Study Shows Osprey Chicks Are Starving; Conservationists Question Connection To Menhaden Fishing

By Shannon Heckt, Virginia Mercury

October 10, 2025

Conservationists have been sounding the alarm for years over the lackluster breeding seasons for osprey along the Chesapeake Bay, and debate continues about why. A new study from the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William & Mary shows broods that nest in areas of the Bay that rely mostly on Atlantic menhaden are more likely to starve to death just weeks after hatching.

Researchers point to populations of menhaden, a small forage fish, not being large enough to feed the chicks and the fish entering the Bay later in the breeding season as possible reasons for the starving birds There have been signs of osprey populations struggling to breed for years, and challenges for other species that rely on the menhaden. A study about menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay specifically has been unable to get off the ground in the state legislature.

The William & Mary study examined salinity levels in certain areas of the Chesapeake Bay and how they relate to the kind of fish the osprey are preying on to survive. Researcher Bryan Watts used that data to categorize the osprey populations by where they nest and what fish they will likely depend on.

“Once you get to the lower salinity water, for example, the upper James (River), you wouldn’t expect menhaden to be there,” Watts said. “The ospreys in that part of the river depend primarily on catfish and gizzard chad, so they don’t feed on menhaden there.”

The 2025 breeding season, which stretches from March to August, experienced major weather events that impacted the nesting.

The research shows that in low salinity areas, such as near the upper James, Potomac, and Rappahannock Rivers, there were more successful osprey broods that were closer to the targets needed to sustain the population. Conversely, the osprey that nested in the higher salinity areas, which would largely rely on menhaden for food, saw more chicks dying of starvation.

Watts and his team expanded their research area for the 2025 study to include more than 1000 nests over 23 locations. None of the nests in the 18 high-salinity areas produced enough chicks to sustain the osprey population in their part of the Bay. Nests in the low- salinity areas performed better, but still faced challenges.

“I think there’s a general agreement that there’s not enough menhaden currently in the Bay to support a stable osprey population. The real question at this point and the real controversy is why are there not enough fish? You know, what’s caused the change?” Watts said.

Osprey are not the only species impacted by the menhaden availability. There are other birds, larger fish, and marine mammals that need the fish to survive. But ospreys have been the more visible canary in the coal mine, showing the need to address food scarcity in the Chesapeake Bay.

It’s unclear why the menhaden populations may not be enough to feed other animals, as there has not been a state-funded study to specifically look at the menhaden in the bay, despite multiple efforts in the General Assembly to do so.

Virginia’s menhaden population and management remains a heated topic, and the new William & Mary study does not directly blame the lack of menhaden on over-fishing. Omega Protein, the only reduction fishery allowed in the Chesapeake Bay off the shores of Virginia, has been blamed for the reportedly declining menhaden populations. Omega Protein contracts through Ocean Harvesters. Groups including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Virginia Saltwater Sportfishing Association say the company’s operations have decimated the presence of the forage fish in the Bay.

Ocean Harvesters stated that they did not enter the Chesapeake Bay in 2025 to start their fishing of the menhaden until late May, which is later than usual. They claim that period of activity does not line up with when the chicks were hatching.

“Center for Conservation Biology’s 2025 advisory shows food stress signals in higher-salinity waters, but the timing and the text do not support (the Chesapeake Bay Foundation)’s misleading narrative that the regulated menhaden fishery caused this year’s early nest failures and first-weeks chick mortalities,” Ocean Harvesters said in a release. “Those events occurred before the season opened and menhaden boats were still at the dock.”

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation said a group of organizations will release a stock assessment on the menhaden populations later this month to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, but it will be for the entire East Coast rather than just inside the Chesapeake Bay. The group continues to push for funding on that kind of study, which is projected to take three years to conduct.

“We keep being delayed by the industry who says there’s no problem, but, harvest, you know, millions and millions of pounds of these fish. So that is obviously something that I think is frustrating to everyone,” said Chris Moore, the Virginia Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Both groups agree that all factors, including climate impacts, need to be considered when determining what is happening to the menhaden populations thus affecting the osprey and other species.

There have been recent efforts to curb the reduction of fishery activities in the Bay, with some Virginia fishermen calling on President Donald Trump to sign an executive order halting Omega’s fishing. While no such order has come down, state lawmakers are mulling over possible legislation to propose in the next General Assembly session to fund a study or other measures.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has also considered recommendations to spread out menhaden fishing caps throughout the year to help the fish move through the Bay at critical times, but has not taken steps to make those changes.

This story was originally published by the Virginia Mercury. For more stories from the Virginia Mercury, visit VirginiaMercury.com.