The Lower Chesapeake Bay:

Big Trouble for Greatest Osprey Breeding Ground in the World 

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The resurgence of ospreys over the past several decades from near extinction caused by DDT is one of America’s great wildlife success stories. But today, researchers have found evidence that ospreys in the lower Chesapeake Bay are in trouble again, this time as a result of inadequate supply of menhaden, a crucial forage fish. These majestic birds need our help. The information below is disturbing but also gives you the opportunity to support osprey with your immediate input.

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Osprey reproduction in the lower Chesapeake Bay is declining at an alarming rate. Surveys conducted recently (June 2023) by The Center for Conservation Biology at William & Mary found the following:

Osprey 

Osprey almost exclusively eat fish, and in the lower Chesapeake Bay their health and survival is inextricably linked to menhaden, a rich source of energy due to their oil content. Ecological Reference Points are important clues to the state of an ecosystem, and the lower Chesapeake’s osprey should be considered an ERP for menhaden management.

Menhaden

Menhaden are a schooling, oily fish that are commercially harvested by purse seines (large walls of netting) in both the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay. Virginia is the only remaining state to allow industrial scale menhaden reduction fisheries. In the Chesapeake Bay, industrial purse seine fishing for menhaden is allowed in Virginia waters only, and not allowed north of the VA/MD line within the Chesapeake Bay.

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Menhaden Management

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) sets the quotas and rules for the Chesapeake Bay’s commercial harvest of menhaden. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) and its technical advisors recommend and allocate commercial harvest quotas for each state, including Virginia, along the Atlantic Coast and in the Chesapeake Bay.

The ASMFC, by their own rules, is supposed to consider the health of fish stocks as well as the economic and social aspect of its management actions. They manage menhaden using Ecological Reference Points (ERPs). 

Canary in the Coal Mine

The recreational angling community has been concerned about menhaden for years. The lack of menhaden has been affecting the unseen species below the waterline, and now, it is clearly affecting the easily seen (for now) osprey above the waterline. Let's get the word out and make this necessary environmental change: Remove industrial purse seine menhaden fishing, (done by a single Canadian owned company) from the Chesapeake Bay.