Fishermen give their input on Addendum II of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan, hosted by the Georgia Department Natural of Resources' Coastal Resources Division.
* Menhaden are a vital food source for other species, including the overfished Atlantic striped bass.
* The reduction could impact commercial crabbers and other fisheries that rely on menhaden for bait.
* Fishermen and industry representatives expressed concern over the economic effects of the new catch limits.
From Maine to Florida, the U.S. Atlantic Coast will have to hold back on its most caught fish, the Atlantic menhaden -- or as they're known in Georgia, "pogies."
Dubbed "the most important fish in the sea" by writer Bruce Franklin, bone-filled menhaden, usually about 12 to 15 inches in length, are found less on dinner plates and more as nutrient-dense bait, fish food, and supplements -- outranking salmon and other fish in their omega-3 fatty acid content. Menhaden were likely what Native Americans used to teach colonials to fertilize corn, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
But a 2025 stock assessment update found that Atlantic menhaden biomass and fecundity (reproduction potential) were lower and fishing mortality was higher than previously estimated in the 2022-2023 stock assessment. While menhaden was not found to be overfished or experiencing overfishing quite yet, other species that rely on them as prey, such as ospreys, spiny dogfish, bluefish, dolphins and the overfished popular catch, the Atlantic striped bass.
"Unless we also help... the menhaden side of the equation, it's very unlikely that we are going to get to a place where we can rebuild striped bass in a timely manner," said Chesapeake Bay Foundation Maryland Executive Director and marine biologist Allison Colden.
At its four-day long 83rd annual meeting on Oct. 28 in Delaware, the 15-state coalition -- the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) -- convened and proposed a new total allowable catch (TAC) limits for the Atlantic menhaden. While a multi-species report initially suggested a 50% TAC reduction for the next few years, the ASMFC's menhaden committee reached a final decision on a 20% TAC reduction for 2026 alone. Georgia was among the majority of the states that voted in favor of the reduction, represented by three proxies including Department of Natural Resources Coastal Resources Division Director Doug Haymans.
"We are about ecological management, not just the single species, if we can," said Haymans. "But when we were presented with very little information on job reductions and the economic impact... most of the commissioners felt more comfortable saying, let's put the 20% in place for this year."
Georgia's menhaden dependence
The ASMFC sets the TAC for 27 fish and shellfish species across state borders that require regional management, including Atlantic menhaden traveling from northern Florida to as far north as Nova Scotia.
"And they move out, move north, where they grow larger and mature, that's where they're actively fished," said Haymans. In Georgia, menhaden just juveniles, about two to four inches, normally caught for bait by crabbers or sport fishermen seeking red drums.
"For Georgia, we don't have a fishery" for menhaden, said Haymans. "We buy our bait from other states." The quota for Georgia is set to just 0.25%, "which is a basically a million pounds."
Fisheries are mainly in the northern Atlantic states, and are composed of two types. The reduction fishery harvests fish for meal and oil, while the bait sector supplies bait to other commercial and recreational fisheries. So, many Georgia crabbers buy their menhaden bait from up north.
"When we think about menhaden in Georgia, we think about the crabbers, mostly," said Haymans. "Our crabbers buy about three to 400,000 pounds of bait per year to supply the crab fisheries."
Georgia's commercial blue crabbers typically use Atlantic menhaden as bait, which can account for 30 to 40% of their total costs, according to one NOAA-funded study.
And changes to menhaden availability and prices could be a blow for the state's second-most importantseafood harvest after shrimp, according to Coastal Georgia DNR, which rakes in $4.75 million annually.
Small fish feeds big fish
The AMFC also looks at interaction between species in ecological reference points (ERPs) that take into account the impacts of one stock to others in its 2025 ERP menhaden report, which accounted for striped bass populations.
"The idea is if you manage for striped bass in a precautionary manner... you know that those other species are taken care of as well," said Matt Cieri of the Maine Department of Marine Resources at the Oct. 28 ASFMC menhaden meeting. So, ERP report set an ERP F target, or "the maximum fishing mortality rate for menhaden that sustains Atlantic striped bass at their biomass target."
In order to maintain a 50% probability of not exceeding the ERP F target, the ASFMC menhaden committee set a TAC of 108,450 metric tons -- 20% less than the 2023-2025 TAC of 233,550 metric tons, which gets split up between the 15 states based on catch history.
"At the end of the day, we recognize that that's a coin flip," said Colden. "But it's something that ensures that we are properly managing the risk to the species that we are directly managing and, of course, in this case, also all of the other species that are part of the ecosystem."
Mad for menhaden
The Oct. 28 meeting was packed with about 100 members of the public not including state representatives, estimated Haymans. More than 240 people listened in on the four- to five-hour call.
"Omega Protein, or ocean harvesters in Reedsville, brought a busload of their employees to fill the room up," said Haymans. Virginia accounts for about 75% of the Atlantic Coast's landings.
"I would never think that I would probably be speaking on the side of Omega Protein," said New Hampshire Proxy Dennis Abbott. "I again appreciate the science that was put into this. The science, though, did not deal with the socioeconomics, because we'd be crippling the lobster industry and a lot of things."
"The lobster men in New England will no longer be able to afford to work, the crabbers of Maryland, Virginia won't be able to afford to work. Chum prices will skyrocket," said bait fisherman Ross Kellerman of Virginia. "It will depress recreational activity all along the Atlantic coast."
And it's not just local Atlantic coastal economies, but global markets that fishermen say would feel the ripple effects.
"We're talking about a giant economic engine," said commercial fisherman Eric Reid of Rhode Island. "It's a worldwide market for the variety of products that the fishery itself produces."
Some recreational fishers, meanwhile, called for an end to the reduction industry itself.
The 20% TAC reduction is "grossly inadequate," said Southern Maryland Recreational Fishing Organization President Phil Zalesak. "You can increase the commercial bait harvest by over 50%. All you have to do is end reduction fishing in the Atlantic coastal waters."
Reduction fisheries do make up the vast majority of fishing efforts, but "since 1990, reduction landings have generally been declining," said Caitlin Craig, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Marine Resources staff member who authored the 2025 menhaden single-species report. On the other hand, "the bait and recreational landings have been increasing."
Was a compromise reached?
After several motions and back-and-forth adjustments over the course of a near two-hour deliberation accompanied by public comments, a decision was reached that TAC would be reduced by 20%, or 30% less of the ERP report's recommendations. This decision would hold for 2026 as opposed to a three-year long sentencing.
"Here, today, we've had several motions," said Rhode Island's Nicole Costa. "We can come back here, hopefully with a clear mind at the annual meeting next year and tackle 2027."
As for how this rule gets enforced, while the ASFMC is not a federal body, the decision will receive federal oversight.
The ASFMC "does have a federal enforcement arm," said Haymans. "If the state is found out of compliance in the Department of Commerce, the Secretary of Commerce can basically close a fishery that they're out of compliance."
Jillian Magtoto covers climate change and the environment in coastal Georgia. You can reach her at [email protected].
This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Green South Foundation, Prentice Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners.