Scooping up pogies faster and easier than ever before, send the old ships to the gulf and add a couple of really nice BIG ones to the Mid Atlantic fleet... here's one of two of Omega's latest fleet additions docked in Reedville, VA
In a recent article in The National Fisherman*, (a commercial fishing magazine) Omega Protein Corporation public relations officer bemoans recently
implemented regulations aimed at restoring and rebuilding stocks of the
most important fish in the sea.
One would think that a company that claims to be such a
caring, responsible steward of the waters would embrace conservation
measures with open arms. The measures not only provide an assurance of an
abundant catch in the future as well as added job security for their employees,
but also a bonus of being able to fish closer to home, cutting fuel costs
and adding even more profit to the bottom line. Business is booming for Omega
right now, so it’s hard to believe they would bother focusing on the negative
instead of the bounty before them. By making some very clever company acquisitions, market diversification and cost cutting measures, Omegas stock (OME) has gone from $4 per share to over $14 per share over the past 5 years!
Instead, once again, Ben Landry, Omega's suited up PR
director climbs down from his perch above the commoners of Reedville to
poke at a blog post** by Peter Baker of Pew Charitable trust which heralds
the successful implementation of the first ever catch limits in 2013.
Mr. Landry tactfully draws the readers focus to a couple of
states (NY & MD) that did not reduce their landings in 2013, one through a “bycatch”
loophole for pound nets and the other through a “quota swap.” While
I agree that all states MUST comply with the new measures and provide accurate
data to the ASMFC, I find it peculiar that Mr. Landry is even
concerned about an amount of bunker that would be a mere fish stain
on the deck of a 190 foot long Omega factory ship.
It’s more important now than ever before to remember that on
that fateful December day back in 2012, Omega was in fact, granted the
lion share of all the bunker on the east coast, a full 85+% of the total
harvest went to Virginia, leaving other states bait harvesters along the
coast to fight over the scrappy percentage left behind. For the life of me, I
can't believe that the Reedville watermen themselves, would screw over fellow
baymen , especially in these hard times. These fishermen literally share the
same waters, yet the corporation acts in complete disregard of baymen
gathering fresh bait out of pound nets right across the bay. Would it have
been so hard to give up just a few more tons to help out the little guys
in MD or NY?
This is just the tip of the iceberg for selfish Omega, as
they will do just about anything to build profits and keep stock prices soaring
and in turn, shareholders happy. What gets very little notice in the media is
that when these giant ships move into an area and proceed to fill up the hull,
they leave a void behind. With all the bait fish removed, the gamefish move
off, and the local fisherman that depend upon a healthy stock of gamefish to
provide a day’s catch are screwed. All
of us on the water know "localized depletion" well, and Omega could
care less.
Whether operating in the mid Atlantic or in the Gulf of Mexico
(where there are still no catch limits) anglers and the eco system are always
left with the short end of the stick. The industrial scale and rate of removal
of these talented ship captains and spotter plane pilots is second to
none. Make no mistake about it, this is the largest commercial fishery, in
numbers of fish, in the USA and this type of fishing, day after day,
leaves nothing but slimy smelly foam in its wake.
Mr. Landry continues to distract from the facts of doing business as usual.
Distracting investors away from the fact that in 2012, execs got $900,000 worth
of bonuses while the average Reedville boatman was paid $35,000 for the whole
season. Omega execs are lining their pockets with this overflow due in part to
more than 50% of the American baitfish that they scoop up are ground up and
shipped to China's booming aquaculture industry. This end of the business,
while less profitable than the human nutrition end of things, is
projected grow at the rate of more that 8-10% a year right
on thru until cheap Chinese labor runs out.
The bottom line is that Omega Protein Execs continue to reap
profits from a free American
resource, while exploiting the bottom rung of the food chain, and, in turn,
fellow Americans that depend on healthy waters to make a living. The time has
come to put an end to the antiquated practice of harvesting vast quantities of forage
fish, reducing them to oil and meal, and taking meals away from the very fish
that we rely upon for food and sport. (Virginia is the only East Coast State which
still allows reduction fishing).
Leaving
an imbalanced ecosystem and too little food for predator fish or marine life in
the water is about as selfish a corporate act as I can imagine. It’s
clearly time for Omega to diversify and re invest in sustainable, organic
protein/Omega-3 sources, from algae, flax seed, soy, camelina etc. and to
finally become the good corporate citizen that they say they are.
* http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2014/07/22/12038470/Ben%20Landry%20-%20Pew%20imprecise%20on%20pogies%20-NF_Aug14_OnDeck.pdf
** http://www.talkingfish.org/opinion/atlantic-menhaden-catch-cap-a-success-millions-more-of-the-most-important-fish-in-the-sea
http://www.prweb.com/releases/omegaproteinbenlandry/nationalfisherman/prweb12038470.htm
