Ocean Harvesters Statement on ASMFC's One-Year, 20% Menhaden TAC Cut for 2026

Audio By Carbonatix

REEDVILLE, VA / ACCESS Newswire / October 29, 2025 / Yesterday the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) voted to reduce the coastwide Atlantic menhaden quota by 20% for the 2026 season and to revisit specifications again next year rather than adopting a full three-year package through 2028.

Based on the peer-reviewed assessment record, a 20% reduction was unnecessary to avoid ecosystem overfishing. The latest SEDAR 102 work shows menhaden are not overfished, overfishing is not occurring, and the probability of crossing the ecosystem overfishing threshold at the current Total Allowable Catch (TAC) is low. The same record indicates that maintaining the status quo or making, at most, a modest, precautionary trim is consistent with risk policy; in particular, a reduction on the order of 10% eliminates overfishing risk in 2026 and remains extremely low if carried forward, so deeper cuts are not supported by the risk framework.

Ecological Reference Point (ERP) based management already accounts for predator needs by constraining fishing mortality to remain below the ERP threshold; under this system the stock remains healthy in both single-species and ecosystem contexts. The Atlantic menhaden fishery is independently certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council.

There will likely be some operational adjustments required at our Reedville facility to comply with a 20% harvest reduction; we are evaluating the extent of those changes now. Looking ahead, pushing harsher cuts in 2027 and beyond, particularly in the absence of new data, would impose needless harm on working families and a 150-year-old fishery, without ecological justification under the ERP risk analyses.

We urge all interested parties to watch this video to hear directly from our union fishermen whose jobs and communities are on the line. These are unionized local crews supporting hundreds of family-sustaining jobs in Virginia's Northern Neck.

On Maryland's Bay-Cap Motion: New Chesapeake Bay-specific limits are not warranted. The existing Bay cap is a policy-based landings limit, not a Bay-specific biological reference point, and past adjustments were precautionary policy choices rather than science-derived thresholds. With the Science Center for Marine Fisheries now funding a Chesapeake Bay research roadmap-led by scientists from UMCES's Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, VIMS, and NOAA-to define what a scientifically defensible, ecologically meaningful Bay cap should look like, the Board should await those results before adding new measures.

We support moving forward with targeted new Bay science, now funded, to guide any future Bay-specific decisions, so that upcoming choices are grounded in robust, transparent analysis.

We respect the Board's desire for caution, but the science indicates a 20% cut was not needed to avoid overfishing. Maintaining the status quo or, at most, a 10% reduction would have met the ERP risk standard while avoiding unnecessary harm to workers and coastal communities. We stand ready to collaborate with managers and scientists as Bay-focused work proceeds and to support a durable, science-based multi-year TAC next year.

About Ocean Harvesters

Ocean Harvesters owns and operates a fleet of more than 30 fishing vessels in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. The company's purse-seine fishing operation is exclusively engaged in the harvest of menhaden, a small, nutrient-dense fish used to produce fish meal, fish oil, and fish solubles. Both its Atlantic and Gulf Menhaden fisheries are certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council. Committed to responsible fishing operations, Ocean Harvesters is proud to be heir to a fishing legacy that extends nearly 150 years.

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SOURCE: Ocean Harvesters