4 years ago the blue crab population got so bad the governors of Maryland and Virginia worked together by asking their scientists to come up with a plan. That plan they decided on was to see if closing the dredging of crabs in the lower bay (April 2008) in the winter would help. Since closing the winter harvest the blue crab population has grown in leaps and bounds and I think is up over 60% in 2 years. Did the stripers have an impact on crab populations going down-probably some, but obviously it was not the major factor in the falling crab populations. Did the killing of the crabs females covered with eggs by winter dredging serious hurt the crab populations-so far it appears to be a yes. Even if it is not the entire answer to the blue crab problem it is a big part of the answer.

To try to relate this to what you are asking-the ASMFC knows that over 50% of the Atlantic Coast Menhaden come to the Chesapeake Bay nursery to grow up in the summers of year zero through year 2 and they know that these fish have never spawned. OMEGA’s own data shows their catch of immature fish inside the bay in recent years has gone up steadily to now over 90% immature Menhaden that have never spawned and thereby OMEGA is killing quadrillions of potential eggs every year. So does the stock of stripers have an impact on the Menhaden-probably yes, but with Menhaden stocks falling off, over 50% of striper sick with Myco Bacterious and striper stocks are now falling per the ASMFC, wouldn’t it make sense to proactively manage the Menhaden in an effort to restore the stocks. Would reducing the harvest of immature Menhaden in the bay to more reasonable levels and thereby letting quadrillions of eggs hatch be the next logical step in helping the future of Menhaden-hopefully yes.

Let’s not destroy the jobs and the factory. Let’s do something positive so OMEGA will be encouraged to fish more outside the bay for mature fish and maybe this will help jump start the Menhaden stocks for everyone’s benefit including OMEGA. Maybe this is not the entire answer, but it likely a large part of the solution.

Kevin
Weekend Mistress