February 5, 2025 — On Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, the fishing industry is responding to reports President Trump will nominate Dr. Neil Jacobs to lead NOAA, which houses the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
“Dr. Neil Jacobs is a great choice to lead NOAA,” said Noah Oppenheim, coordinator of the Fishing Communities Coalition. “Commercial fishing communities need a steady hand at the helm as we face unprecedented infrastructure, market, and regulatory challenges. We need fundamental reforms at NOAA to improve fishery surveys, while keeping the agency’s core weather forecasting functions strong so we can safely and efficiently catch fish to feed Americans.
Dr. Jacobs is the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction, performing the duties of Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. In this role, Dr. Jacobs is responsible for the strategic direction and oversight of over $3.4 billion in annual spending, supporting NOAA’s broad portfolio of sea, air, land, and space observing platforms as well as the critical infrastructure for the assimilation and exploitation of environmental data.
Previously, as the Chief Atmospheric Scientist at Panasonic Avionics Corporation, he directed the research and development of both the aviation weather observing platform and weather forecast model programs. He was previously the Chair of the American Meteorological Society’s Forecast Improvement Group and also served on the World Meteorological Organization’s aircraft-based observing systems expert team.