A group of commercial and recreational fishermen is suing the Virginia Marine Resources Commission for not protecting the Chesapeake Bay’s population of menhaden — the herring-like fish that is a food source for sport fish such as striped bass — from further depletion.
The lawsuit filed May 10 alleges that on April 13, VMRC adopted a regulation that, instead of reducing the amount of menhaden caught in Virginia, could actually increase the annual catch by 21,000 metric tons.
