Recreational fisherman Paul Eidman says industrial fishing vessels are depleting the Atlantic menhaden population off the Jersey Shore, making it harder for anglers to find the fish.
Paul Eidman holds a 2 year-old Atlantic menhaden at Manutti Marina in Belmar on Monday, September, 23, 2024. Monday, September 23, 2024.This time from Sayreville. But the recreational fisherman, shore guide and conservationist also ventures out of Shark River, Manasquan and Sandy Hook.
Here, they’re primarily caught for bait. But 69% of the catch along the Atlantic Coast is from a commercial industry, known as reduction fishing, that processes the fish into products used in fertilizers, animal feed, as well as human and animal supplements. A similar industry operated in New Jersey until the 1960s, but those factories have long since closed.
“There are no ecosystem impacts in terms of short term and long term negative impacts from menhaden fishing in the New York/New Jersey Bight,” Landry said on the phone. “These guys are playing Chicken Little. They’re screaming from the heavens that there’s a huge ecological problem, when in reality, it’s so minuscule the amount of fish that we’re taking out of the population on the very rare days that we go up there.
Tina Berger, a spokesperson for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission — responsible for setting catch quotas and protecting marine resources — said menhaden are assessed every two to three years. It is among the most monitored species, she noted, with an upcoming assessment slated for next year.
Eidman argued the way the commission assesses the stock is flawed because it misunderstands the impact from commercial interests.
Industrial Fishing Bunker Fish Atlantic Menhaden Jersey Shore Conservation
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