The Atlantic Menhaden is a critically important species in the Chesapeake Bay food chain. They are a small herring species that visits the Bay from spring to fall, forming schools near the water's surface.
Menhaden are an important food source for larger fish such as rockfish, bluefish, weakfish, and sharks, as well as the fish-eating seabirds that visit our area. The parasite Olencira praegustator is often found in menhaden mouths.
This species is harvested commercially for fish oil, bait, and livestock feed. Humans harvesting near the base of any food chain should at least be monitored very closely. (Changing an input to a complex system can have huge and unpredictable results.)
There are 275 records in the project database.
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