Canadian seafood company spills over 400,000 dead fish into Hampton Roads waters

Earlier this week, a Canadian seafood company spilled more than 400,000 menhaden fish into Hampton Roads waters.

According to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Omega Protein spilled the fish on two separate occasions. One spill happened in Hampton, near Grandview Beach, when a net full of “presumably dead” fish ripped after it snagged an old anchor.

“Rather than nourishing striped bass and whales, Omega Protein spilled 400,000 menhaden that could rot and foul beaches and waterways on a late summer weekend,” Chris Moore, Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Senior Regional Ecosystem Scientist, said in a statement Friday. “Everyone in Hampton Roads should be on the lookout for dead fish in the water and report sightings to (the Virginia Marine Resources Commission).”

On Wednesday, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission said the seafood company spilled about 268,000 pounds of fish this week. The marine agency received 13 reports by Omega Protein since 2018 — each incident averaging about 121,000 fish per spill.

Sierra Jenkins, 229-462-8896, sierra.jenkins@virginiamedia.com