Atlantic Menhaden

Fascinating facts about the Atlantic Menhaden

• A single mature female Atlantic menhaden can lay up to 362,000 eggs, while a younger, first-time spawner produces about 38,000.
• When they are less than a year old, menhaden’s tiny gill rakers filter zooplankton, but as the rakers grow they switch to primarily phytoplankton.
• Menhaden eggs are buoyant and hatch in just 2 to 3 days, after which larvae drift for 1 to 3 months over the continental shelf before seeking shelter in estuaries like Chesapeake Bay, a nursery that supports the next generation of the species.
• Dolphins can gobble up to 20 pounds of Atlantic menhaden a day.
• The 2010 stock assessment found mortality high enough to label the fishery as overfishing, yet fecundity remained sufficient to keep the stock from being classified as overfished, highlighting the delicate balance managers must track between harvest pressure and reproductive health.

At a glance

About the Atlantic Menhaden

The Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) glides through the North Atlantic’s coastal and estuarine waters, its silvery, moderately compressed body marked by a distinctive black shoulder spot behind the gill openings. Growing to about 15 inches, these fish form massive, size-stratified schools that stretch from Nova Scotia down to northern Florida, with juveniles crowding the Chesapeake Bay and southern coastline while the larger, older individuals dominate the cooler northern waters. Their life is a perpetual migration: eggs, buoyant and hatching in two to three days, drift into the open ocean, the larvae ride continental-shelf currents into sheltered estuaries where they spend a year, known locally as “peanut bunker”, before re-entering the sea as they mature. Menhaden are filter feeders whose diet shifts with age; tiny gill rakers in the first year capture zooplankton, but as the rakers enlarge, phytoplankton become the primary fare. This dietary transition is surprising because, despite popular belief that they cleanse waters, adult menhaden feed largely on zooplankton, and their nitrogen excretion may actually fuel phytoplankton growth. They live up to a decade, serving as a crucial forage link for predators ranging from striped bass and bluefish to ospreys, eagles, humpback whales, and even dolphins that can consume 20 pounds a day.

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