“Menhaden is often called the most important fish in the sea, and that’s named after a guy named Ben Franklin who wrote a book called “The Most Important Fish in the Sea. And the history of menhaden in the U.S. goes back to the Pilgrims. The Indians taught the Pilgrims how to grow food and corn by using menhaden as fertilizer. When we wiped out whales in the 1800s, they started targeting menhaden because the oils could be used as replacement for whale oil. And once upon a time, we had about 100 of these reduction plants up and down the East Coast back in the late 1800s/early 1900s, that were grinding them up and using the oil and then using the meal for fertilizer or other purposes. But basically, they are filter feeders. Nobody eats them, unlike mackerel and herring, which humans do eat. Nobody eats menhaden. It’s kind of nasty, but other animals love it, and they’re filter feeders.” – Whit Fosburgh, executive director of Forage Fish Campaign
In Episode 575 of District of Conservation, Gabriella speaks with Whit Fosburgh of the Forage Fish Campaign about industrial-scale take of menhaden fish in Virginia. Tune in to learn more about this issue.
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SHOW NOTES
Make America Fish Again Coalition Urges President Trump to Ban Industrial Forage Fishing Menhaden management board advances addendum with potential cuts to Chesapeake Bay fishery limits
Menhaden debate puts fishermen under pressure
Make America Fish Again Campaign
ASMFC Atlantic Menhaden Board Approves Draft Addendum II for Public Comment
Atlantic Menhaden Draft Addendum II
ASMFC Annual Meeting November 2026
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The post Menhaden madness in Virginia (ft. Whit Fosburgh of Forage Fish Campaign) was first published by the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), and is republished here with permission. Please support their efforts.
