Nearly 1.2 billion pounds of menhaden harvested annually from the Gulf of Mexico which comes from Louisiana waters. According to fishing department of Texas, the county accounts for about 50 million pounds annually. The menhaden baitfishes are ground into fishmeal for the livestock and aquaculture industries and they are highly used to make omega-3 fish oil dietary supplements.
Sport fishermen have demanded restriction in commercial fishing of the species. Jim Smarr, chairman of the Texas Recreational Fishing Alliance, said that menhaden are not only a filter feeder, they feed on harmful algae, they also form the basis of the food chain for everything that swims in the bays and the gulf.
If the authority put a ban Omega Protein, a Houston-based company, would be more affected as it dominates the industry nationwide and uses a fishing practice that vacuums menhaden out of the water. Federal legislation is contemplating to put ban on commercial menhaden fishing in all federal and state waters along the Atlantic seaboard.
Toby Gascon, Omega spokesman, the company is victim to political interests that are promoting the recreational fishermen. He added there is no clue why the regulation is needed. Larry McKinney, director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department coastal fisheries division said that if menhaden fishing is banned in other areas and there’s a growth in offshore fish farms that rely on the fishmeal.
