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If you have not seen this....FYI a recent news article......

 

 

By Darryl Fears, Published: November 9

Concerned that overfishing is destroying the ability of menhaden to reproduce, the commission that manages the Atlantic coast fishery voted Wednesday to sharply reduce the catch of the fish.

 

Tiny, oily menhaden are called the ocean’s most important fish by environmentalists because they provide food for essential fish such as striped bass and for birds such as osprey, bald eagles and brown pelicans. Without menhaden, environmentalists say, the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay ecosystems would come crashing down.

 

.At a meeting in Boston, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted 14 to 3 to cut the amount of menhaden that can be harvested annually from 183,000 metric tons to 174,000 metric tons. The commission must now draft and vote on a plan to implement the new rule, which is likely to become effective in May 2013, spokeswoman Tina Berger said.

 

A single company, Omega Protein Corp., took 160,000 metric tons of menhaden — 80 percent of about 450 million fish harvested last year — off the coast of Virginia, the only state that permits industrial fishing of menhaden. The company crushes the fish into meal to feed livestock and farmed fish around the world.

 

Bait fishermen, who mostly sell to sport fishers, caught the rest.

 

Ben Landry, Omega Protein’s spokesman, said the commission’s decision could lead to job cuts at the company processing plant in Reedville, Va., where 250 people work. “It’s too early to say,” Landry said.

 

In the run-up to the vote, the 45-member commission received more than 91,000 letters, the vast majority of which urged members to drastically reduce the catch. States from Maine to Florida each have three representatives, only one of whom can vote.

 

The commission wants to ensure that at least 15 percent of adult menhaden are left to spawn in the ocean and its tributaries after the yearly harvest. But the commission is pushing to have 30 percent of the adult population left to spawn. That would nearly quadruple the current threshold of 8 percent.

 

Landry said the commission could have set the threshold at 20 percent and waited to see whether menhaden stocks would rebound, rather “than immediately go to 30 percent.”

 

Menhaden stocks are in steep decline: 50 years ago, about 90 billion were a year old or less, according to commission estimates. Twenty-five years ago, there were 70 billion. Now only 18 billion menhaden that age remain.

 

“Certainly there was concern about the population,” Berger said, explaining the commission’s vote. “They have an obligation to stop overfishing.”

 

Peter Baker, an official with the Pew Environment Group, watched the meeting at the downtown Langham Hotel. “We think they did the right thing,” said Baker, director of the group’s Northeast Fishery Program. “We supported a 40 percent target. We did that knowing it was unlikely.”

 

Bill Goldsborough, fisheries director for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which had called for the exact reduction that was approved, said the commission “found a result that was responsible and reasonable.”

 

Goldsborough said the diets of striped bass (also known as rockfish) and osprey have suffered for want of menhaden. He said the commission’s management of the fishery kept the menhaden’s population artificially low.

 

Omega Protein argued that the population was adversely affected by poor water quality and other environmental factors, a finding that the commission supported, Berger said.

 

But overharvesting made matters worse, she said. The commission reduced the harvest to improve the chances of a favorable spawn in years to come.

 

In an essay for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Bryan Watts, director of the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William & Mary and Virginia Commonwealth University, said the reduced menhaden population hit osprey hard.

 

“More than 70 percent of the fish delivered to nests were menhaden” in the 1980s, Watts wrote. By 2006, menhaden accounted for less than 27 percent.

 

“It’s not much of an exaggeration to call it the most important fish in the sea,” Goldsborough said. “It’s an essential link in the food chain.”

 

 

 

 

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Soooooo many things wrong with this. While I'm glad that something is being done lets be honest here this has no chance of making a difference.

 

I have no idea as to the carrying capacity of the Atlantic for Menhaden. One can imagine that declining water quality over the years would reduce carrying capacity to levels less than that of the 70 billion of 25 years ago (and I don't know if they were at or above carrying capacity at that time). Just for arguments sake lets assume that 70 billion 25 years ago was carrying capacity and that the ecosystem is capable of a similar number today. There has been a 76% decline in menhaden numbers over the last 25 years. So, to counter that decline they've decided to reduce the harvest by...are you ready for this....0.005%. It is sure to work! :thumbd:

Also, to allow one company to account for 80% of the harvest is just plain criminal.

The numbers have the potential to harm us as sport fishers in so many ways. The decline in the menhaden population is sure to influence a variety of other species including striped bass, weakfish, bluefish etc etc. Firstly, the decline in available forage has an obvious direct repercussion in that not enough food may be available to support the biomass of the above mentioned species. Secondly, there is also an indirect consequence, one that I'm really worried about. The numbers presented here can be used by some to justify either maintaining the commercial striped bass harvest quota or even increasing that quota. Either way it's not good.

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"Omega Protein argued that the population was adversely affected by poor water quality and other environmental factors, a finding that the commission supported, Berger said."

This is so bad.

Untold millions(billions?) of dollars spent over the last 25years in response to a public mandate to improve water quality....and we get this from Omega and the Commission.

"Also, to allow one company to account for 80% of the harvest is just plain criminal."

Could not agree more,Koss.


Unknown

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Going to have to agree with Koss and Possum here.

 

Best thing for the western atlantic ecosystem is to shut this company down.

 

Too bad the politicians are in the pocket of this company.

 

 

Lobbying$2,770,000 Spent Information

Figures are based on lobbying activity reported to the Senate Office of Public Records. Reported dollar amounts are required to be accurate only to the nearest $20,000. For organizations whose primary business is lobbying, we display total income and top clients. For organizations that are not primarily lobbying firms, we display total amount spent on lobbying and top lobbying firms hired.

For more information, please see our lobbying methodology page.

covers through Q2, 2011

Lobbying On Behalf of Omega Protein Corp

Names of Lobbyists

Shaun Gehan, Bernard H. White, Andrew Minkiewicz, David Frulla, William Klinefelter, Dana Wood, Mark Anderson, Maggie Clarke, Paul Cambon, John A. Moran, Firm Hired Amount

Kelley, Drye & Warren $2,470,000

Jones, Walker et al $180,000

Robinson, Bernie $160,000

Livingston Group $160,000

Hart Health Strategies $80,000

White Group $20,000

McMurray, Ron $17,500

 

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So they employee 250 folks at the plant, and spend $2,770,000 in lobbying, plus it cost a lot of money to catch 160,000 tons of bunker, just how much money are they raking in? Do those 250 employees have any idea that the company they work for spent $2.7mil in DC? Who wants to bet the average plant worker makes $30k or less a year? Sounds to me like there's a monopoly in the fish meal industry. If this bunch spent that much in DC, how much they spending in VA to keep the comm fishery alive? Crap makes me sick.

My daddy was a pistol, I'm a son of a gun!
(*member formerly known as 'PinMd)'
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November 8, 2011Omega Protein Announces Third Quarter Fiscal 2011 Financial Results

Reports Strongest Revenue Quarter in the Company's History

 

 

HOUSTON, Nov. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Omega Protein Corporation (NYSE: OME), a nutritional ingredient company and the nation's leading vertically integrated producer of omega-3 fish oil and specialty fish meal products, today reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2011.

 

Third Quarter 2011 Highlights:

 

•Revenues: $71.7 million, a 28.1% increase over the 2010 third quarter, due primarily to higher volumes

•Gross profit margin: 19%, down from 27% for the 2010 third quarter, reflecting low fish oil yields in 2011

•Net income: $4.7 million ($0.24 per diluted share) compared to $7.0 million ($0.37 per diluted share) in the 2010 third quarter

•Production: Highest year-to-date production since 2007 and highest fish catch since 2002

•Growth: Completed acquisition of InCon Processing, L.L.C.

 

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Reel Gambler, looks by that quarterly report that they are running out of fish to catch.... The "restrictions" they are putting in play is a joke.

 

Omega is not just raping the bunker on the east coast.... but all over the world. Read about the GOM... and off the coasts of Asia too.... It makes me sick.

... I had a family member talking about the fish oil pills... i said not to take them, cause where they come from.

 

I have talked to a 'retired' ;) waterman, who said there used to be this big fish company up in Delaware.... and they use to ride up and down the coast in huge 75' ships netting everything in sight.

 

It will take a act of god ( or a unimaginable reduction of mankind) to get the bunker mass to what it was 40-50 years ago.

 

 

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I was already sick today and this did not make me feel any better. Yes there used to be a huge fleet that operated out of I believe Lewes DE. I can still remember seeing the boats off OC when I was a kid heading back to their port. Large numbers of the old boats were sunk off the coast as part of artificial reefs in the 70's.

 

I think Omega should be shut down or severely restricted in their catch. The limits in that article are not enough to let the population rebound. They just cant see past the money to understand the damage they are doing. :mad:

Anti-social Fisherman

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When I posted this I kinda expected the reactions I see here...thanks for the thoughts..keep em coming. Given the (IMO, I'm no expert) absolute supreme importance of this species to the ecosystem, I just can't fathom how one entity/company can be allowed to continue to harvest such a huge amount of bunker. Period. It's insane. The proposed catch reduction is not even a drop of a drop in a bucket as far as I'm concerned.

 

Grind em up into fish meal/livestock feed, fish oil capsules, etc, ship it all off to where ever...makes a very few folks a lot $$$$. Meanwhile the ecosystem crashes and the company, lobbyists and politicians responsible for this drink cocktails behind closed doors and could stinken care less about the state of the ecosystem.

 

Oh, by the way... in the interests of full disclosure, I used 5 bunker fishing today for a few hours. So I guess maybe I'm 0.000000000000000000001 % of the problem.

 

 

Sorry.

 

 

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Koss, I agree with you and the other guys on these issues.  But for the sake of accuracy the math is off:



 



"So, to counter that decline they've decided to reduce the harvest by...are you ready for this....0.005%. It is sure to work!"



 



The report said: "...At a meeting in Boston, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted 14 to 3 to cut the amount of menhaden that can be harvested annually from 183,000 metric tons to 174,000 metric tons. The commission must now draft and vote on a plan to implement the new rule, which is likely to become effective in May 2013, spokeswoman Tina Berger said."

It should be 174,000/ 183,000 = 5% reduction, or 95.1% still available for Omega, et al.



 



If we don't keep an eye on this who will?


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Koss, I agree with you and the other guys on these issues.  But for the sake of accuracy the math is off:

 

"So, to counter that decline they've decided to reduce the harvest by...are you ready for this....0.005%. It is sure to work!"

 

The report said: "...At a meeting in Boston, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted 14 to 3 to cut the amount of menhaden that can be harvested annually from 183,000 metric tons to 174,000 metric tons. The commission must now draft and vote on a plan to implement the new rule, which is likely to become effective in May 2013, spokeswoman Tina Berger said."

 

 

It should be 174,000/ 183,000 = 5% reduction, or 95.1% still available for Omega, et al.

 

If we don't keep an eye on this who will?

 

Thats not how I came up with that figure. Can't remember how I calculated it out now. I was trying to relate it to the available biomass and point out that they are reducing the amount of bunker removed form the ocean by a very small number with the goal of doubling the available breeding population. Sorry for the confusion.

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This industry is wrong on so many levels that I hesitated to even comment on it.

 

The water quality issue is a farce. The biggest problem in the bay is single cell algae growth due to runoff/ fertilizer,manure, soil erosion, and some of the biggest feeders on single cell algae in the bay are Menhaden along with oysters which also need to be restored. If there is a water quality problem in the bay it is because Omega Protein has decimated the primary population of filter feeders/ the menhaden.

 

Since Omega has been banned from many other waters they now concentrate their efforts at the mouth of the Chespeake which has increased the impact of their activities on the biggest striper spawning and nursery area in the world.

 

Since they have been banned from other states the decrease in the numbers of menhaden in the bay has been dramatic, and many of us have seen the skinny and sick stripers during the warmer months due to the lack of this high quality prey species and impact of this is well documented

 

Omega has also routinely ignores pollution standards and has dumped amonia, a by-product of cooking bunkers into the adjacent creek.

 

Their netting methods also scoops up lots of the biggest stripers, blue fish, and grey trout feeding on the mature menhaden and they get cooked up with the bunker.

 

I remember when I first came to Maryland in the early 70's there was a lot of buzz about two female striper that were brought up in the Reedville bunker fleet's/ Omega Proteins's nets that were each 110 pounds each. This was ancedotal stuff, but supposedly the Virginia fishery folks were called in to examine the remarkable fish. Maybe someone else can chime in who knows the facts, but even then the oldtimers lamented that not only were the fish an amazing size, but it was a crying shame that they were removed from the spawning population at a time when striped bass were on a serious decline.

 

I think we are now seeing the results of the perfect storm of destruction: A collapse of the mehaden population in the Delmarva region and the corresponding tough fishing due to a lack stripers and prey species in our area. While the northern oceanic bunkers still stop at the mouth of the bay in the fall to feed on the rich plankton soup coming out of the bay there are not enough local bunkers to keep the Hudson river stock of stripers in our area on their way south. Combine that the the reduced numbers of stripers in the Chesapeake due to over commercial fishing, poor enforcement, and lack of food and you probably have one of the major reasons for the poor fishing in our region with the possible exception of the mouth of the bay.

 

Here in the Delmarva we don't have the herring and sand eels like they have up the north and without large numbers of local mehaden we don't have squat. You have to hope you get lucky with a Hudson river fish that just happens to be one of the few that prospects our surf for food on its way to Hatteras. Is it any wonder that many of the fish we catch is our surf have empty stomachs or have only a few crabs in them. If you look at the stomach contents pictures and posts of the fish up north you find an amazing quantity and variety of stuff. Even the Delamarva bait fish companies have trouble supplying fresh Bunker due to the low numbers and we wonder why?

"May your travels always take you to where the water meets the shore"

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Good posting guys!



 



We all agree that commercial fishing is one thing that can be regulated with positive near-term results. We know from experience with previous moratoria that the trade offs will be a detriment to the business and those employees related directly and indirectly to commercial fishing, bbut it will result in a resurgence of Striper population over about a decade. We know the moratorium restrictions can be adjusted in various ways so that it doesn't have to be "absolute" . I think the way the recent vote occurred indicates that the voters recognize action is overdue and strong measures are needed now. From what you all have said here I'm certain we as a group see a need for even tougher measures, soon.



 



One thing we haven't talked about much is the "byproduct" of commercial menhaden netting. You know the Stripers are going after the menhaden as a  major food source, so it only follows that a significant number of Stripers of all sizes and ages are caught up by Omerga and others. This should be monitored, regulated and enforced to the benefit of Striper populations.



 



Then. lastly, it also is clear that reducing catch levels and a stronger enforcement activity lies almost exclusively with the state of Virginia. Having lived in Kiptopeke and Cape Charles, then Annapolis, then Kent Island from 1965 to today I can see where it's time for Virginia to step up and take charge - with the strong state-to-state support of Maryland, Pennsylvania and to a lesser degree Delaware, New Jersey, New York and North Carolina.



 



It's been shown that Stripers "will eat anything that swims". With that thought in mind, we need to remember that other food sources in all the other Striper locations along the migration path need to be managed as well so there is an abundance of other foods to take the place of diminished menhaden.



 



(*edited - please don't post commercial links here - TimS)


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Great Post Runes1,

 

Yeah, bycatch by Omega Protein is a big concern and I have heard little or nothing about it in years and it makes sense that some of the biggest and best stripers, trout, and bluefish are going to be feeding on the mature bunkers that Omega is scooping up.

 

My biggest concern is that once again the NMFC will be trying to figure out how many cows should be in the barn after the barn door has been left open for years. in other words, with very few if any studies on the mehaden in the bay when they were plentiful how in the world can they come up with and intelligent restoration plan without first doing a total moratorium on taking bunkers to see what happens.

 

I remember in the early 80's when there were big blue fish in the bay there were literally arces and arces of bunker stretched arcross the mouth of the Potomac and Patuxent rivers. There were so many of them that it looked like you could walk across the mouth of the river on their backs.

 

Today you are lucky if you see any schools and it is tough to even find some peanuts in the creeks and backwaters.

 

Gee I wonder why the big blue fish have not come back and why the big rockfish don't stick around in the bay after they spawn. Gee I wonder what happened to the big tide-runner trout that used to feed below those big blues and stripers feeding on the mature bunkers in the Chesapeake.

 

When you consider the economic and recreation value of the sport fish like stripers, trout, bluefish and fluke that feed on bunkers, and the potential ecological value that bunkers have for cleaning up the algae bloom problem is the bay, the cost versas benefit ratio of the industrial bunker fishing industry is so upside down that you would think that it would be a no-brainer, but no our politicians and government biologists are of little or no use and they would have to pay someone to get a clue and then they would have to pay someone else to explain it to them. That of cource would also depend on them being willing to listen in the first place.

 

When you consider the bycatch factor and the opportunity costs involved that is some very expensive animal feed suplement that Omega Proten is producing especially since the quality of their product is so low that it is not acceptable for anything other than animal feed.

 

Omega Protein is a cheap, dirty, and an incredibly destructive industry. It is amazing that the EPA and the Environmentalists have not shut them down.

 

If you have ever been in Reedville, VA when Omega is cooking bunkers you would be familiar with the awful smell and sooty and greasey smoke the operation produces. Add to that the amonia and other pollutants that Omega routinely dumps into the bay and you really have to wonder who would want to defend these folks. The bunker cooking operation makes a paper pulping plant smell like a rose garden in comparison.

 

I am sorry for the rant, but I am sure that there are many other fisherman in the Chesapeake Region that share some of my frustration and concern regarding these issues.

 

I just would not ask me how I really feel about Omega Protein and their operations. :mad:

"May your travels always take you to where the water meets the shore"

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