Menhaden Catch Limits Slashed by 20% to Protect Striped Bass

As of October 30, 2025, the Atlantic Menhaden Management Board has voted to reduce menhaden catch along the East Coast by 20% in 2026, setting a limit of 186,840 metric tons. This move aims to aid striped bass populations and other species that depend on the small, oily fish.

The Virginia-based reduction fishery, Ocean Harvesters, which contracts with Omega Protein, will still be subject to a special cap of 51,000 metric tons within the Chesapeake Bay's limits. The company says it is evaluating the operational changes required to comply with the new harvest reduction.

Ahead of the decision, the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition had proposed a more modest 15% cut, arguing it would guard against overfishing while protecting workers' incomes. However, conservation groups like the Chesapeake Bay Foundation pushed for deeper reductions, citing concerns over declining striped bass and osprey populations as a proxy for the need to bolster menhaden numbers.

The final 20% cut represents a compromise, with the management board agreeing to revisit the cap again at the next annual meeting before the 2027 numbers are determined. Industry representatives warned that harsher cuts in the future could "impose needless harm on working families and a 150-year-old fishery, without ecological justification."