Gloucester Point, Washington (AP)-the step of an old wooden duck in the middle of the York River, Brian Watts looks down to a circle of sticks and pine cones of the tired, scattered in the Guano platform. This was an Osprey nest unsuccessful, taken over by the fish.
“Birds have never been laid here this year,” said Watts, near the mouth of the Chessapike Bay of Virginia. “And this is a model we have seen in the last few years.”
Watts has more intimate relationships with Ospreys than most people with a bird – he climbed into his nests to release them from plastic bags, feed them by hand and watch his eggs with telescopic mirrors.
The rapeseed that eats fish, known for gymnastic dives and whistles -like whistles, is an American history of conservation success. Once the pesticides and other dangers almost eliminated the species of much of the country, the bird that resembles a hawk
But Watts documents an alarming trend. Birds that multiply in many parts of the United States are unable to successfully ignite the chickens around their key population center on Chesapiq Bay. The longtime biologist blames the decline of a menhaden, small school fish critical of Osprey’s diet. Without a dignitar, the chickens starve and die in nests, said Watts.
Osprey are an environmental indicator
Watts’ claim was contrary to the environmental groups in the fishing industry, unions and sometimes government regulators. Menhaden is valuable for fish oil, fish nutrition and agricultural food, as well as bait.
American fishermen have caught at least 1.1 billion pounds of Menhaden every year since 1951. Industry members who are striving for their stability and said the decline in Osprey may have nothing to do with fishing.
But without help, the Osprey population can break to levels not observed since the dark days of DDT, said Watts, director of the Center for Conservation Biology at the William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia.
“Osprey shouts quite hard, that, hey, there isn’t enough men’s enough to reproduce successfully,” Watts said. “And we have to listen to them to be more informed entirely by fisheries and we need to take precautions from fisheries management. But this has not won the day at that moment.”
A decline associated with Menhaden in studies
Watts, who has been teaching Osprey of Chesapeake for decades, supported his allegations of population reduction by publishing studies in scientific journals. He said it comes down to ordinary statistics – to maintain the population, Osprey couples should average 1.15 chickens a year.
Osprey reproduced at this level in the 1980s, but today in some areas around the main stem of Chesapeake, this is less than half of it, said Watts. In particularly difficult areas, they do not even reproduce at one tenth, he said. And the decline in the available Menhaden corresponds to the nesting failures, Watts said.
Also called dials or bunkers, oily men are especially important for young birds because they are asked by other fish in the sea. Osprey “Reproductive presentation is inextricably linked to the availability and abundance” of Menhaden, Watts wrote in a study in 2023, published in Frontiers in Marine Science.
Conservatives have been concerned for years, saying that they have been removed too much to maintain their decisive role in the food chain. Historian H. Bruce Franklin came to the point that he titled his book from 2007 for the Menhaden “The most important fish in the sea.”
The fishing industry repels back
Menhaden helps maintain one of the largest fishing in the world worth over $ 200 million in doctors in 2023. It is used as bait, fish is crucial for valuable commercial goals such as Maine Omar. They are also loved by sports fishes.
The modern industry is dominated by Omega Protein, Reedville, Virginia, which is a subsidiary of the Canadian giant aquaculture giant Cook. The company pulled away from the idea that fishing was the cause of Osprey’s decline, although a less dumbed man appeared in some parts of the bay.
Federal data show that breeding Osprey is in a decline in many parts of the country, including where Menhaden does not gather at all, said Ben Landry, a spokesman for Omega. Climate change, pollution and development can play a role, Landri and others from the company said.
Accusing the fishing “simply transmitted to groups of special environmental interests that influence the process,” Landri said.
The new rules can be on the way
Menhaden’s fishing is managed by the Atlantic Sea Fishing Commission, an interstate body that produces rules and puts fishing quotas. Prompted by questions about Ospreys, he set up a working group to deal with the protective species in Chesapike Bay.
In April, this group proposed several potential management approaches, including seasonal closure, quota restrictions or days at sea and restrictions on fishing species. The process of creating new rules can begin this summer, said James Boyle, a coordinator of the Commission Fishing Plan.
Osprey’s population really shows a decline in some areas since 2012, but it’s important to remember that the bird’s population is much more than it was before DDT was banned, Boyle said.
“There are major Osprey population increases from the DDT era,” Boyle said, citing federal data showing a sixfold increase in Osprey populations along the Atlantic coast of the 60’s.
Environmentalists say the fall of the bird may worsen
For a number of environmental groups, each decline is too much. This annoys some labor leaders who are worried about losing more jobs as the fishing industry is decreasing.
Kenny Pinkord, a retired Vice President of the UFCW Local 400 Executive Board and longtime Virginia fishermen, said he believes the industry has bought.
“There are some people who do not want to see us in the business at all,” he said.
But Chris Moore, CEO of Virginia for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said the country was at risk of losing an iconic bird if no action was taken. He said Watts studies show that Osprey would fail without access to Menhaden.
“Oprets are a successful story,” Moore said. “We are in a situation where they do not replace their numbers. In fact, we will be in a situation where we are in a steep decline.”
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Whittle reported from Portland, Maine.
___ This story was supported by funding by the Walton Foundation. AP is only responsible for all content.