On Monday, September 14, Councilwoman Joann Ariola sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, asking him to initiate federal rulemaking to establish a 12-nautical-mile coastal buffer in which industrial menhaden reduction vessels would be prohibited from operating.
In her letter, Ariola warned that the disappearance of menhaden, commonly known as bunker, from waters surrounding Jamaica Bay and the Rockaway peninsula may be contributing to devastating osprey nesting results and changes in the behavior of larger predators.
“Menhaden may be a small fish, but they hold an enormous part of our coastal ecosystem together,” Councilwoman Ariola said in a press release. “When industrial vessels remove them by the millions, the consequences travel all the way up the food chain, from ospreys and striped bass to sharks, whales and dolphins.”
“New York has already acted within its waters to protect these fish,” the Councilwoman added. “Now the federal government must protect them in the waters beyond our reach.”
New York prohibited the taking of menhaden by purse seine in state waters in 2019. However, the state’s jurisdiction extends only three nautical miles from shore, allowing industrial reduction vessels to operate immediately beyond that boundary in federal waters.
Ariola’s proposal would require industrial reduction vessels to operate farther offshore, away from the feeding grounds relied upon by seabirds, marine mammals, gamefish and other coastal wildlife, and establish a 12-mile buffer from the shore.
“My constituents can watch menhaden being removed from the ocean just beyond New York’s jurisdiction, but neither they nor the state can reach across that line and stop it,” Ariola said. “Only the federal government can close this dangerous loophole.”
The warning comes following an alarming nesting season for Jamaica Bay’s osprey population.
“I have been managing and monitoring the Jamaica Bay osprey population since the first successful nest occurred in 1991,” Don Riepe, Jamaica Bay Guardian for the American Littoral Society, said. “The population grew every year, and today we have more than 25 nesting pairs. The population had been fully restored. This year, however, 20 of those nests were empty, and the other five produced only one chick each. Something happened, and the osprey population is crashing not only here, but up and down the Atlantic coast.”
“Most wildlife managers I speak with all agree that it’s because of the overharvesting of menhaden, their main food source,” Riepe added. “This impacts not only the ospreys but many other species in the food web including whales, seals, dolphins, sharks, striped bass, and bluefish.”
Commercial fishing businesses and bait shops have also noticed an impact to menhaden schools.
“Every summer, we watch it happen: bunker pulled offshore in bulk, and the fish, birds and sharks that depend on them pushed closer to shore looking for food,” Capt. Paul Eidman, founder of the conservation group Menhaden Defenders, said. “A 12-nautical-mile buffer doesn’t shut this fishery down; it simply puts industrial-scale extraction farther from the water our children swim in and the ospreys that need these fish to survive. Ten states have already drawn that line in their own waters. It is time for the federal government to do the same in the waters only it can reach.”
“Our concern is that the current level of commercial menhaden reduction fishing may be removing too large a portion of this important forage-fish population from the ocean,” Dan Mundy Jr., president of the Jamaica Bay EcoWatchers said. “We have participated in numerous trips offshore along the Northeast coast, and one of the most striking changes is the apparent disappearance of the large menhaden bait balls commonly seen in previous years. The combination of fewer large menhaden schools offshore, poor osprey chick survival and increased observations of sharks closer to shore warrants closer scientific examination.”
In light of these concerns, the councilwoman’s letter has requested that Secretary Lutnick initiate rulemaking under Section 804(b) of the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act before the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission meets in November.
“This is about restoring balance before the damage becomes irreversible,” Ariola concluded. “Keeping industrial vessels farther offshore is a reasonable step that protects wildlife, strengthens our recreational fishing economy and shore bird populations, and helps keep large predators away from swimming beaches. Washington has the authority to act, and there is no excuse for waiting until the ecosystem collapses.”
