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Menhaden Muddle
This is a five-part series on the issue of menhaden depletion by Charles Hutchinson.

Why Fish Oil Is Threatening a Vital Species
"'The devastation of the marine environment has to be taken into account,' says H. Bruce Franklin, a professor of American studies at Rutgers University."

A Fish Oil Story
"The muddy brown color of the Long Island Sound and the growing dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay are the direct result of inadequate water filtration — a job that was once carried out by menhaden."

Fish Oil, Part 1 (Part 2)
"Nearly every state on the East Coast, including Maryland, has tried to stop [purse seine] fishing by outlawing it. Virginia is the only state left. Its also home to a $170 million company called Omega Protein, whose entire fortune rides on the backs of these little fish."

Some fear menhaden are being overfished in Chesapeake Bay
"Low menhaden numbers over an extended period could force bigger fish to move on to other foods and set off a cascade of species declines, said Jim Uphoff, a fisheries biologist for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources."

The Most Important Fish in the Sea

Menhaden and America

H. Bruce Franklin
The Most Important Fish in the Sea Published: 10/07/2008
Publisher: Shearwater
280 p. 6 x 9
Figures. Maps.
Index.
ISBN: 9781597265072
Paperback: $19.96
Buy Now

 
In this brilliant portrait of the oceans' unlikely hero, H. Bruce Franklin shows how menhaden have shaped America's national-and natural-history, and why reckless overfishing now threatens their place in both. Since Native Americans began using menhaden as fertilizer, this amazing fish has greased the wheels of U.S. agriculture and industry. By the mid-1870s, menhaden had replaced whales as a principal source of industrial lubricant, with hundreds of ships and dozens of factories along the eastern seaboard working feverishly to produce fish oil. Since the Civil War, menhaden have provided the largest catch of any American fishery.

Today, one company-Omega Protein-has a monopoly on the menhaden "reduction industry." Every year it sweeps billions of fish from the sea, grinds them up, and turns them into animal feed, fertilizer, and oil used in everything from linoleum to health-food supplements.

The massive harvest wouldn't be such a problem if menhaden were only good for making lipstick and soap. But they are crucial to the diet of bigger fish and they filter the waters of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, playing an essential dual role in marine ecology perhaps unmatched anywhere on the planet. As their numbers have plummeted, fish and birds dependent on them have been decimated and toxic algae have begun to choke our bays and seas.

In Franklin's vibrant prose, the decline of a once ubiquitous fish becomes an adventure story, an exploration of the U.S. political economy, a groundbreaking history of America's emerging ecological consciousness, and an inspiring vision of a growing alliance between environmentalists and recreational anglers.

Biography

H. Bruce Franklin is the John Cotton Dana Professor of English and American Studies at Rutgers University–Newark. He has authored or edited eighteen books, including War Stars: The Superweapon and the American Imagination and Vietnam and Other American Fantasies. His articles and reviews have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, Science, The Nation, Discover, and many other publications.

Praise

"Franklin's book on the runty menhaden is a killer whale achievement."
The Baltimore Sun

"Franklin's prose is lucid and infused with an urgency that depends little on hyperbole and largely on careful documentation. His compelling narrative informs and enlightens."
The Washington Post

"...an optimistic book...Perhaps this story will have a positive ending. H. Bruce Franklin's fascinating account makes us look forward to that."
Daniel Pauly in Science

"...a knock-out fish story."
The Philadelphia Inquirer

"...an eye-opener."
Carl Safina in Orion

"...a valuable history, a desperately needed warning, and a terrific read—a must for every advocate of marine ecosystems."
Ted Williams, conservation editor, Fly Rod & Reel, editor-at-large, Audobon

"How is it possible that a sizeable fish vital ot the oceanic food chain and intertwined for three centuries with the cultural histories of both natives and settlers could nevertheless completely escape the notice of most Americans and within a few short years be driven to the brink of extinction for no valid reason whatsoever? This well researched and vigorously written book—certain to be of wide interest to academic and general readers alike—will tell you why."
Lawrence Buell, Harvard University