Menhaden Boat Update Leaves Fishermen Stunned - Away State Journal
Menhaden, also known as mossbunker, bunker, and "the most important fish in the sea", [1] are forage fish of the genera Brevoortia and Ethmidium, two genera of marine fish in the order Clupeiformes.
Menhaden support an important commercial fishery. They constitute the largest landings, by volume, along the Atlantic Coast of the United States. Menhaden are harvested for use as fertilizers, animal feed, and bait for fisheries including blue crab and lobster.
Atlantic menhaden are a crucial forage species in the Atlantic coastal ecosystem, supporting a wide range of predators including striped bass, bluefish, and weakfish.
Atlantic menhaden are common fish in estuaries and coastal waters from Nova Scotia to northern Florida. Menhaden are small, flat-bodied, fish with deeply forked tails. They have bright silver scales, and are characterized by a series of smaller dark spots behind the main, black humeral spot.
The Atlantic menhaden is an important forage fish that supports predators like striped bass and bluefish while also providing significant economic value as a major source for the bait fish sector and the fish oil industry.
Menhaden are a type of forage fish or critical prey for larger predators that depend on them to survive. Menhaden are dense in calories and nutrients, critical for species like striped bass, bluefish, osprey, whales, and dolphins’ survival.
Menhaden, any of several species of valuable Atlantic coastal fishes in the genus Brevoortia of the herring family (Clupeidae), utilized for oil, fish meal, and fertilizer.
