skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Environmental Group Speaks Out Against Possible Omega Protein Certification

play audio
Play

Thursday, December 13, 2018   

RICHMOND, Va. – Omega Protein Inc. is in the process of acquiring approval to raise the number of menhaden fish it can harvest, but environmental observers worry that certifying the company will mislead consumers.

Currently, Omega Protein can harvest 50,000 tons of menhaden a year from its Chesapeake Bay location.

The company looks to increase that number with a certification from the Marine Stewardship Council, which would verify that the practice is sustainable.

Omega Protein maintains its harvesting practice is sustainable and won't affect the menhaden population, but the Chesapeake Bay Foundation disagrees.

Chris Moore, a senior scientist with the foundation, says the company is not even following the guidelines for Atlantic Coast fishery management.

"It's especially important that consumers don't get the false sense of hope that this is a fishery that is well managed and that the folks participating in the fishery are working within the confines of the fishery management plan that's been adopted for that particular fishery," he states.

According to Moore, Omega Protein has fought the guidelines, making Virginia the only state not in compliance with the plan. The company's Vice President of Operations, Monty Diehl, quoted in a company news release, said that “Omega Protein and the Atlantic menhaden fishery have operated according to the highest standards of sustainability for a long time."

There is a 40-day public comment period on the Marine Stewardship Council website, where all comments will be compiled in a final report.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation also described ecological impacts if harvest numbers were to increase.

The menhaden's main role in the bay is to be eaten. They are food for bass, flounder, whales, dolphins and more.

Moore says limiting harvests of the species would keep them from declining further.

"The menhaden population in Chesapeake Bay has been lower than historical numbers for about the last 20 years or so, and actually the part of the management plan that Omega Protein fought was the piece that would've helped ensure we actually had a healthier population," he states.

The public comment period lasts until Jan. 4, 2019, and the assessment team must respond to each of the responses from the public.

An official determination on compliance is expected in February.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021