Maryland Fish Facts

Menhaden

Menhaden

Brevoortia tyrannus

(A.K.A. - Alewife, Bunker, Pogy, Bugmouth, Fat-Back)

Key Distinguishing Markings:

Menhaden are silvery in color with a distinct black shoulder spot behind their gill opening.
They have a variable number of smaller spots on their sides.
Like shad and herring, they possess a series of scutes along their belly.
Their bodies are moderately compressed.
Their caudal fin is deeply forked.
Menhaden fins lack spines.

Distribution:

Size:

Habitat:

The Atlantic menhaden is a member of the herring family, Clupiedae, but unlike shad and river herring, they spawn in the ocean and their young develop and grow in the less saline waters of estuaries during their first year.

Spawning:

Atlantic menhaden mature at the end of their second year (late age 2) and will spawn in inshore waters over most of the continental shelf.
They spawn throughout the entire year at one location or another along the Atlantic coast with maximum spawning off the coast of North Carolina in late fall.
In the mid-Atlantic, these fish spawn from March through May.
Their eggs are buoyant and hatch within 2 to 3 days depending on temperature.
Larvae are pelagic and probably spend between one and three months in waters over the continental shelf before entering the Chesapeake Bay.
The Bay is an important nursery for juvenile menhaden; they occupy almost the entire Bay and its tributaries from above Baltimore to the mouth of the Bay in Virginia.
Larval fish enter the Bay in late winter and early summer and move into lower salinity waters in estuarine tributaries where they are found in great numbers. These juveniles, along with other immature fish (ages 1 and 2), remain in the Bay until the fall when most migrate to the ocean.
These migrants then move southward and winter offshore south of Cape Hatteras.
The following spring they migrate northward as adults to the Chesapeake Bay area and into New England waters.

Fishing Tips:

A recreational fishery does not exist for Atlantic menhaden in Maryland.
A small bait fishery for commercial and recreational use still exists along the coast.
Maryland has prohibited purse seining in state waters (0-3 miles from the coast), and in Chesapeake Bay since before the 1950s.
Purse seine fishing for menhaden takes place along the Atlantic coast and in the Virginia half of the Chesapeake Bay.
Current management measures on Atlantic menhaden can be found on the ASMFC website (www.ASMFC.org)

Fun Fact:

Native Americans in pre-colonial America called the fish 'munnawhatteaug', which means, 'fertilizer', and menhaden are probably the fish that the indigenous tribes urged the Pilgrims to plant along with their corn.
Atlantic menhaden are one of the most abundant fish species in estuarine and coastal Atlantic waters.
During summer months in Chesapeake Bay, these fish swim in large schools and their silvery bodies can often be seen splashing the water's surface.
The Chesapeake Bay is an important nursery for juvenile menhaden; they occupy almost the entire Bay and its tributaries from above Baltimore to the mouth of the Bay in Virginia.
A large crustacean parasite is commonly found in the mouth of Atlantic menhaden; hence, the common name, "Bugmouth".
Summer "kills" of large numbers of menhaden are common in Chesapeake Bay and are associated with low dissolved oxygen events.

Family: Clupiedae

Order:

Class:

For more information on Atlantic menhaden and their management, please contact Alexei Sharov or Nancy Butowski.

Illustration provided courtesy of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, Recreational Fisheries Program and the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund.

Maryland Department of Natural Resources