Menhaden By The Millions: Little Fish Create Big Controversy

AMONG THE MYRIAD OF BAITFISH SPECIES that fuel the food chain, perhaps Gulf and Atlantic menhaden play the most essential role in their respective habitats. Distinguishable by their olive-green backs, yellow-tinted fins and silvery sides with a series of dark spots, menhaden make for outstanding live, dead and cut offerings. However, their tremendous value extends far beyond the realm of sport fishing.

Also referred to as pogy, fat-back, bunker and many other monikers, menhaden have been one of the most important fish to swim the western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico for centuries. In fact, the Narragansett word for menhaden, munnawhatteaug, translates to “that which fertilizes” and it is believed local Native American tribes taught settlers of the Plymouth colony to plant menhaden with their corn to help facilitate its growth.

After the American Civil War when the whaling industry was all but depleted, menhaden oil replaced whale oil and the newfound industry was booming from Nova Scotia to Florida. By the late 1800s, the Eastern Seaboard was littered with processing plants as commercial harvesters hauled in millions of menhaden each year. The sweeping fishery flourished through the 1950s with peak landings of more than 700,000 metric tons in 1956.

However, as with any species harvested with such fervor, stocks eventually declined and the fish that was once so wildly abundant quickly became extremely threatened. By 1969, landings dropped to 161,000 metric tons. In 2005, all but one menhaden reduction plant had been closed down for good. Today, they are captured by the hundreds of millions of pounds with the epicenter of the exploitation in Virginia.