The Menhaden
The Menhaden fish is being threatened, especially in the Chesapeake Bay region. Most people are completely unaware of its existence which is a shame since its oil is in a large amount of everyday products. I was included in this group who was unaware of the Menhaden until reading, The Most Important Fish in the Sea in my Environmental Studies course. The Menhaden is being overfished and has been for decades. Currently it is one specific company that has the monopoly on this fish, Omega. They are the sole fisher of the Menhaden and they completely disregard the amount of fish they are removing from the environment.
The Menhaden numbers have plummeted and this is dangerous because they are a keystone species in the ecosystem. Menhaden do not eat zooplankton as most small fish do, but instead eat phytoplankton. This means that they are eating plants or algae rather than tiny animals. In their environment they play a key role because this helps to keep the algae in the area in check. If the algae in an area grows too much it can create a disaster in an ecosystem, because too much algae can remove the oxygen from the water killing any species that needs oxygen to live. In the Chesapeake Bay Area this threatens the oysters and other fish, which in turns threatens the economy of this region. However, this does not stop the overfishing of the Menhaden due to the fact that most people don't know there is a problem. In order to stop and correct this ever looming threat people need to be made aware of the issue and informed about Omega's practices. If people were aware then there is a higher chance that the overfishing practices on the Menhaden would stop.
The Menhaden numbers have plummeted and this is dangerous because they are a keystone species in the ecosystem. Menhaden do not eat zooplankton as most small fish do, but instead eat phytoplankton. This means that they are eating plants or algae rather than tiny animals. In their environment they play a key role because this helps to keep the algae in the area in check. If the algae in an area grows too much it can create a disaster in an ecosystem, because too much algae can remove the oxygen from the water killing any species that needs oxygen to live. In the Chesapeake Bay Area this threatens the oysters and other fish, which in turns threatens the economy of this region. However, this does not stop the overfishing of the Menhaden due to the fact that most people don't know there is a problem. In order to stop and correct this ever looming threat people need to be made aware of the issue and informed about Omega's practices. If people were aware then there is a higher chance that the overfishing practices on the Menhaden would stop.
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