REEDVILLE, VA / ACCESSWIRE / February 7, 2019 / Today, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) voted overwhelmingly to indefinitely postpone a motion that would have found Virginia and its menhaden fishery out of compliance. Omega Protein, the largest participant in the state's menhaden fishery, supports this action. The Company has long held that menhaden management should be based on the best scientific information available, and that evidence supports the view that the fishery is being managed sustainably.
''Bluntly, we've outkicked our coverage with this particular action,'' said ASMFC Commissioner Robert Boyles, head of South Carolina's Marine Resources Division, during the meeting. ''The law doesn't support a non-compliance finding here. That is the hard and fast fact.''
The issue of non-compliance stems from the fact that Virginia has not codified a reduced cap on Omega Protein's menhaden harvest in the Chesapeake Bay, which was slashed by 41 percent in 2017. The Bay Cap is not scientifically derived, but rather is a political compromise and a precautionary measure adopted by the Commission. The lack of scientific evidence supporting the cap has been well documented since it was first put into place in 2006.
''The Commission made the right decision today because the Bay Cap is not ''necessary for the conservation of the fishery,' as is required in a non-compliance finding,'' said Ben Landry, Director of Public Affairs for Omega Protein. ''The Commission's decision to press pause on this motion signals their acknowledgement that the basis for the reduced Bay Cap was not going to meet federal standards.''
The vote in favor of indefinitely postponing the non-compliance issue was 17-1, with Pennsylvania as the single dissenting vote.
The menhaden fishery is currently being managed sustainably. In its most recent stock assessment in 2017, the Commission found that menhaden is not overfished, nor is it experiencing overfishing. The stock is healthy enough that the Commission raised the coastwide quota each year from 2015 to 2017.
Declaring a healthy fishery non-compliant would have been unprecedented, as noted by NOAA attorney Chip Lynch at the Commission's August 2018 meeting on menhaden. At that meeting, Mr. Lynch said a non-compliance recommendation would be ''the first time ever…that the federal government would receive a non-compliance referral for a fishery that is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring. And there is record evidence from the leadership of the Commission that the measure is not related to conservation.''
The Commission has admitted that there is no conclusive evidence that localized depletion of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay exists, which is the problem the Bay Cap was ostensibly created to solve. In Amendment 3 to the Commission's Menhaden Fishery Management Plan, the Commission stated that studies conducted on localized depletion were "unable to conclude localized depletion is occurring in the Chesapeake Bay and noted that, given the high mobility of menhaden, the potential for localized depletion could only occur on a ''relatively small scale for a relatively short time.'''
About Omega Protein
Omega Protein Corporation is a century old nutritional product company that develops, produces and delivers healthy products throughout the world to improve the nutritional integrity of foods, dietary supplements and animal feeds. Omega Protein's mission is to help people lead healthier lives with better nutrition through sustainably sourced ingredients such as highly-refined specialty oils, specialty proteins products and nutraceuticals. Omega Protein is a division of Cooke Inc., a family owned fishery company based in New Brunswick, Canada.
The Company operates seven manufacturing facilities located in the United States, Canada and Europe. The Company also has a long-term supply contract with Alpha VesselCo, LLC which owns 30 vessels which harvest menhaden, a fish abundantly found off the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. The Company's website is www.omegaprotein.com.
All fishing vessels formerly owned by Omega Protein are owned and operated by Alpha VesselCo, LLC, an independent company.
PRESS CONTACT
Ben Landry
Director of Public Affairs, Omega Protein
(713) 940-6183
[email protected]
SOURCE: Omega Protein