Can You Spare 1-Minute? As part of VSSA’s ongoing effort to push the menhaden reduction industry out of the Chesapeake Bay we are asking all anglers to record a 1-minute video. We are tired of Omega using the false argument that we have no science proving localized depletion of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay. We have plenty of evidence and that is you, the angler who have personally witnessed the decline. We are asking all anglers to give us a short 1-minute video summarizing what you have personally witnessed for menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay for as long back as you can remember. Our intention is to flood this site with your statements. Since nobody has done a formal study of localized depletion in the bay all we have is your memory of what it was like 10, 20, 30, 40 and for some of you even 50 years of experience on the water. All we are asking is for the truth of what you have personally witnessed.
Step 1. Take out your phone and record yourself (landscape works best) essentially stating your Name and Hometown and what you have witnessed over the years. Short video please 1-minute is best.
Step 2. Go to the link below to provide your input on our google form.
Step 3. Type out a sentence or two on what you have witnessed starting with your name and hometown.
Step 4. Upload the video file to our google form. Once uploaded be sure to hit submit.
Step 5. Share this page to spread the word.
By providing your input you are giving VSSA permission to share your video and text on this website. It may also be picked up by local news.
Virginia Menhaden Localized Depletion Input Form
Steve Atkinson Richmond Va. I have fished the bay for 50 years. I have observed a big decline in menhaden over the past 20-30 years. They may be abundant up north but the bay menhaden which feed our striped bass and other fish are way down.
Kennedy Daniels – Mechanicsville, VA – Fishing the bay for 50 years. I recall seeing so much menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay around the Windmill Point area in the 90’s that we would see bait on our fish finder from top to bottom of the water column. Along with this we would catch numerous rockfish and gray trout under them. That has all changed now with the depletion of the menhaden.
Mike Avery – Hampton, VA. Lived in Hampton for 22 years and have personally witnessed the decline of menhaden the Chesapeake Bay. This video show significant amounts of menhaden in 2008 as witnessed by massive amounts of diving gannets which we don’t see anymore.
Mike Wills, VA Beach. Been fishing the lower bay since 1994. I have witnessed firsthand a dramatic decline in the abundance of bunker in the bay. I fish at least once a week during the weekdays when there is less traffic and seldom do we ever see large schools of bait anymore. In the winter, I have given up and now take my boat and fishing dollars to FL.
Russell Minich, Mechanicsville Va. I’ve been fishing with Chesapeake Bay since the early 1990s. In that time I have witnessed a precipitous drop in the rockfish population and subsequent rockfish fishing. During that same time I’ve seen an increase in the amount of menhaden taking commercially from the Chesapeake Bay. I believe we should immediately suspend the commercial fishing for men haden in the Chesapeake Bay, thereby allowing population in Manhattan to build and in turn the population of other fish species to rebuild.
Lanie Avery – Hampton, VA. Been fishing the Chesapeake Bay for 22 years. Over the years I’ve witnessed the decline in menhaden in the bay by the lack of bait and birds in the bay. I sure would like to see our ecosystem and food chains restored in the bay.
Greg Sharpe – Annapolis, MD
