Menhaden haven’t been ‘researched’

Omega Protein claims if adult-size menhaden are scarce in one area, they have moved somewhere else.

On page 18 of the 2013 SEDAR Stock Assessment Report, the “research” says:

“Gulf menhaden do not exhibit extensive east/west migrations, and generally, older adults are believed to tend to occur near the center of the population’s range (around the Mississippi River delta).”

Note “believed” because there has been little to no current research — as scientists haven’t actively studied populations since the 1960s and ‘70s — that conclusively states that menhaden migrate far from where they grow up.

The Pascagoula River menhaden are being decimated by boats during the hot summer months near shore when the tidal movement and oxygen levels are poor. The fish leave the river for deeper, cooler water and end up in the nets waiting for them, like the slaughter undertaken last week off Belle Fountain Beach.

But the bycatch should be of more concern. Obviously, the predators follow the menhaden and are in the same area.

The DMR should move to eliminate the menhaden fishery from Mississippi waters, but give Jackson County a one-mile limit in the meantime.

This story was originally published July 30, 2016 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Menhaden haven’t been ‘researched’."