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| My Mother's Cat -- Kia -- cute for us but not for fish |
The
Menhaden populations of our oceans and estuary are crashing. But pet owners could help play an important
role in their restoration.
When
in nature, Atlantic Menhaden, a fish in the herring family, are an important
food source for striped bass, weakfish, bluefish, bluefin tuna, bottlenose dolphins,
humpback whales, sharks and other fish species.
Menhaden are also a direct food source for herons, eagles, osprey and
egrets. Menhaden are filter feeders that
swim with mouths open ingesting particles of algae, plankton and other tiny
creatures. As they grow to a foot or more, menhaden act as a protein conversion
mechanism and when eaten, provide an unmatched source of protein to all
predators. Without healthy quantities of Menhaden in our oceans and bay waters,
there would be a gaping hole in the food chain that will have cascading affects
on a whole host of species and the ecosystem.
Menhaden
are the second largest commercial fishery in the United States. Once caught, shiploads
of Menhaden are ground down or “reduced” to fish meal and oil for use as
livestock and fish farm feed, pet food, fertilizer and hundreds of other hidden
uses. Menhaden are also used, (whole)
commercially in traps for other species like blue claw crab and lobster and
their Omega-3 rich oils are widely used in fish oil supplements and many other nutraceutical
products sold for human
consumption.
Overfishing
of Atlantic Menhaden has occurred in 52 of the last 54 years – with more
Menhaden being removed from the population than nature has been able to
create. More than 400 million pounds of
Menhaden are estimated to be caught each year.
Affects on fish and birds because of a lack of Menhaden in nature are
already being seen – malnourishment in striped bass, weakfish and others are
due in part to the dramatic decline of the Menhaden population, now at an historical
low.
While
recounting the plight of the Menhaden at a recent meeting, Capt. Paul Eidman
with Menhaden Defenders (www.menhadendefenders.org)
shared with me an important contribution pet owners can make towards saving the
Menhaden – pick your pet food wisely.
Menhaden
are used as a primary ingredient in cat and dog food. By choosing to feed your pets with products
that don’t rely upon Menhaden as an ingredient you can help remove the
incentive for overharvesting this important species; and help save not only
their populations but those of striped bass, weakfish, tuna, dolpins, eagles,
egrets, osprey and more. Many brands
include items like “ocean fish” or fish meal on the label which makes it very
hard to know what is actually in your pet’s food. Through careful label
inspection, research and phone calls to customer service, Capt. Eidman has
worked to identify a few non-Menhaden pet food options for his own pets. One brand that he mentioned that was both
affordable and easy to find was Menhaden-Free Merrick Pet Foods brand. There surely are other options, but they are
tough to identify, so to start you on a path of immediately helping to protect
the Menhaden and all the species that rely upon them, we share with you this
known option.
