Editing Menhaden (section)

===Fisheries===
According to the [[Virginia Institute of Marine Science]] (VIMS), there are two established commercial fisheries for menhaden. The first is known as a [[reduction fishery]]. The second is known as a bait fishery, which harvests menhaden for the use of both commercial and recreational fishermen. Commercial fishermen, especially [[Crab fisheries|crabbers]] in the Chesapeake Bay area, use menhaden to bait their traps or hooks. The recreational fisherman use ground menhaden chum as a fish attractant, and whole fish as bait. The total harvest is approximately 500 million fish per year.<ref name="greenberg">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/opinion/16greenberg.html|title=A Fish Oil Story|last=Greenberg|first=Paul|date=15 December 2009|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=10 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207020812/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/opinion/16greenberg.html|archive-date=7 February 2019|url-status=live|author-link=Paul Greenberg (essayist)}}</ref> Atlantic menhaden are harvested using [[purse seine]]s.

[[Omega Protein]] – a reduction fishery company with operations in the northwest Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico – takes 90% of the total menhaden harvest in the United States.<ref name=greenberg/> In October 2005, the [[Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission]] (ASMFC) approved an addendum to Amendment 1 of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden, which "established a five-year annual cap on reduction fishery landings in the [[Chesapeake Bay]]", imposing a limit on reduction fishery operations for 2006–2010. In November 2006, that cap was established at 109,020 metric tons;<ref>{{Cite report|url=https://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/546b96d4AtlMenhadenAddendumIII_06.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150408041735/http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file//546b96d4AtlMenhadenAddendumIII_06.pdf |archive-date=2015-04-08 |url-status=live|title=Addendum III to Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden|date=November 2006|publisher=[[Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission]]|pages=2–3|access-date=24 March 2019}}</ref> this cap remained in place until 2013.<ref>{{Cite report|url=http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file//53b1b0a9addendumIV.pdf|title=Addendum IV to Amendment 1 to the Atlantic Menhaden Fishery Management Plan|date=November 2009|publisher=[[Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission]]|page=3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190318163252/http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file//53b1b0a9addendumIV.pdf|archive-date=18 March 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

In December 2012, in the face of the [[Resource depletion|depletion]] of Atlantic menhaden, the ASMFC implemented another cap, effective in 2013 and 2014, for the Chesapeake Bay, this time at 87,216 metric tons, as well as a total allowable catch (TAC) of the species of 170,800 metric tons, a 20% reduction from the 2009–2011 average.<ref>{{Cite report|url=https://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/atlanticMenhadenAmendment2_Dec2012.pdf|title=Amendment 2 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden|date=December 2012|publisher=[[Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission]]|pages=47, 55|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190318163248/http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/atlanticMenhadenAmendment2_Dec2012.pdf|archive-date=18 March 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bayjournal.com/article/omega_protein_makes_good_on_threat_to_cut_jobs_but_it_doesnt_have_to|title=Omega Protein makes good on threat to cut jobs; but it doesn't have to|last=Fairbrother|first=Alison|date=31 March 2013|website=Bay Journal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629090442/https://www.bayjournal.com/article/omega_protein_makes_good_on_threat_to_cut_jobs_but_it_doesnt_have_to|archive-date=29 June 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The TAC was subsequently raised for 2015 and 2016 to 187,880 metric tons.<ref>{{Cite report|url=http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/57ae1f86AtlanticMenhadenAddendumItoAm2_Aug2016.pdf|title=Addendum I to Amendment 2 of the Atlantic Menhaden Interstate Fishery Management Plan|date=August 2016|publisher=[[Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190318163244/http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/57ae1f86AtlanticMenhadenAddendumItoAm2_Aug2016.pdf|archive-date=18 March 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The cap in the Chesapeake Bay was further lowered in November 2017 to 51,000 metric tons, but this came alongside a higher TAC of 216,000 metric tons.<ref>{{Cite report|url=http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file//5a4c02e1AtlanticMenhadenAmendment3_Nov2017.pdf|title=Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden|date=November 2017|publisher=[[Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission]]|page=iii, v|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190318163236/http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file//5a4c02e1AtlanticMenhadenAmendment3_Nov2017.pdf|archive-date=18 March 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/supply-trade/omega-protein-critical-of-asmfc-actions-on-chesapeake-menhaden|title=Omega Protein critical of ASMFC actions on Chesapeake menhaden|last=Bittenbender|first=Steve|date=7 May 2018|website=SeafoodSource|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324190556/https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/supply-trade/omega-protein-critical-of-asmfc-actions-on-chesapeake-menhaden|archive-date=24 March 2019|url-status=live|access-date=24 March 2019}}</ref> Omega Protein has been openly critical of these caps.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

<gallery widths="200px" heights="125px">
File:Menhaden fishing - purse seine boats.jpg|Purse seine boats encircling a school of menhaden
File:Time series for global capture of all menhaden 2.png|{{center|Global commercial capture of menhaden in million tonnes 1950–2010<ref name=FAOdata>Based on data sourced from the relevant [http://www.fao.org/fishery/species/search/en FAO Species Fact Sheets]</ref>}}
File:Global total production menhaden.png|{{center|Capture of menhaden in 2010 reported by the FAO<ref name=FAOdata />}}
</gallery>

====Uses for menhaden oil====
Despite not being a popular fish for consumption, menhaden oil has many uses not only for humans but also for other animals. One element of menhaden oil is that it is high in omega-3 fatty acids. This molecule helps with lowering blood pressure, fixing abnormal heartbeats, reducing the chance of a heart attack or stroke, and other health benefits. It is due to this that menhaden oil can be used in supplements to help with the previously mentioned issues.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hargis|first1=P.S.|last2=Van Elswyk|first2=M.E.|last3=Hargis|first3=B.M|date=1991-04-01|title=Dietary Modification of Yolk Lipid with Menhaden Oil|journal=Poultry Science|volume=70|issue=4|pages=874–883|doi=10.3382/ps.0700874|pmid=1908579|issn=0032-5791|doi-access=free}}</ref>

One way that menhaden oil benefits animals is seen in chickens. When menhaden oil was given to chickens in their feed, they had a lower chance of [[fatty liver disease]].<ref name=":2" /> This was because of menhaden oil's high omega-3 fatty acid content, which took the place of omega-6 fatty acid, which is not as beneficial to animals. Another animal that benefits from omega-3 in menhaden oil is guinea pigs. When given menhaden oil in feed guinea pigs were shown to have a longer life span.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last1=Mascioli|first1=E A|last2=Iwasa|first2=Y|last3=Trimbo|first3=S|last4=Leader|first4=L|last5=Bistrian|first5=B R|last6=Blackburn|first6=G L|date=1989-02-01|title=Endotoxin challenge after menhaden oil diet: effects on survival of guinea pigs|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/49.2.277|journal=The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition|volume=49|issue=2|pages=277–282|doi=10.1093/ajcn/49.2.277|pmid=2492743|issn=0002-9165}}</ref>

====Risks of overfishing====
[[File:Juvenile menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay, 1959–2019.png|thumb|Bay-wide Geometric Mean Catch per Haul in the Chesapeake Bay of Atlantic Menhaden reported by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Atlantic Menhaden|url=https://www.cbf.org/about-the-bay/more-than-just-the-bay/chesapeake-wildlife/menhaden/index.html|access-date=2020-12-10|website=cbf.org}}</ref>]]
According to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, menhaden are the most important fish in the Bay.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title=Atlantic Menhaden|url=https://www.cbf.org/about-the-bay/more-than-just-the-bay/chesapeake-wildlife/menhaden/index.html|access-date=2020-12-09|website=cbf.org}}</ref> This is because they are a food source for many commercial important species like striped bass. They also manage the algal bloom occurrences in the Bay because they eat phytoplankton. Decreases in menhaden populations could also leave striped bass vulnerable to disease. In the past 20 years, the number of juvenile menhaden produced in the Chesapeake Bay have been decreasing (Refer to Atlantic Menhaden Graph on bay-wide mean catch per haul).<ref name=":4" />

This is believed to be due to the overfishing of menhaden for their fish oil. This could seriously disrupt the food chain. In response, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) put a cap on the Atlantic menhaden harvest in October 2020. This 10% cut to the harvest is the first to ever be seen for menhaden coast-wide.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|title=Fisheries Panel Cuts Atlantic Menhaden Harvest by 10 Percent|url=https://www.cbf.org/news-media/newsroom/2020/all/fisheries-panel-cuts-atlantic-menhaden-harvest-by-10-percent.html|access-date=2020-12-09|website=cbf.org}}</ref> It also was the first vote to consider benchmarks known as "ecological reference points".<ref name=":4" /> This allows managers to account for a species role in the food chain when setting catch limits. This is different from the "single-species stock assessments" that were previously used which only accounted for the demand from the fishing industry rather than the demand from the food web.<ref name=":4" /> This cut to the harvest established a quota of 194,400 metric tons of menhaden for the 2021–2022 fishing season.<ref name=":5" /> It is the hope that this cut will allow menhaden to fulfill their role in the ecosystem while keeping the commercial fishery alive.