These are small fish that feed bigger fish and whole ocean ecosystems. A handful of industrial operations are chiseling away at the base of the food chains for our U.S. coastal economy by scooping up hundreds of thousands of tons of these fish —not for food, but to be ground up into meal and oil, a large proportion which is then exported. Ending these practices and managing forage fish at ecologically sound levels will protect food chains, support fishermen, and improve U.S. marine resilience.