Northland College

Northland College
  • Academics
  • Campus Life
  • Admissions
  • Athletics
  • Centers
  • Sustainability
Search
  • Directory
  • Campus Map
  • Calendar
  • Alumni
  • Giving
  • News
  • COVID-19
More...
  • Academics
    • Undergraduate
    • Faculty
    • Resources
    • Opportunities
      • Internships
      • Undergraduate Research
      • Study Abroad
      • Off-campus Learning
      • Student Jobs
    • Graduate Success
    • Course Catalog
    • Transcript Request
    • Commencement
  • Campus Life
    • Dining
    • Housing
    • Outdoor Orientation
    • Diversity & Inclusion
      • Indigenous Cultures Center
        • Native Student Offerings
        • Powwow & Awareness
        • Community Outreach
        • Native American Museum
    • Get Involved
    • Bicycles & Gear Rental
    • Fitness Center
    • Services
      • Counseling Services
      • Accommodations
      • Health Services
      • Safety & Security
  • Admissions
    • Visit Campus
    • Tuition
    • Financial Aid
      • Scholarships
      • Grants
      • Loans
      • FAFSA
      • Veterans
    • Enroll
    • Meet Your Admissions Counselor
    • College Fairs
  • Athletics
    • Athletic Website
    • Athletic Facilities
    • Varsity Club Membership
    • Buy Team Gear
    • Hall of Fame
    • Annual Golf Classic
    • Camps, Leagues, Tournaments
      • 3on3 Basketball Tournament
      • Basketball Camps & Leagues
      • Youth Soccer Camp
      • Softball Camp
      • Volleyball Camps & Leagues
    • Give to Athletics
  • Centers
    • Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation
      • Our Work
      • Student Research Opportunities
      • Lab Services
      • Burke Center in the News
      • Water Summit
    • Center for Rural Communities
      • Rural Livelihood Initiatives
        • Quality of Life Database
        • Northwoods Community Survey
        • Opinion Polls
        • Local Food Systems
      • Human-Environment Connection
      • Publications
      • Data Visualizations
      • Student Opportunities
    • Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute
      • LoonWatch
        • About Loons
        • Protect Loons
        • Get Involved
        • Loon Appreciation Week and Poster
      • Timber Wolf Alliance
        • Wolf Awareness Week & Poster
        • Learn About Wolves
        • TWA Speakers Bureau
        • Wolf Status Reports
        • Vision for Wolves
        • Great Lakes Wolf Symposium
      • Youth Outreach Programs
      • SONWA Book Awards
        • SONWA Press Kit
      • Sigurd Olson Legacy
      • Apostle Islands Stewardship Symposium
      • Intangible Magazine
      • Forest Lodge Educational Campus
        • Rental Information
    • Hulings Rice Food Center
      • Compost Center
      • Larson Food Lab
      • Campus Gardens
      • Student Opportunities
  • Sustainability
  • Alumni
    • Alumni Board
      • Alumni Awards
    • Get Involved
      • Ask Our Alumni Panels
    • Transcript Request
    • Update Your Information
    • Events
    • Give
  • Giving
    • Christopher T. Morgan Scholarship
    • Meet Our Team
  • About Northland
    • President Karl I. Solibakke
    • Northland College Magazine
    • Campus Sculpture Tour
    • Advocacy & Public Discourse
    • Consumer Information

Loons Spread the Good News about Menhaden

September 15, 2015

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • email

By Paul Spitzer, PhD | Reprinted from the Atlantic Journal

New regulations clamping down on the commercial menhaden harvest are working—last fall’s Chesapeake Bay loon count offers proof.

Autumn brings all manner of migratory waterfowl to the Bay, loons among them, and they are partial to the Bay’s annual crop of “peanut” menhaden (fish) nurtured on plankton in countless creeks over the warm summer.

By fall, these fish are about five inches long, and already they form dense schools. The newly arrived loons practice an “intercept fishery” on the peanuts, forming noisy cooperative flocks in the lower reaches of some Bay tributaries. They act like a live fishing net, most of them underwater at any given time, surfacing only to gulp air for a second then dive again.

What you’re seeing here are cooperative predation tactics by highly intelligent, long-lived water masters who know how to make the most of their annual Chesapeake stopover. But, for this to work, the peanut menhaden prey base must be abundant, and that has been deficient for some twenty years.

Since the early 1990s, menhaden have been overfished. One indicator of that was the reduction in the Bay’s annual loon count.

When the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission finally moved in 2012 to institute a biologically realistic cap on the menhaden harvest, I had hopes that my lifetime studies of loons and ospreys would demonstrate menhaden recovery. I am pleased to report that 2014 observations of both species’ abundance say a resounding yes!

For the first time in two decades, I tallied four hundred loons on a calm afternoon last November, most of them in feeding flocks of thirty to one hundred ten birds on the Choptank River and Eastern Bay.

Ecologically speaking, menhaden spin straw into gold. As our civilization drenches our coastal waters with nutrients, plankton populations swell, ultimately depleting dissolved oxygen and creating biological hazards like dead zones and red tides. Menhaden is a filter-feeder, meaning that it virtually sucks up plankton and passes it up the food chain.

Dr. Paul Spitzer presented this material at the North American Loon Symposium. Paul reminds us that not only is it important for our northern lakes to remain healthy, but loons also depend on these Atlantic coastal ecosystems to remain healthy and diverse as well.

  • Visit
  • Info
  • Apply

News

  • A Conversation with Aja Gregg: Northland’s 2022 Commencement Speaker

    Each year, a graduating senior is selected to serve as the student…

  • From the Archives: Into the north land

    By the spring of 1973, the Sigurd Olson Institute of Environmental Studies…

  • Trespassing With Edward Abbey

    It was November 17, 1977, exactly two years and a week after…

  • In Gratitude and Recognition

    After decades of generous support, The DeWitt and Caroline Van Evera Foundation…

  • Northland College Participates in No Mow May

    Northland College is participating in “No Mow May,” an initiative aimed at…

  • From the Archives: Olson Delivers the First Johnson Lecture

    Sam Johnson was an early supporter of environmental studies at Northland College…

  • A Dream Career That Started Here

    Tim Carpenter ’74 led the way up the steep portage carrying a…

  • Bridging a Passage

    Bridges hold an innate magic. Spanning spaces that would otherwise be difficult…

  • From the Archives: Assembling The First Advisory Board

    An essential component of Bob Matteson’s vision for the Sigurd Olson Environmental…

  • Fall Fest Returns September 21–24, 2022

    After two years without in-person reunions, Fall Festival is returning to campus…

News Archive »

1411 Ellis Avenue
Ashland, WI 54806
(715) 682-1699 | Map
  • About Northland
  • Consumer Information
  • Privacy Policy
  • Take a Class
  • Employment
  • Campus Store

my.northland.edu

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2022 Northland College. All rights reserved.

https://www.northland.edu/news/soei-news/loons-spread-the-good-news-about-menhaden

Our website uses cookies for necessary functions and to enhance your browsing experience. Learn more in our Privacy Policy.

Accept & Continue