Discover The James

20/07/2023

July, 2023

The Lower Chesapeake Bay:
Big Trouble for Greatest Osprey Breeding Ground in the World

What Can You Do?
Stay Informed
Email - Call

The resurgence of ospreys over the past several decades from near extinction caused by DDT is one of America’s great wildlife success stories. But today, researchers have found evidence that ospreys in the lower Chesapeake Bay are in trouble again, this time as a result of inadequate supply of menhaden, a crucial forage fish. These majestic birds need our help. The information below is disturbing but also gives you the opportunity to support osprey with your immediate input.

Knowledge is Power - Stay Informed
Osprey reproduction in the lower Chesapeake Bay is declining at an alarming rate. Surveys conducted recently (June 2023) by The Center for Conservation Biology at William & Mary found the following:
167 osprey nests surveyed. Only 17 nests produced, with a total of 21 young.
The 2023 reproductive rate of 0.13 per nest is worse than the peak of DDT.
Osprey
Osprey almost exclusively eat fish, and in the lower Chesapeake Bay their health and survival is inextricably linked to menhaden, a rich source of energy due to their oil content. Ecological Reference Points are important clues to the state of an ecosystem, and the lower Chesapeake’s osprey should be considered an ERP for menhaden management.

Menhaden
Menhaden are a schooling, oily fish that are commercially harvested by purse seines (large walls of netting) in both the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay. Virginia is the only remaining state to allow industrial scale menhaden reduction fisheries. In the Chesapeake Bay, industrial purse seine fishing for menhaden is allowed in Virginia waters only, and not allowed north of the VA/MD line within the Chesapeake Bay.

Menhaden Management
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) sets the quotas and rules for the Chesapeake Bay’s commercial harvest of menhaden. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) and its technical advisors recommend and allocate commercial harvest quotas for each state, including Virginia, along the Atlantic Coast and in the Chesapeake Bay.

The ASMFC, by their own rules, is supposed to consider the health of fish stocks as well as the economic and social aspect of its management actions. They manage menhaden using Ecological Reference Points (ERPs).
Menhaden are managed as one, Atlantic Coast wide, population.
The Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay need to be treated as two separate populations.
112 million pounds is the 2023 allowable catch in the Chesapeake Bay.

Canary in the Coal Mine
The recreational angling community has been concerned about menhaden for years. The lack of menhaden has been affecting the unseen species below the waterline, and now, it is clearly affecting the easily seen (for now) osprey above the waterline. Let's get the word out and make this necessary environmental change: Remove industrial purse seine menhaden fishing, (done by a single Canadian owned company) from the Chesapeake Bay.

For More Information
Michael Academia, [email protected]
Center for Conservation Biology
Osprey Researcher & Master of Science
osprey-watch.org

Call to Action — EMAIL, CALL

Send your own thoughts, and/or copy and paste the following to the men and women listed below:

URGENT: Industrial menhaden purse seine fishing has caused severe damage to the Chesapeake Bay for decades, leaving ospreys starving due to the dwindling menhaden population. The evidence linking ospreys and menhaden demands immediate action! We must ban industrial purse seine fishing in the Chesapeake Bay to safeguard this vital ecosystem and protect the interests of saltwater anglers and birders. Time is of the essence; let's unite to preserve the Chesapeake Bay and secure a sustainable future for all.

Email and Call Menhaden Management Policy Makers:
Jamie Green
[email protected]
(757) 247-2265
Commissioner, Virginia Marine Resources Commission
Atlantic Menhaden Management Board Member with ASMFC.

Mel Bell
[email protected]
(843) 953-9007
Chairman of the Board, Atlantic Menhaden Management Board
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission

Email and Call Your Local and State Politicians:
Travis A. Voyles [email protected]
(804) 786-0044
Virginia Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources
Advisor to the Governor of Virginia

Caren Merrick [email protected]
(804) 786-2211
Secretary of Commerce and Trade
Advisor to the Governor of Virginia

Glenn Youngkin [email protected]
(804) 786-7831
Governor of Virginia

Mark R. Warner
https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/ContactPage
US Senator, Virginia

Tim Kaine
https://www.kaine.senate.gov/contact/share-your-opinion
US Senator, Virginia

Supporting Articles and History of Menhaden Mismanagement
July 11, 2023 - New York Times
A Tiny Fish That Fuels an Atlantic Ecosystem Now Fuels Industry Debates
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/11/science/menhaden-chesapeake-bay-fishing.html

July 5, 2023 - Center for Conservation Biology
A Tale of Two Bays: Osprey Fortunes Diverge
https://ccbbirds.org/2023/07/08/a-tale-of-two-bays-osprey-fortunes-diverge/

July, 2023 - Chesapeake Bay Journal
Researchers Peg Mobjack Bay Osprey Woes on Food Shortage
https://www.bayjournal.com/news/fisheries/researchers-peg-mobjack-bay-osprey-woes-on-food-shortage/article_acf2683a-1ffe-11ee-9501-27ef1e6e2c71.html

April, 2023 - Virginia Mercury
The battle for menhaden: corporate greed threatens the Chesapeake Bay
https://www.virginiamercury.com/2023/05/23/the-battle-for-menhaden-corporate-greed-threatens-the-chesapeake-bay/

July, 2021 - Center for Conservation Biology
Regulating Bunker - With Osprey
https://ccbbirds.org/2021/07/13/regulating-bunker-with-osprey/

September, 2014
Bay’s Osprey Population in Decline … Again
https://www.wvtf.org/science-technology/2017-09-14/bays-osprey-population-in-decline-again

CALL TO ACTION: Forward this to others.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to share your voice.

Julie Kacmarcik, Conservation Chair, Richmond Audubon

Capt. Mike Ostrander, Eco Tour & Fishing Guide, Discover The James

Capt. Chris Dollar, CD Outdoors Communication/Fishing Outfitter

The Chesapeake Bay is host to the largest breeding population of osprey in the world. They tell us when spring is here and give us clues about the bay's…

16/07/2023

Please read and share this press release on the unprecedented nest failures of osprey in the lower Chesapeake Bay. Amazingly, their reproduction rate is worse than the height of DDT.

The Center for Conservation Biology
William & Mary
Advancing conservation through science

The Center for Conservation Biology documents unprecedented osprey nest failures within the lower Chesapeake Bay
For release: July 14, 2023

Williamsburg, VA – In 2023, The Center for Conservation Biology has documented the highest rate of osprey nest failure ever recorded within the lower Chesapeake Bay. Only 17 of 167 nests monitored during the season produced any young. The nesting population produced only 21 young resulting in a reproductive rate of 0.13 young per pair. This rate is below that recorded during the height of the DDT era. In order for the population to sustain itself, pairs should produce 1.15 young per pair.

The poor reproductive performance documented during 2023 is a trend that has been observed for the past fifteen years. In Mobjack Bay, productivity peaked during the 1980s and has declined to the present day. Researchers within The Center believe that the ongoing decline in young production is driven by overharvest of Atlantic menhaden. Forage fish such as menhaden, anchovy, sardine, capelin and herring play significant roles in marine ecosystems throughout the world. These small schooling fish are responsible for transferring energy from plankton to higher-level predators such as osprey. When forage fish are overharvested the marine food web is broken and higher-level predators suffer.

Within Moback Bay young osprey are starving in nests because the decades long overharvest of menhaden has caused local depletion. Within osprey pairs, males are responsible for hunting and providing fish to broods. Between 1985 and 2021 the rate of menhaden captures by male osprey declined from 2.4 fish per 10 hours to only 0.4 fish per 10 hours, a decline of more than 80%. Although osprey do feed on other fish species within the lower Chesapeake Bay none of these species offer comparable nutrient content. Atlantic menhaden is the keystone species that osprey depend on during the nesting season.

An experimental study conducted by Center biologists during the 2021 nesting season supplemented diets of osprey broods by providing menhaden and demonstrated that reproductive rates could be driven back to sustainable levels. On a broad scale, recovery of reproductive rates will require the restoration of menhaden stocks. Menhaden harvest policy has become a political mind field with special interests on all sides. Osprey within the lower Bay are increasingly demonstrating that our choices about harvest policy are having consequences for the broader Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.

Contact:
Dr. Bryan D. Watts, Director
The Center for Conservation Biology
William & Mary
[email protected]
(757) 221-2247

25/06/2022

Two years ago Bandit had two fledglings. Last year she had one, and this year she has two fledglings again, named Elizabeth and Ernie. Thanks to Ted Jurkuta for posting this about two years ago.

Bandit's two offspring. Photos by Ted Jurkuta ... thank you Ted for sending. Wonderful images of the two. Clearly, the female is on the left (larger) and the male is on the right.

26/04/2022

Happy Hatch Day Bandit!! Hatched at the Birmingham Zoo on April 26, 2005, she is 17 today and currently raising at least one eaglet on the nest.

Happy Birthday Bandit! Today is her 15th Birthday. She hatched on April 26, 2005 in the Birmingham Zoo. Bandit And her mate Trey are currently raising young at the nest and (fingers crossed) if she fledged young this year it will be her third successful breeding season out of her eleven on the river. Go Bandit!

16/01/2022

Amazing story about peregrine falcons by Dr. Bryan Watts of the Center for Conservation Biology.

By Bryan Watts1/12/2022 When Alan Williams and I repelled down a quarry wall in Ashburn, Virginia to band a brood of peregrines, neither of us had […]

26/09/2021

Something special about adding the moon element into a photo. Great shot by Jerry & Vicki Reeves.

07/09/2021

First presentation on the eagles of Jefferson's Reach in a while. So glad we were able to make this happen. Wonderful residents, staff and loads of great questions. Thank you Heritage Green.

Many thanks to Captain Mike at Discover The James for a fascinating presentation on the flourishing bald eagle population in our area.

29/07/2021

Spent four days with The Photo Classroom and Brian Osborne this week ... met a bunch of great photographers and enjoyed wonderful activity on the river.

Another incredible Eagle Expedition with perfect light, weather and a ton of eagle activity. Here is one of my favorites from the day as I really like how the eagle's head is framed by the back and front wings.

22/07/2021

Here are a couple of images taken by photographer David Cooper. Thanks for sharing David!!

11/06/2021

Cameron Sullivan captured an excellent series of images showing this great horned owl enjoying a catfish while being harassed by a kingbird.

04/04/2021

Wonderful eagle images by Brian Wells. Had some fun with the moon.

14/03/2021

Just saw craziest thing in eastern sky. Getting ready for fishing trip on river and There it is moving slowly across sky. Wish I had seen it earlier. Think it’s a meteor.