Booker, Pallone Push to Save the Small Fish That Feeds the Jersey Shore

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and U.S. Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ-06) are pressing East Coast fisheries regulators to leave more Atlantic menhaden in the water, warning that a shrinking supply of the small fish threatens the striped bass, ospreys and New Jersey fishing communities that depend on them. In a letter to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), the lawmakers call for far deeper cuts than the 20 percent reduction the Commission adopted for the 2026 fishing season. Known along the Jersey Shore as bunker, menhaden sit at the base of the coastal food web. They feed striped bass, bluefish, whales and ospreys. "Bunker may be small, but the whole Jersey Shore runs on them," said Senator Booker. "Our striped bass, our ospreys and the families who fish our waters all depend on this little fish. The science is clear that a 20 percent cut falls short, and every season we wait, the food supply for our coastal wildlife shrinks further. I urge the Commission to make a real cut this November and protect the Shore for generations to come." A 2025 scientific assessment found that menhaden biomass averaged 37 percent lower than previously estimated. The assessment also found that cuts of 50 percent or more would be needed to support the striped bass population. The Commission still cut the coastwide total allowable catch (TAC) by just 20 percent. In a letter to Joe Cimino, chair of the ASMFC Atlantic Menhaden Management Board, the lawmakers wrote: "This level of reduction is insufficient to address the ecological consequences of declining menhaden abundance. Reduced menhaden availability has been identified as the primary driver of low reproduction in ospreys throughout the Chesapeake Bay. A significant cut to the menhaden TAC is needed to prevent broad ecosystem impacts." Booker and Pallone warn that excessive menhaden harvesting reduces the food available to predators throughout the Atlantic ecosystem. That includes overfishing by exploitative reduction industrial operations that process the fish into fish meal and oil. The lawmakers argue that fishing limits must account not only for the health of the menhaden population itself, but also for the striped bass, bluefish and other species that depend on it. The stakes are already visible in New Jersey's skies. In 2025, researchers documented the state's worst osprey breeding season in more than three decades. "With next year's total allowable catch limits on the table, it's vital that a major cut is made," said Mark Taylor, President of the Jersey Coast Anglers Association. "We have been here before, and we saw our waters explode with life once the cutback was made back in 2013. Our member clubs all have watched menhaden disappear from New Jersey waters except for a short window in early spring and late fall. They're gone. And when bunker disappear, everything that depends on them—striped bass, whales, tuna, dolphins, osprey, eagles—pays the price." The Commission is expected to set coastwide catch limits for 2027 through 2029 at its November meeting. Read the full letter here .