The York River Group held a Zoom panel presentation on Wednesday, November 20, 2024 on the tragic situation of the loss of osprey chicks due to starvation. The principal source of food for the Virginia osprey in feeding their young is the small menhaden fish. Research biologists believe overfishing of the menhaden is the cause.
Panel members provided complementary information and perspectives. Dr. Bryan Watts, Director of the Center for Conservation Biology at William and Mary, spoke about scientific research on Osprey in the Chesapeake Bay from the 1970s to today showing the gross reduction in viable Osprey chicks. Trevor Boyce, a Poquoson resident with three osprey nests on his property, shared about his home observation study of Osprey nests, indicating similar findings of rapid decline of surviving Osprey chicks. Chris Moore, Virginia Director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, provided information on the overharvesting of menhaden by politically connected big business such as Omega Protein who uses menhaden for fish oil and animal food. He also spoke about the organizations involved in menhaden management: the Atlantic Marine Fisheries Commission, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, and the Virginia General Assembly. Steve Adkinson, Chairman of the Virginia Saltwater Sportfishing Association, spoke about the grossly above-quota overharvesting of menhaden by Omega Protein, leaving too-few menhaden to support wildlife such as other fish, mammals, and birds like the Osprey. He further addressed the difficulties in getting better menhaden quotas and regulations in place with the VMRC, voicing concern for the political connections between VMRC and the big fish harvesting businesses.
The panel offered ways to help. Help is needed with advocating for HB19 to pass in the legislative assembly in 2025 to get funding for the scientific study of the menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay. Contact your senators and representative asking them to support the bill.
https://legacylis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB19+hil
Learn more about the issue through the links below.
https://www.saveourmenhaden.org/
https://vimeo.com/969405454 (30-minute McKeever menhaden documentary)