Northampton Supervisor: ‘Omega says they want to be good citizens’

Omega Protein, the largest menhaden harvesting operation in the Chesapeake Bay and the lifeblood of the community of Reedville, VA, has made assurances that they want to be good citizens to the residents of the Eastern Shore.

Betsy Mapp, who represents Exmore, said she met with the powers that be with the company, and the reassured her they would abide by the memorandum of understanding signed with the VMRC last year after a pair of spills created an uproar in Northampton County.

Among the terms agreed to in the memorandum include keeping their trawlers at least one mile off shore, no fishing for menhaden on weekends or holidays, no fishing on Saturdays and Sundays on weekends between Memorial Day and Labor Day and no fishing within a half-mile of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

“They told me if there are any issues, let them know,” Mapp said.

The menhaden fishery was the last of all fisheries to be managed and reviewed annually by the Virginia General Assembly. After several years of pushing to move oversight from the General Assembly to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission by then Senator Ralph Northam, Governor Northam signed the bill sponsored by Senator Lynwood Lewis which transferred oversight in 2020.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission studies the stock of several species of fish regularly, including menhaden, and concluded after its last study period the feeder fish is not being overfished and stocks is not considered overfished.

Still, recreational fishermen, often at odds with the commercial fishies, have called repeatedly to have Omega banned from the Chesapeake Bay.

The company, with several hundred employees, has a fleet of large oceangoing fish-harvesting vessels supported by a number of spotter aircraft. Menhaden, once caught, are cooked in large mass and processed for further use in various applications including as a protein additive for poultry feed with. Tyson Foods being a large customer.