A Bad Deal for Bunker

These new guidelines for the Chesapeake Bay harvest have no teeth.

- Rip Cunningham

Well, at least we woke them up a little. A new memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Omega Protein and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission does not close the Chesapeake Bay menhaden fishery, but it was not a total failure. Thanks to the efforts of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Program, American Sportfishing Association and many of the bay-area recreational fishing organizations, thousands and thousands of recreational anglers signed letters to Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. That got Omega's attention, but it didn't help much else. Now is the time for recreational anglers to keep pushing.

This new MOU is pretty plain vanilla and not likely to impact Omega's level of harvest. It states:

"In the (Chesapeake) Bay, the fishery may only harvest in waters more than 1 mile from shore. These areas have been identified as concentrated regions for tourists and other user groups around the bay. Operational limits to avoid conflicts with recreational fishing: Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the fishery will not harvest menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay on weekends, nor on the Memorial or Labor Day holidays, nor on the days surrounding July 4. Restrictions on operating within a half-mile of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel year-round."