Prey Base

  • August 08, 2020

    We’ve Moved the Line for Menhaden

    08/08/2020 On August 5th, Atlantic menhaden management reached a critical milestone.  The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's (ASMFC) Atlantic Menhaden Management Board voted unanimously to adopt ecological reference points (ERPs) that will be used to set annual catch levels for the Atlantic coast.  With so many predators – from bluefish and striped bass to ospreys...
  • July 13, 2020

    The Vote is On for Atlantic Menhaden ERPs – Weigh In!

    Update! 08/05/2020 Ecological Reference Points for Atlantic Menhaden, reference points that account for menhaden’s role as a forage fish, have just been unanimously adopted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. This is a big win for menhaden predators, one that would not have been possible without the work of many dedicated organizations and individuals….

  • April 15, 2020

    Kick ’em while they’re down

    Continued Fishing During Decline Results in Deeper Sardine Collapse by Theresa Labriola April 15, 2020 Pacific sardine has undergone large population fluctuations for centuries and there is consensus that environmental conditions are the main factor driving the changes. However, maintaining continuous high volume fishing on the northern subpopulation of Pacific sardine when stock productivity is in rapid…

  • January 10, 2020

    Commerce Secretary Upholds Chesapeake Bay Menhaden Cap

    by Pam Lyons Gromen, Wild Oceans Executive Director Virginia's Menhaden Fishery to Shut Down in June 2020 if it Doesn't Take Action to Comply with the Bay Cap December 20, 2019 The U.S. Department of Commerce is standing by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's (ASMFC) decision to find the Commonwealth of Virginia out of...
  • October 15, 2019

    Help Herring Over the Final Hurdle

    Let NMFS Know that You Support Measures to Protect Atlantic Herring’s Role as Forage DEADLINE: October 21 Last fall, the New England Fishery Management Council adopted groundbreaking measures to conserve Atlantic herring and safeguard its role as prey.  Humpback whales, porpoises, seals, puffins, terns, tuna, striped bass, cod, pollock and haddock are just a few…

  • July 22, 2019

    Ocean View

    Is the menhaden fishery certifiably “sustainable”?  Not yet it isn’t.

  • July 22, 2019

    3. Meeting Resistance

    In the first two parts of this series I described how the 2010 Atlantic menhaden stock assessment was scrapped after it triggered the first-ever catch restrictions on the menhaden fishery and replaced with one that allowed catches to increase.  Now we begin to look at why. In a paper presented to the American Fisheries Society...
  • April 22, 2019

    Mid-Atlantic Council Takes on Management of Emerging Chub Mackerel Fishery

    Mid-Atlantic Council Takes on Management of Emerging Fishery On March 7th, The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted to bring chub mackerel into the existing fishery management plan (FMP) for Atlantic mackerel, longfin squid, shortfin squid and butterfish.  Wild Oceans supported the Council’s decision, emphasizing that chub mackerel, like the other species in the FMP, are...
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