Why do nets have to be 50-60 feet deep if menhaden are on the surface? They can be spotted by planes for that reason. Many places they are harvested have depths less than 50 feet and that means the net drags the bottom and gets unintended by-catch as well as snags that cause fish spills . This also destroys aquatic grass beds that are critical to maintaining the ecosystem.

This practice must be stopped in the Chesapeake Bay and limited to the Atlantic Ocean in order to rebuild our stocks of bay fish to a healthy level.