By Ray Jarvis / Fishing guide
November 5, 2026
Growing up as an avid young angler along the shores of Buzzards Bay, I watched the water boil. During those childhood summers, Atlantic menhaden, or “pogies” as many New Englanders call them, choked our harbors in seemingly endless schools. Watching the surface erupt, I wasn’t just catching the striped bass and bluefish trailing them; I was learning my first lesson in marine ecology: a healthy ocean starts with a healthy food web.
Today, at 42, fishing has been the biggest influence on my life. For over two decades I have worked as a professional fishing guide and immersed myself in the science, management, and conservation of our waters. Through all those years, one heartbreaking constant has stood out: I no longer see pogies filling our harbors as they once did.
This is not just a tragedy; it is an economic emergency. Menhaden may be small, but they carry enormous weight in the Atlantic coastal ecosystem. They turn microscopic plankton into calorie-rich food for striped bass, bluefish, bluefin tuna, humpback whales, and ospreys. Their vast schools also filter our bays, helping to keep algae in check. That ecosystem, in turn, sustains countless businesses and families, from tackle shops and fishing guides to destination tourism and entire coastal communities that depend on a healthy ocean.
Pressure on this single species is approaching a tipping point as New England’s other forage fish have faltered. Atlantic herring quotas were cut to historic lows in 2025 and remain low, while mackerel are far less abundant than they once were. That leaves menhaden carrying more of the load, both as forage and bait.
Meanwhile, an industrial-scale reduction fishery further south treats this species as an infinite commodity. Controlled by a single company using spotter planes and enormous purse seine nets, it scoops up hundreds of millions of pounds of menhaden each year to be ground into fishmeal, livestock feed, and supplements. That leaves striped bass, bluefish, and the rest of the coast’s predators competing for what is left.
That is why a critical decision coming Nov. 10 matters so much. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) will set coastwide menhaden catch limits for 2027 through 2029. Its own projections show the current limit carries a near-certain chance of exceeding the ecological fishing target meant to protect predators. True ecosystem-based management means acting on that science: protect the base of the food web before allocating industrial quotas.
For me, this fight is not just professional; it is deeply personal. As a guide I depend on a healthy food chain: robust numbers of striped bass, bluefish, and bluefin tuna that make their way into our waters each year in search of menhaden and the other forage found here. I am also a father, and I love sharing these waters and my knowledge with my family. I want my son to experience the biological wonders I had as a child, to see a harbor so thick with life that the water looks like it’s boiling, and to know the awe of a healthy ocean. I hope it shapes his life the way it has shaped mine.
A steep reduction in the industrial fishery is the logical step forward. We must leave enough menhaden in the water to feed the wild, magnificent marine life that defines New England and sustains the anglers, guides, shops, and communities that depend on it. The ASMFC has a chance to choose a different future: stop grinding up the cornerstone of our ocean for short-term corporate profit and start treating the humble pogy with the ecological weight it deserves.
Ray Jarvis is a professional fishing guide and lifelong New England angler with a background in fisheries biology.