8/12/26 - Menhaden overfishing could be to blame for struggling osprey population

You're listening to the VPM Daily Newscast, the recap of today's top stories in central Virginia. From the VPM Newsroom in Richmond, I'm Kim Strother. Richmond's Department of Transportation is adding over 700 safety improvements at crosswalks throughout the city as part of its Vision Zero initiative. The city announced Monday that it would roll out the improvements at intersections in Richmond's high injury network, a group of high traffic roadways that are prone to crashes. There have been 10 fatal crashes, four of which involved pedestrians in Richmond through July 31st of this year, according to DMV records. Struggling Osprey populations are one factor leading to proposed cuts to industrial fishing in the Chesapeake Bay. Patrick Larson with VPM News explains. William and Mary researcher Brian Watts is in his element out on the Ware River, using a homemade, extendable mirror to survey osprey nests. He says reproduction rates among the big birds in this Chesapeake Bay tributary have fallen precipitously, likely due to dwindling food supplies. Here in the bay, we have 10,000 osprey that are sampling the fish community on a daily basis. So it's hard to beat that as a metric of what's going on with the fish community. These birds primarily hunt Menhaden, a small, oily, energy-dense fish that are also harvested on an industrial scale in the bay for use in animal feed and consumer products. Now, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has advanced a proposal that could reduce industrial catch limits in the bay by up to 50%. The proposal is open for public comment through October. The fishing industry says more data on Minhaiden populations is needed. Patrick Larson, VPM News. A commissioner of Richmond's public housing authority has stepped down from his post. In a July 31st resignation letter obtained by the Richmond Times dispatch, Amy Coney Barrett Hardiman said he lost confidence in the authority's leadership. Hardiman and RRHA CEO Stephen Nesmith previously clashed over the future of Gilpin Court. Congressional analysts estimate that Newport News does not have room to build a new class of battleships proposed by President Donald Trump. Steve Walsh from our partner station, WHRO, has the story. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the first proposed battleship will cost $23 billion. That's $10 billion more than the Ford-class aircraft carrier. President Donald Trump announced the plan in December to build more than 20 battleships as part of a plan for what he calls the Golden Fleet. The plan now includes making the ships nuclear-powered. CBO points out that only Newport News shipbuilding is set up to build nuclear-powered ships.

The company is already behind on producing nuclear-powered carriers and submarines. Huntington Ingalls Industry is also expected to be helping with the design of the ship. Money for the new ships is included in the defense budget, which is currently stalled in Congress. That was Steve Walsh of WHRO. A Denver-based developer has officially kicked off its bid for a massive data center campus in eastern Goochland County. Last week, tracked formally applied for a conditional use permit for Tuckahoe Technology Park, which would sit on 870 acres near West Creek. According to filings, construction on the 12-building project would take several years. The earliest Goochland's planning commission would review the application is October. This has been the VPM Daily Newscast. VPM. The fatal shooting of a teenager at a protest in Seattle has gone unsolved for six years. This is open in your face. How are there no answers? Our investigation has uncovered new evidence and witnesses who say they've never talked to police. Did police ever call you? Not once. Listen to We Keep Us Safe, a new true crime series on the Embedded podcast from NPR.