How a tiny fish that fuels an Atlantic ecosystem is at the centre of industry debates

Subject: Geography

Section: Economic Geography

Context:

Researchers hoped to find evidence of a healthy new generation of ospreys when they checked 84 nests of the fish-eating bird in mid-June at Mobjack Bay, an inlet at the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay. They found only three young.

Details:

It was the lowest reproductive number in more than 50 years.
The decline is mainly due to the bay-wide depletion of ‘Atlantic menhaden (little silvery fish)’, the favourite food of those birds.

Atlantic menhaden:

The fish are nutrient-rich, a good source of omega-3 fatty acids; they consume smaller organisms like plankton, and they filter huge quantities of ocean water.
Hundreds of millions of the little silvery fish play a crucial role in the ecology of coastal waters, which includes feeding bigger fish like striped bass and weakfish; marine mammals including whales and dolphins; and birds like bald eagles, great blue herons and brown pelicans.
They are also useful for commercial fishing industries and in reduction fisheries, in which they are ground up and turned into products including fish oil and fish meal.

What is the concern?

This year, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a federal regulator, increased the amount of menhaden allowed to be caught to 233,550 metric tons throughout the Atlantic coast for the next two years, about 20% higher than the previous two years.
Removal of such large quantities of fish from the bay is degrading the ecosystem.
The disappearance of most of the menhaden from the bay is contributing to the disappearance of the many species (for example: Osprey and Striped bass) that rely on menhaden.

Positive signs for menhaden elsewhere:

Outside the Chesapeake Bay, the number of menhaden has increased.
Evidence of their recent abundance can be found off the coasts of New York and New Jersey, where more of their predators, include humpback whales, tuna, sharks and bald eagles.