Does menhaden fishery impact the striped bass?
Fishing for menhaden has since colonial times been one of the largest fisheries on the US east coast. The menhaden resource has declined considerably over the last century, and fishing is now conducted for reduction purposes and to supply bait, e.g., for baiting traps for catching blue crabs. There is also an economically important sports fishery for striped bass, a piscivore that relies strongly on menhaden as a forage species.The landings of menhaden peaked in the 1950s with a high of 712,000 t, and are currently at a level of some 170,000 t. The menhaden fishery is being managed by the Atlantic States Marine Fishery Commission, based on single species VPA, forward-projecting statistical age-structured models as well as multispecies VPA’s. The assessments conclude that the stock is healthy and not overfished. Current F’s are around 0.6 year-1, while F target is 0.75 and F threshold 1.2.
