Editor, Gazette-Journal:

The Gazette-Journal inadvertently misinformed its readers recently by publishing a letter from retired Norfolk dentist, Dr. John Lapetina Sr. ("Stop menhaden fishing in Virginia waters," Oct. 10 Readers Write), which wasn’t based on scientific fact and fell short of historical accuracy. Although Dr. Lapetina is a past Fisheries Management chair of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, his personal recollections and unfounded conclusions run counter to history and fact.

His claims of herring’s alleged eradication and a causal link to the menhaden fishery disregard historical and scientific accuracy. Atlantic herring barely even enter the Bay’s waters. They spawn in the Atlantic (not the Bay), and are far from "wiped out." As for an alleged link between herring populations and menhaden, the menhaden purse seine fishery has almost no bycatch and doesn’t target herring.

But these minor inaccuracies pale in comparison to Dr. Lapet...