Carolmane Diggs was seasick the first week he was on an Ocean Harvester vessel in 2011. It was his first time on a boat, ever. But his dad, with decades of experience fishing for menhaden, was there to help him. Diggs had explored college and the military but ultimately decided to be a fisherman “to make my dad proud.”
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) will vote in November on whether to cut the company’s allowable menhaden catch in the Chesapeake Bay. Bait watermen believe the cut will mean more menhaden in their pound nets, while Diggs and other employees of Ocean Harvesters and its partner, Omega Protein, worry they’ll lose pay or even their jobs. Public comment on the cut is open until Oct. 9.
Menhaden are fatty fish that serve as food for wildlife throughout the Bay…