For anyone who missed it (and that includes me, as it was deep inside the paper), here's a link to the article I wrote the other day on Wayne Gilchrest's menhaden bill.

To be clear, the bill does seek to ban menhaden fishing in state AND federal waters, and is squarely aimed at Omega Protein, the large Reedville company that has been taking millions of pounds of the oily baitfish out of the Chesapeake Bay and turning them into fish oil supplements and other products.

Gilchrest said the bill was inspired by two things: his overall frustration with the slow movement on this issue and the fact that he just read Bruce Franklin's book The Most important Fish in the Sea, which explains the menhaden issue in great detail.

What has made the menhaden issue so vexing is that science has not confirmed that the species has been overfished. Common sense might tell you so, as there are clearly fewer menhaden in the bay now than there were even just a few years ago, and Omega in 2007 was catching about half of what it caught the year before. But without irrefutable proof, the Atlantic States marine Fisheries Commission didn't want to act.

Here's how Candy Thomson described the problem in a 2005 column:

"LET'S SAY YOU come out to your car every morning and find the gas gauge is lower than when you parked the night before.

    Your mechanic says there's nothing wrong with the gauge and no holes in the fuel system.But just as sure as the sun comes up over Ocean City and sets over Deep Creek Lake, every morning that needle is closer to "empty." Do you:

    a) Clean the garage clutter and put the car inside at night.

    b) Check the police blotter in the newspaper to see if others are reporting gasoline thefts.

    c) Get a locking gas cap.

    d) Put duct tape over the gauge so you don't have to look at it anymore.

    Smart folks most likely would choose one or more of the first three. Lesser lights would probably select "d," assuming they knew what duct tape is.

    Unfortunately, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is firmly in the "d" category when it comes to addressing the depleted population of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay."

Gilcrhrest said he went to the event largely to gain access to the "deciders" in these matters: Bush and his fisheries people. Wonder if he'll show up at the ASMFC meeting in Annapolis next week.