When it comes to the bay, Virginia puts Canada first [Video]

By STEVE ATKINSON

On a cold, blustery day in January, as bay advocates greeted one another in the General Assembly building in Richmond, I was reminded of the humanity sometimes lost in walking these halls and speaking with lawmakers about protecting our cherished Chesapeake Bay and its most important fish, the menhaden.

And for the third consecutive year a bill to fund a badly needed study of bay menhaden, as proposed by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, has failed. After hundreds of phone calls, visits, letters and petitions signed by 25,000 concerned citizens, how can this be?

The health of the bay and menhaden in particular should be of concern to all because these little baitfish are the base of the bay’s food chainand critical for a healthy ecosystem. Striped bass, once our most valuable fishery, are particularly sensitive to declines in menhaden. As usual, we are up against powerful lobbyists, big political donations and misinformation that clouds …