Sustainable Fishery Is Under Assault from Special Interest Groups
BATON ROUGE, LA / ACCESSWIRE / May 26, 2021 / Gulf members of the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition (MFC) are strongly opposed to Louisiana H.B. 535, which would ban menhaden vessels from fishing within half a mile of the entire Louisiana coast, 1 mile off of specific areas, and 3 miles off of Grand Isle. This legislation presents a threat to coastal Louisiana jobs, yet has no observed scientific or environmental justification.
H.B. 535 is built on the same falsehoods that groups like the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) and Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) have been pushing for years around the country. Most egregiously, they claim that excluding menhaden vessels from a critical area of coastal waters will have no impact on menhaden industry jobs.
Approximately 20 percent of all Gulf menhaden landings are currently made within the proposed half mile exclusion zone. Removing those areas of available fishing grounds could cost the fishery an estimated $50 million in annual revenue and threaten an estimated 440 direct and indirect jobs in Louisiana. Worse, if menhaden harvesters are unable to materially make up those landings elsewhere, such a drastic loss of revenue could force menhaden operations in the Gulf to shutter entirely.
"Our industry has always sought to be a good neighbor, which is why we worked cooperatively to establish an exclusion zone around Grand Isle. We support this legislation's effort to formalize that zone," said Ben Landry, Director of Public Affairs at Omega Protein, an MFC member with two menhaden facilities in the Gulf. "But excluding the fishery from areas we've fished responsibly for decades goes too far, and punishes hardworking Louisianans who have always done things the right way."
This threat to the coastal communities of Louisiana is unwarranted because this legislation targets a sustainable, responsible fishery. The latest assessment commissioned by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, which manages Gulf menhaden, found that Gulf menhaden are not overfished and overfishing is not occurring. This finding was based on "extensive sampling by the National Marine Fisheries Service" and "a significant amount of data" from the five Gulf states.
Even more recently, in 2019, the fishery was certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), the gold standard for fisheries sustainability. According to the MSC certification, the fishery has a minimal environmental footprint on the ecosystem and an effective management system that respects local, national and international laws. This fishery has been extensively evaluated and has repeatedly passed the test with flying colors.
Supporters of H.B. 535 have instead created false and misleading justifications for this legislation. The CCA and TRCP both cite the need to protect beaches and shoreline waters, while presenting no evidence of the supposed harm caused by menhaden fishing vessels. While operating in shallower waters, our fishermen don't take any risks that could lead them to run aground.
The idea that the roughly two dozen menhaden vessels operating in the Gulf present a threat to beaches and shoreline waters, while thousands of other active vessels operating in those same water depths do not, is absurd.
Another falsehood the CCA continues to push is that menhaden "improve water quality and reduce hypoxic conditions" because of their role as a filter feeder. In fact, menhaden are sensitive to environmental stressors and will avoid hypoxic areas like the Gulf Dead Zone, and studies have shown that they have little impact on water quality - and may even add more nutrients to the water than they remove.
The CCA further states that bycatch represents 2 to 3 percent of the total menhaden catch. This number is more than misleading. Experienced fishery managers have never estimated bycatch for the purse seine fishery anywhere near 3 percent by volume. Most experts agree that the figure is near or less than 1 percent. The CCA and TRCP have extrapolated their false percentages to tens of millions of pounds of "trout, redfish, drum, shrimp, mullet, croaker, catfish, and more" - an example of irresponsible advocacy that would not be accepted by any respectable fisheries scientist. Bycatch of spotted sea trout and red drum from the menhaden fishery average 0.07 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively, when compared to total Louisiana recreational fishing landings of those species, according to a 2020 analysis by the state- hardly enough to have a major impact on those fisheries.
There is no biological justification for H.B. 535, which unfortunately targets blue collar men and women whose livelihoods depend on the Gulf menhaden fishery. This legislation should not be approved in its current form, and groups like the CCA and TRCP should stop spreading misinformation about a sustainable fishery that provides good jobs to Louisiana and the Gulf.
Gulf members of the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition are Omega Protein, Daybrook Fisheries, Ocean Harvesters and Westbank Fisheries. These companies have facilities in Abbeville, Louisiana; Moss Point, Mississippi; Empire, Louisiana and New Orleans, Louisiana.
About the MFC
The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition (MFC) is a collective of menhaden fishermen, related businesses, and supporting industries. Comprised of businesses along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition conducts media and public outreach on behalf of the menhaden industry to ensure that members of the public, media, and government are informed of important issues, events, and facts about the fishery.
Press Contact
Bob Vanasse
(202) 333-2628
bob@stoveboat.com
SOURCE: Menhaden Fisheries Coalition
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