Stripers, bunker, Virginia and Omega Protein

[june181901]

Very interesting article in the April/May 2024 issue of Boat U.S. Magazine. Spells out how the state of Virginia and the Omega Protein Company have teamed up to keep enough bunker from reaching the Maryland portion of Chesapeake Bay. The article states this factor is leading to the decline in striper populations.

[tautog]

Yup lack of bait, invasive blue catfish and crappy water quality are destroying the Bay. Government's solution is a strict slot limit that does not address any of those problems.

[reelfitter]

I’ve said it before, Ill say it again. Omega protein has wiped out the Chesapeake bay and lower Virginia coast. Once a fishing paradise, now a barren area. Years ago you couldn’t get a hotel room or any rental unless you booked it a year in advance. Those same hotels/motels have boards on the windows now. Boat ramps, flooded with trailers. Now, weeds in the parking lots. Why, nothing to fish for. Those bunker boats have devastated the water.

[togzilla]

Another classic example of govt. selling out to big corporations while we the people get screwed. Unless there is a massive political change in Nov. we are screwed long term. It's like death by a thousand cuts

[Broad Bill]

Read the attached article, it sums it up.

https://virginiamercury.com/2023/05/...hesapeake-bay/

No one state and no one company should be allowed to exploit a resource for their own benefit, especially one which drives an insane amount of economic and recreational value for the entirety of the states making up the New England / Mid-Atlantic regions. 112 million lbs. of menhaden harvested by a singular Canadian company no less to primarily make fish pellets for salmon farms so we can buy their salmon back at outrageous prices. Why not control the harvest sensibly to avoid damage to the resource and our environment and cultivate that business in the USA? Because of Virginia and politician's greed, the Chesapeake is literally a dying ecosystem, small businesses dependent on it's health have been crushed, the striped bass population is in turmoil and every state has to pay for the consequences of Virginia and Omega One's self indulging decisions.

Amazing it's allowed but it is and there has to be massive amounts of graft and corruption involved. How else do all state and federal politicians seem to have a net worth most people can only dream of. The Chesapeake Bay resources have been sold to the highest bidder and only a multi state law suit will change matters. How the ASMFC allows this as they have representation from every coastal state is unconscionable. Here's their supposed charter:


The Commission was formed in 1942 by the 15 member states for the purpose of protecting and managing marine fisheries within the states’ jurisdiction. The states recognized that they could accomplish far more through cooperation than through their individual efforts.

Maybe it's time the Commissioner and their Members dust off the original charter and reread it because certainly there's no cooperation taking place between Virginia and any other state when it comes to this disaster. Just another example of politicians stealing resources for their own personal gain at the expense of the hard working blue collar American worker busting his or her ass trying to survive week to week. Something to keep in mind in November. If you don't like what's happening, vote your conscience and try putting someone in office who shares your values who you believe will take action addressing your concerns.

[Gerry Zagorski]

And this is exactly why we now have restrictive Striper regulations up and down the east coast. Omega needs to be put in check and apparently their home state of Virginia doesn't have the guts to get it done!

[Broad Bill]

Which in part are the consequences I referred to in my earlier post but more importantly doesn't ASMFC have some form of regulatory authority to stop this? Or sue Virginia if one state of the Commission is causing the demise of a coastal resource negatively impacting all other coastal states of the same Commission. And it's not just Virginia, every state tries to grab as much of every resource as possible which is why North Carolina is up here every winter filling their entire summer flounder quota from local waters even if they're beyond the three mile limit.

You can put a Commission together comprised of 15 different states but if they continue acting independently and not as a unified working Commission for the greater benefit of the resources they're tasked with managing, what's actually being accomplished?