forage fish campaign

For America’s Waters

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

Last night, ASMFC took a paper cut when the fish, the anglers and the businesses that depend on them needed more. Whit Fosburgh on what comes next. We know what’s right, and we’re not backing down. Stay tuned for more ASMFC coverage

Business owners, join the coalition. Everyone, read our full statement.

Link here: https://t.co/Sv2KCqxf1J

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

For every bait and tackle shop and charter captain up the coast, menhaden is the foundation of the season. Tonight the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission set catch limits for 2027 and 2028 that stay above what the fishery actually caught last year. Our partners at the International Game Fish Association were plain about what that means for the water.

Read our full statement here: https://t.co/Sv2KCqxf1J

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

The warning signs are flashing red, and the clock is ticking. This year, the industrial fleet still hasn’t caught its Chesapeake Bay quota, and anglers, bait shops and coastal businesses can’t find bait. ASMFC meets Nov. 10-11 to set new menhaden catch limits.

We’ve submitted our comments to ASMFC. Read them, and our latest blog post on what the 2025 catch data shows and what we’re calling for here: https://t.co/CaPjmW7isx

Make sure ASMFC hears from you.

Businesses, join the coalition. Individuals, sign the open letter.

Take action here: https://t.co/zScERQVPDi

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

For decades, the question has been how many menhaden the reduction industry can take.

The latest Bait Line post asks a different one: how many does the Chesapeake need left in the water?

If you run a business, join the coalition. If you don’t, sign the open letter.

Read it here: https://t.co/MSHA1Yv6kj

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

Wherever you stand on everything else on your ballot today, this one isn’t complicated. A practice Canada prohibits at home is happening off our coast, and the fish being taken belong to all of us.

On Nov. 10-11, ASMFC meets to set menhaden catch limits for the next three years. Make sure it hears from you.

Businesses, join the coalition. Everyone else, sign the open letter.

Take action here: https://t.co/zScERQVPDi

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

At Moran’s Dockside in Avalon, NJ, CJ Walsh doesn’t see a decline in bunker. He sees an absence, and he says the whole local economy feels it.

CJ is a Forage Fish Campaign coalition member, working to change that.

If your business is feeling the loss of bunker too, join him: https://t.co/OCNcCBvdQn

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

Vessel tracking this morning: the industrial menhaden fleet off Cape May, NJ and likely moving north.

NJ and NY, they’re coming for you. Fishing businesses have asked Washington for emergency protection in the Bight.

Sign the petition and contact your governor and members of Congress: https://t.co/xdjOd2NYn0

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

Last year, the ASMFC Menhaden Management Board set an industrial catch quota that had a 0% chance of meeting the ecosystem target.

On November 10-11, they meet again. Will they continue to fail our fishermen and our oceans?

If you run a marine business, join our coalition and let decision-makers hear from you: https://t.co/OCNcCBvdQn

Or, sign our open letter and tell your representatives it’s time to do better: https://t.co/slTHqJTiuv

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

Ecosystem overfishing sounds technical. It isn’t.

It means we’re taking so many fish out of the water that the whole system can’t keep working.

Whit Fosburgh breaks down what that looks like, and why one fish is at the center of it, in the newest Bait Line post.

Read the full post here: https://t.co/hwhwGr7erY

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

The “Where’s the Bait?” Tour stopped at Fin-Atics Marine Supply in Ocean City, NJ, where bunker is a big part of the business. While the reduction industry takes millions of those same fish out of the water for pet food and fish farm feed, shops like this one are left with less to count on.

Link here to learn more and join the coalition: https://t.co/OCNcCBvdQn

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

Mark Robichaux reports that the pressure is building. Fishing businesses filed an emergency petition this week, dozens of lawmakers have written to regulators, and a key vote on menhaden limits comes next month.

Read about it here: https://t.co/fUtBWXW2fK

Add your name to the petition: https://t.co/xdjOd2NYn0

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

Charter Captains, anglers’ clubs and tackle shops have spoken. Now it is up to Washington. @POTUS @USInterior

Read the Full Newsday Article Here: https://t.co/JSjTO5BFzh

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

The people who know New York and New Jersey’s coastal waters best are sounding the alarm.

Charter captains and local fishing businesses are seeing fewer menhaden, the essential baitfish that sustain marine wildlife and coastal economies.

Today, they petitioned U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to halt industrial menhaden fishing in the New York-New Jersey Bight.

Protect the baitfish. Protect the fishery. Protect coastal communities.

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

No Bones Bait and Tackle in Wildwood has been serving the Jersey Shore since 2003. The last time Mike had fresh bunker was April. Factory boats are taking everything they can hold and small businesses suffer because of it.

Business owners: join the coalition: https://t.co/OCNcCBvdQn

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

The public has spoken: it's time to end industrial reduction fishing in U.S. waters.

Read our latest Bait Line post: https://t.co/qpkGoNqXr2

Add your voice by joining the coalition: https://t.co/3hthIVOYht

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

We are campaigning to end industrial fishing outright, but Atlantic Menhaden Draft Addendum II is currently open for public comment with some options that would be a great step in the right direction. We thought our audience should know about it and have the opportunity to submit comments to ASMFC. 

We made it easy on our website - hit the link in our bio to send your comments now!

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

The people who know these waters best are speaking up. Tackle shops, charter captains, marine businesses, and fishing organizations, 170 businesses strong.

Your voice carries weight when decision-makers decide how these waters are managed.

Add your business to the coalition at the link here: https://t.co/OCNcCBvdQn

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

"The "Where's the Bait?" Tour stopped at Grumpy's Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park, NJ. Fewer bunker, and smaller bunker, than they used to see.

If the fish stop showing up, the whole local economy feels it.

Link here to learn more and join the coalition: https://t.co/IUKBJ4S7Ev

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

In case you missed it: Forage Fish Campaign Executive Director Whit Fosburgh joined The Qualified Captain to break down the fight over industrial reduction fishing, who's driving it, who's paying the price, and what it's actually going to take to end it.

Give the full episode a listen, here: https://t.co/0iOtTWhR12

[forage fish campaign @foragefishcmpgn]

At Riptide Bait and Tackle in Brigantine, NJ, bunker used to be a steady seller. Not anymore.

As the Virginia-based reduction industry vacuums up millions of menhaden, bait shops like this one pay the price.

Follow the Where's the Bait? Tour as we hear directly from the shops and captains living this issue every day.

If your business is feeling this shortage too, join the coalition here: https://t.co/OCNcCBvdQn