10/01/2026
MENHADEN ADVOCATES! YOU NEED TO KNOW:
THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT DECISIONS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW — AND THEY REQUIRE TWO SEPARATE COMMENTS.
While most of the attention has been focused on Draft Addendum II and the Chesapeake Bay Cap, a potentially much larger conservation opportunity is developing separately. On September 28, the Menhaden Technical Committee and Stock Assessment Subcommittee presented preliminary projections for the 2027–2029 coastwide quota. The current 186,840-metric-ton TAC carries a 99.5% probability of exceeding the ecological fishing target in each of those years. A TAC of 114,200 metric tons — a 39% reduction — gets that risk down to 50%. At 110,200 metric tons, a 41% reduction, the probability of exceeding the target falls to 40%. These are preliminary numbers presented on Monday and have not yet been published in the final ASMFC materials.
This is NOT the same decision as Draft Addendum II. The Addendum deals with issues including the Chesapeake Bay Cap, while the coastwide TAC for 2027 and 2028 will be set separately through the specification process in November. Just as importantly, comments submitted on Draft Addendum II cannot substitute for comments on the coastwide TAC. If you want the Board to hear from you on both issues, you need to comment on both issues separately. That distinction matters enormously: cutting the current 51,000-metric-ton Bay Cap in half would leave 25,500 metric tons of additional menhaden in the Bay, while a 40% coastwide TAC reduction would leave roughly 75,000 metric tons more menhaden in the ecosystem — nearly three times as much.
ASGA is calling for a 40% reduction in the coastwide TAC to approximately 112,100 metric tons for 2027 and 2028, with no delay. That sits between the 40% and 50% risk levels presented Monday and would move management substantially closer to its own ecological target. This isn't about calling the fishery “overfished” or saying that exceeding the target constitutes “overfishing.” It doesn't. It's about managing toward the ecological target instead of repeatedly accepting an extraordinarily high probability of exceeding it — and leaving more forage in the water for game fish, whales, ospreys and other predators that depend on menhaden.
So, if you've already commented on Draft Addendum II, you're not finished. Continue advocating for a fixed Chesapeake Bay Cap of 25,500 metric tons, but send a separate comment on the coastwide TAC to [email protected] with “Menhaden Ocean TAC” in the subject line. Tell the Board you support a 40% reduction to approximately 112,100 metric tons for 2027 and 2028. The Board is expected to make this decision in November, and the potential impact of this coastwide action is substantially larger than the Bay Cap reduction that is receiving most of the attention right now.
These two decisions will guide the future of the forage base in the Atlantic, but they require two comments to enact real change. Let's not miss our opportunity to leave more menhaden in the water.
