The lessons of inaction related to other commercial fisheries in the US and around the world surely should not be lost on those who serve on a Marine Resources Commission. Where actions were late, or favored continued take in the face of continuing decline of target fish, bycatch, or fish that rely on the target fish, in order to keep fishing employment or income steady, the end result turns out to be an eventual lose lose for the fishermen, the fish, and the ecosystem. Many commenters opposed to the petition state that there is no science to support it.  I think many would beg to differ.  Sadly there is not more science available about this critical ecosystem keystone species and the fishery, in part due to seemingly unconscionable conscious decisions not to fund such research, presumably since the answers may not be those desired, and the “there’s no research/sciene” argument of ignorance is forfeited. Others in opposition state that quotas are already at their lowest levels ever, without perhaps noting the irony of the likely reason for that being the lower number of menhaden there for the taking.  At least one person in opposition states that menhaden “are at an all time high thanks to current management”.  Seriously??  If any Comissioners have not read (or listened to) Bruce Franklin’s fascinating and well researched book “The Most Important Fish in the Sea”, to get an intimate understanding of the absolutely critical importance of menhaden to the ecology of our seas and estuaries, and to those who have made a living from this fish for over a century, it would be a shirking of your responsibility to not read it before voting on this petition!  Think, why are the undepletable cod of the Grand and Georges Banks gone?  Why do few people, even avid fisherfolk, know that the Atlantic salmon once crowded the rivers of the US East Coast?  Because no one took steps to keep them from being overfished (and otherwise driven from their ecosystem). Don’t be party to repeating this error. We now know better. 

Your actions to help ensure that what small fraction of the historic menhaden population that remains, is sustained and even assisted in expanding once again, is perhaps even more vital than the absent or failed efforts to save game fish, because these other species were predators up the food chain, while the lowly menhaden, though seen by most as just an oily boney waste fish, is actually the engine at the interface of the entire ocean food chain with its ability to turn plant matter into the flesh that so very many higher level predatory fish, that constitute our human seafood, need to survive.

Support this petition now to preserve the fish that will, if protected, continue to support the other fish in the sea, as well as the fishermen who make a living from them, into the future.  You can correct/modify today’s actions in the future if warranted, but only if there is still a sufficiently resilient population of menhaden to recover from.