Menhaden, << mehn HAY duhn, >> is any of several closely related fish of the Atlantic Ocean. The best known is the Atlantic menhaden, which lives in the Atlantic Ocean off the Americas from Nova Scotia to Brazil. The name comes from a Native American word meaning that which enriches the earth. Early Native Americans often used these fish to fertilize their crops. The menhaden is also called pogy, mossbunker, bunker, fatback, shad, and bugmouth. The fish grows from 12 to 18 inches (30 to 46 centimeters) long and weighs from 3/4 to 1 pound (0.3 to 0.5 kilogram).
Large schools of young menhaden appear along the East Coast of the United States in the summer. They swim near the surface and make easy prey for fishing fleets as well as for sharks, tuna, and other flesh-eating fishes. Menhaden feed chiefly on tiny living things that drift in the ocean called plankton (see Plankton). 
Menhaden can be eaten by humans, but only small quantities are sold for food. Menhaden yield a valuable oil, used in the manufacture of soap, linoleum, oilskin garments, paint, and varnish, and in the tempering of steel. Ground menhaden meal serves as livestock feed, and menhaden scrap is used for fertilizer.
