The Chesapeake Bay Program has spent millions to help clean-up the Chesapeake Bay, and is the largest estuary restoration project ever undertaken by the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency plays a major role in directing this effort, which includes restoring the Bay's living resources. Ironically, another federal agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is providing financial assistance through a loan program totaling $20.6 million to Omega Protein Corp., who operates a fish processing plant located in Reedville VA, that annually harvests approximately 250 million pounds of Atlantic menhaden from the Chesapeake Bay. Omega Protein is the largest commercial fishing operation on the Chesapeake Bay and along the Atlantic coast. Atlantic menhaden are a vital link in the food chain, and have the ability to filter a volume of water equal to the entire Chesapeake Bay in less than one day, with the potential to annually consume up to 25% of the Bay's nitrogen. However, since there is no quota to limit or control the harvest, this intensive fishery for Atlantic menhaden seasonally depletes the Bay's most valuable living resource. - written by James Price

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