Ocean Harvesters and Omega Protein Reject Claim that Industry Opposed Funding for Chesapeake Bay Menhaden Research

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Chesapeake Bay Foundation continues decades-long misinformation campaign against Virginia's blue-collar menhaden fishermen

REEDVILLE, VA / ACCESS Newswire / June 23, 2026 / Ocean Harvesters and Omega Protein flatly deny playing any role in the Virginia General Assembly's decision not to include funding to study the Chesapeake Bay's Atlantic menhaden population in the two-year state budget. These false claims were made by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, an organization that has misled Virginians as part of a special interest campaign against the industry for more than two decades.

The proposed research initiative would have provided $1 million per year for two years to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) to establish an Atlantic menhaden research fund and develop a report to help inform a scientifically justifiable Chesapeake Bay harvest cap. The proposed work was expected to be led by VIMS in collaboration with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, with input from relevant stakeholders, including recreational anglers, the reduction and bait fishery sectors, and non-governmental organizations.

The funding would have built on industry-supported work already underway through the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS), which has funded a roadmap project to identify the research needed to support a science-based Bay harvest cap. SCEMFIS is a member of the National Science Foundation's Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers program, which brings together scientists, government researchers, and partners in the fishing industry to support collaborative, peer-reviewed fisheries research.

The SCEMFIS menhaden roadmap is being developed by leading menhaden scientists from institutions including VIMS, the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, and NOAA. That work is focused on identifying the data, methods, timelines, and costs needed to answer Bay-specific questions about seasonal abundance, movement between the Bay and the Atlantic coast, predator demand from species such as striped bass and osprey, commercial fishing patterns, and whether localized depletion is occurring in the Bay, and the feasibility of tagging or other survey approaches.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is using the budget issue to once again spread false claims about the menhaden fishery. CBF's latest press statement attempts to portray the absence of budget funding as an industry victory, which is purposely misleading and oversimplifies the complex budget process.

CBF's statement, written by David Sherfinski, falsely claims that Virginia lawmakers excluded menhaden research funding from the budget because they were "bowing to pressure from industry to delay this vital research," while Will Poston, CBF's Forage Campaign Manager, falsely stated, "The menhaden industry has not once offered public support for funding state menhaden research." Ocean Harvesters and Omega Protein support more science, not less, directly supporting the SCEMFIS roadmap study and supporting funding for credible state-led menhaden research.

Mr. Poston further claimed that "continued political pressure" from "Omega Protein and their McGuireWoods lobbyists" was exerted "to delay science." That statement is false, defamatory, and should be withdrawn immediately.

The need for better data is especially important because current Chesapeake Bay menhaden management is built around a harvest cap that was established as a precautionary political compromise, not as a Bay-specific biological reference point. Future changes to the Bay cap should be informed not by politics, but by credible science and a clear understanding of ecological, economic, and workforce impacts.

CBF's ironic "no science, no industrial fishing" slogan ignores the fact that the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has repeatedly found that menhaden is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring. Since 2020, the fishery has been managed using ecological reference points designed specifically to account for menhaden's role as forage for predators. The fishery is independently certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council.

The latest available data do not support CBF's claim that the Chesapeake Bay is being "emptied" of menhaden. The most recent ASMFC assessment indicates that coastwide adult menhaden biomass remains roughly twice the levels seen 50 years ago. Maryland's young-of-the-year surveys show strong recent juvenile abundance, with Atlantic menhaden widespread in the Bay for three consecutive years, and the 2025 index reported as the third-highest since 1991.

Fisheries policy affects real communities. Any future changes to coastwide or Chesapeake Bay catch limits should consider not only ecological questions, but also potential effects on workers, businesses, bait supply, infrastructure, and coastal communities that depend on the menhaden fishery.

Ocean Harvesters and Omega Protein remain committed to sound science, responsible fishing, and meaningful stakeholder engagement. The companies continue to support a serious research agenda for Atlantic menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay and urge state officials, scientists, fisheries managers, and stakeholders to pursue a measured, fact-based approach rather than one driven by political pressure and unsupported claims.

To learn more about the people and jobs supported by Virginia's commercial menhaden fishery, visit the YouTube page of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 400.

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SOURCE: Ocean Harvesters