American Bird Conservancy campaign to save the ospreys in Chesapeake Bay

15 September 2026

Just over a year ago I wrote about the collapse of the osprey (Pandion haliaetus) population on the sea side of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Studies by the Center for Conservation Biology (CCB) at William & Mary found that the nesting population went from 83 nests in 1987 to just 9 in 2025, and the chicks in those 9 nests were starving. CCB predicted a similar collapse in Chesapeake Bay … and now it has come.

This month the American Bird Conservancy reports that osprey nesting success in the Bay in 2026 was at its lowest level ever recorded — even lower than during the height of the DDT crisis in the 1960s.

Osprey chicks are starving because their nutrition depends on a high energy and formerly abundant food, Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus), but menhaden are no longer available due to severe overfishing.

We don’t eat menhaden but they are overfished in the Chesapeake for two reasons: (1) we turn them into fish meal, fish oil, fertilizer and bait and (2) there are no meaningful catch limits on Virginia menhaden because the last remaining (menhaden) reduction factory on the U.S. East Coast is located in Reedville, Virginia. The Virginia Mercury commented on this in May 2023 at The battle for menhaden: corporate greed threatens the Chesapeake Bay.

But now we can do something about it.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) that determines how fish are managed along the Atlantic Coast is currently considering changes to menhaden fishing limits in Chesapeake Bay. The American Bird Conservancy knows these limits are crucial for osprey survival and is urging ASMFC to adopt strong conservation-minded reforms.

Public support is needed as well, the more the better. Osprey are in serious trouble. These fishing limits are a glimmer of hope.

ABC is asking folks to Speak Up for Ospreys in the Chesapeake Bay. So I did.

For more information on osprey, menhaden, and the corporate connection see this post from August 2025: