February 18, 2025
Dear Delegate Carr:
Per our conversation yesterday, please find language we propose for consideration by you and the budget conferees as an intermediate step or “pilot” to study Menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay. Our proposal helps ensure that Virginians fully understand the methodology that will be used in such a comprehensive study, and also ensures the cooperation and assistance of Ocean Harvester which is essential to a thorough understanding of the health of the species which is the stated goal of the study.
As you know, the October 2023 VIMS report raised many questions regarding the myriad challenges of studying this migratory coastwide fish. To point out just a couple examples the report acknowledges that “menhaden are very difficult to sample using traditional fish survey methods due to their surface oriented, schooling behavior, it would be necessary to implement a survey that uses novel, technologically advanced instrumentation.” (Pg. 8) Mr. Latour, VIMS scientist, said they plan to do ‘acoustical tagging’ which, while it has been used in other fisheries, has not been used on menhaden and thus it warrants some study and piloting to ensure it works as expected, especially since menhaden swim in what can be very large schools and does that schooling impact the ability to read the tags.
Mr. Latour has commented that he has made progress in developing research techniques to address these concerns since the report was published 15 months ago, but none of his new findings have been provided to stakeholders or the General Assembly.
We believe the “pilot” approach we’ve proposed would allow the General Assembly the opportunity to fully review and understand the science and research methodology that would be used by VIMS prior to committing millions of dollars, while at the same time allowing important work to be done to advance research of the species.
Finally, in the alternative, we would suggest that the study be deferred for consideration until the 2026 General Assembly. This study has been rejected twice in the General Assembly when considered under the full light of the legislative process. This most recent attempt to conduct a study circumvented that process, and besides some stakeholder groups, the public has had no opportunity for input on this expensive use of public dollars.
Many thanks for your consideration.
Mark T. Bowles on behalf of Omega Protein and Ocean Harvester
CC: Speaker Don Scott, Chairman Luke Torian
Draft Budget Language for Consideration
Overview: Test the components of the methodology that seemed untested in the October 2023 VIMS report from Mark Luckenbach of VIMS.
Two year pilot study to test and verify the reliability of “novel, technologically advanced instrumentation” consistent with the October 2023 VIMS report resulting from Chapter 284, 2023 Acts of Assembly.
This pilot shall include “partnering with industry to charter airplanes for aerial surveys, and/or relying on vessel based hydro-acoustic surveys using existing scientific echo sounders”, and/or subsurface measurement, based between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2027.
Additionally, VIMS will test the effectiveness of hydro-acoustic surveys using echo sounders at the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel to measure ingress and egress of menhaden to and from the Bay year round.
Additionally VIMS will draft a plan and budget in coordination with Menhaden Management Advisory Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC} about developing a peer reviewed five to ten year research study modeled after ASMFC plans for coarse spatial models developed in April 2021.
These results of the pilot program, and the plan and budget for five to ten year peer reviewed coarse spatial research, shall be submitted by October 1, 2027, to the chairs of the House Appropriations Committee and Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee in the House and Senate.
