The citizens of Virginia own the Atlantic Menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay. The Atlantic Menhaden resource is held in the public trust for the good of the Commonwealth by VMRC. VMRC has failed to maintain the population of the Atlantic Menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay for the service and use of all Virginians and the ecology of the Bay. A moratorium on the reduction industry harvesting of Atlantic Menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay should now be implemented until such time that a study is completed to show that there is a sufficient supply of menhaden to restore the population to historic levels throughout the Bay, that all ecological services are satisfied, and that the reduction fishery does not cause economic harm to the independent watermen, charter fishermen, and recreational users of the Chesapeake Bay, or ecological harm to the osprey, pelicans, whales, and dolphins.

The federal government has commenced the pertinent study to determine the adequacy of the Atlantic Menhaden population in the Chesapeake Bay through funding allocated to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, of which Virginia is a member. There is ample evidence in the striped bass fishery and osprey reproduction research to demonstrate that the menhaden population in the Bay is insufficient; the precautionary principle directs that the menhaden reduction fishery should cease until it is proven to be safe to other species and to the economies of other communities beside Reedville, VA (the location of the only reduction fishery operation). Virginians all over the Bay are sick and tired of being pushed around by one Canadian company that provides a couple of hundred union jobs, when independent watermen, guides, and tourism outfits are losing their ability to make a living due to the depletion of menhaden in the Bay. All of us are entitled to be able to take our grandkids out on the Bay and show them how to catch a fish, clean it, and cook it in the traditional way that Virginians have enjoyed for generations. It is time to put an end to the reduction fishery in the Chesapeake Bay.

Sincerely,

Roberta Kellam