With fish oil pills and Omega 3 becoming so popular, they've got to come from somewhwhere. Where, you might ask? Menhaden, or Bunker.east
HUGE amounts of menhaden are being harvested every day. This is affecting the entire ocean wildlife population of the East Coast.
For imformation about their harvest in the Chesapeake Bay, check out this article here:
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/atlanticmenhadenharvest.aspx?menuitem=14702
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Menhaden: Most Important Fish on the East Coast
Menhaden, also known as bunker, are the bait fish fed on by pretty much every larger fish living on the East Coast.
The menhaden are vital to the ecosystem.
From wikipedia: The Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) is a small, oily-fleshed fish that plays a major role in the marine ecosystem on the east coast of the United States. It goes by many names, including Western Atlantic Herring, bunker, pogy, mossback, bugmouth, alewife, and fat-back. The maximum size for the Atlantic menhaden is usually 15 inches (380 mm). The average size is smaller in the southern portion of their range, and largest in the north. They are bright silver, and have black spots extending horizontally from the gill plate to the tail, with the largest directly behind the gill plate. They are quite flat and soft fleshed, with a deeply forked tail. The edges of the fins and tail often have a yellowish hue. At sea, schools may contain millions of members.
Menhaden are omnivorous filter feeders, feeding by straining food particles from water. They travel in large, slow moving, and tightly packed schools with open mouths. Filter feeders typically take into their open mouths "materials in the same proportions as they occur in ambient waters".[3] Menhaden primarily eat phytoplankton (microscopic plants); although, since they are omnivorous, they take in a small portion of zooplankton (microscopic animals). Even though most other related fish (in the family Clupeidae) eat zooplankton, "Menhaden primarily consume phytoplankton, that is, algae and other drifting bits of vegetable matter. The ecological significance of this difference can hardly be overstated."[4]
In my next posts I'm going to give updates on the huge harvests hurting these fish every day.
Stay tuned
The menhaden are vital to the ecosystem.
From wikipedia: The Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) is a small, oily-fleshed fish that plays a major role in the marine ecosystem on the east coast of the United States. It goes by many names, including Western Atlantic Herring, bunker, pogy, mossback, bugmouth, alewife, and fat-back. The maximum size for the Atlantic menhaden is usually 15 inches (380 mm). The average size is smaller in the southern portion of their range, and largest in the north. They are bright silver, and have black spots extending horizontally from the gill plate to the tail, with the largest directly behind the gill plate. They are quite flat and soft fleshed, with a deeply forked tail. The edges of the fins and tail often have a yellowish hue. At sea, schools may contain millions of members.
Menhaden are omnivorous filter feeders, feeding by straining food particles from water. They travel in large, slow moving, and tightly packed schools with open mouths. Filter feeders typically take into their open mouths "materials in the same proportions as they occur in ambient waters".[3] Menhaden primarily eat phytoplankton (microscopic plants); although, since they are omnivorous, they take in a small portion of zooplankton (microscopic animals). Even though most other related fish (in the family Clupeidae) eat zooplankton, "Menhaden primarily consume phytoplankton, that is, algae and other drifting bits of vegetable matter. The ecological significance of this difference can hardly be overstated."[4]
In my next posts I'm going to give updates on the huge harvests hurting these fish every day.
Stay tuned
Have you ever eaten Striped Bass?
I'm not much of a fish eater myself,but every once in a while I'll keep one and throw it on the grill. I think it's pretty good.
I know it can be pretty expensive, but have any of you tried it?
What was your thoughts on it?
I know it can be pretty expensive, but have any of you tried it?
What was your thoughts on it?
Species: Striped Bass
The Striped Bass is the most sought after fish for recreational anglers on the East Coast of the United States.
It's beautiful striped patterns, fight when hooked, and delicious meat, all make for a fish that everyone can enjoy catching.
From wikipedia:
Striped bass are native to the Atlantic coastline of North America from the St. Lawrence River into the Gulf of Mexico to approximately Louisiana. They are anadromous fish that migrate between fresh and salt water. Spawning takes place in fresh water.
Striped bass spawn in freshwater and although they have been successfully adapted to freshwater habitat, they naturally spend their adult lives in saltwater (i.e., it is anadromous). Four important bodies of water with breeding stocks of striped bass are: Chesapeake Bay, Massachusetts Bay/Cape Cod, Hudson River and Delaware River. It is believed that many of the rivers and tributaries that emptied into the Atlantic, had at one time, breeding stock of striped bass. One of the largest breeding areas is the Chesapeake Bay, where populations from Chesapeake and Delaware bays have intermingled.[8] There are very few successful spawning populations of freshwater striped bass, including Lake Texoma and the Arkansas River as well as Lake Marion (South Carolina) that retained a landlocked breeding population when the dam was built; other freshwater fisheries must be restocked with hatchery-produced fish annually. Stocking of striped bass was discontinued at Lake Mead in 1973 once natural reproduction was verified.
It's beautiful striped patterns, fight when hooked, and delicious meat, all make for a fish that everyone can enjoy catching.
From wikipedia:
Striped bass are native to the Atlantic coastline of North America from the St. Lawrence River into the Gulf of Mexico to approximately Louisiana. They are anadromous fish that migrate between fresh and salt water. Spawning takes place in fresh water.
Striped bass spawn in freshwater and although they have been successfully adapted to freshwater habitat, they naturally spend their adult lives in saltwater (i.e., it is anadromous). Four important bodies of water with breeding stocks of striped bass are: Chesapeake Bay, Massachusetts Bay/Cape Cod, Hudson River and Delaware River. It is believed that many of the rivers and tributaries that emptied into the Atlantic, had at one time, breeding stock of striped bass. One of the largest breeding areas is the Chesapeake Bay, where populations from Chesapeake and Delaware bays have intermingled.[8] There are very few successful spawning populations of freshwater striped bass, including Lake Texoma and the Arkansas River as well as Lake Marion (South Carolina) that retained a landlocked breeding population when the dam was built; other freshwater fisheries must be restocked with hatchery-produced fish annually. Stocking of striped bass was discontinued at Lake Mead in 1973 once natural reproduction was verified.
Welcome to East Coast Fishing Conservation Info
Thanks for you interest in this page. I'm new to this, so it may take some time for me to get the hang of it.
First, I'll introduce myself a little. My name is Chris, and I'm a Striped Bass recreational fisherman from New York.
Recently, there's been a lot of news about various fish species on the East Coast being harvested illegally, leading to huge population decreases. If nothing is done about it, many of these species could die out, causing a chain reaction that kills off every recreationally fished sea creature on the East Coast.
I'm going to try and update my blog with 1 post a day, to allow my followers to gain information but not be overloaded. Some days may have more than one post, and others may have none, depending on my work schedule (and if the fish are biting, of course).
Before I get into the current news and organizations about the topic, I'm going to make posts discussing the species of fish that I'll be talking about.
Thanks for reading, please follow my blog, and come back often to view updates.
Get involved and maybe, together, we can make a change for the better here on the East Coast.
First, I'll introduce myself a little. My name is Chris, and I'm a Striped Bass recreational fisherman from New York.
Recently, there's been a lot of news about various fish species on the East Coast being harvested illegally, leading to huge population decreases. If nothing is done about it, many of these species could die out, causing a chain reaction that kills off every recreationally fished sea creature on the East Coast.
I'm going to try and update my blog with 1 post a day, to allow my followers to gain information but not be overloaded. Some days may have more than one post, and others may have none, depending on my work schedule (and if the fish are biting, of course).
Before I get into the current news and organizations about the topic, I'm going to make posts discussing the species of fish that I'll be talking about.
Thanks for reading, please follow my blog, and come back often to view updates.
Get involved and maybe, together, we can make a change for the better here on the East Coast.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)