May 21, 2025 — The Trump administration published a long-awaited environmental assessment on Tuesday that found that vessel strikes related to oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico are likely to jeopardize the existence of the endangered Rice’s whale.
May 19, 2025 — Jon Kurland, Alaska regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service, agreed to take questions on the issue of trawl gear touching bottom and the pollock industry’s Gear Innovation Initiative. Here are his responses.
NF: It seems the issue of pollock trawl gear contacting the seafloor has taken on a higher profile lately. Is this true, and if so, why?
Jon Kurland: It’s been gaining attention for a while. A number of stakeholders have raised concerns about unobserved mortality of crabs from pelagic trawls contacting the seafloor as well as impacts to bottom habitats. It was a big topic during the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s review of potential new management measures for the Red King Crab Savings Area in the Bering Sea – an area that is closed to bottom trawling but open to pelagic trawling.
NF: What role have you and Alaska’s fish and game commissioner, Doug Vincent-Lang, played in elevating this issue?
JK: Commissioner Vincent-Lang and I have met with members of the pollock industry about this a number of times. We told them this is an important issue and that we’d like to see the industry take a leadership role in exploring and devising viable solutions to reduce bottom contact in areas where that’s a concern due to potential consequences for unobserved mortality of crabs or impacts to bottom habitats.
NF: Do we know enough now about the actual impact of trawl gear on the bottom and benthic habitat?
JK: It’s important to distinguish between bottom trawls and pelagic trawls. We know that bottom trawls are designed to fish on the bottom, and managers have closed some areas to bottom trawling specifically to avoid those impacts. Unfortunately, we don’t know a lot about how much pelagic trawls contact the bottom. We know that fishermen sometimes fish these nets very close to the bottom and make contact with the seafloor, but we don’t have much quantitative data about that.
May 19, 2025 — A vanishing species of whale gave birth to few babies this birthing season, raising alarms among scientists and conservationists who fear the animal could go extinct.
The whale is the North Atlantic right whale, which numbers only about 370 and has declined in population in recent years. The whales give birth to calves off the southeastern United States from mid-November to mid-April, and federal authorities have said they need to have at least 50 calves per season to start recovering.
The whales didn’t come anywhere near that number this year. The calving season produced only 11 mother-calf pairs, scientists with the New England Aquarium in Boston said.
May 15, 2025 — Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) launched its new certification standard for farmed seafood at the Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona, Spain. Over 200 attendees from across the supply chain—including producers, retailers, processors, industry bodies, and media—joined the long-awaited launch, which included support from industry guest speakers.
Aligning the twelve ASC species standards into one global standard, the ASC Farm Standard brings greater consistency to requirements across all species standards.
Formally launching the Farm Standard, ASC CEO Chris Ninnes said that “sustainability is no longer a trend; it’s the undeniable future, unfolding now. With the population estimated to reach 10 billion by 2050, and with wild-caught fisheries at capacity, the importance of seafood farming will continue to grow, the environmental and social impacts of our industry must be addressed. That is why ASC is driven to accelerate that transformation, not least by championing farms and feed mills that are making Change.”
ASC director of Standards and Science Michiel Fransen said, “built on four pillars—fish, farm, people and planet—the standard empowers producers to meet regulatory and market demands, enhance farming practices and fish health, prioritise worker and community wellbeing, and protects biodiversity.”
May 14, 2025 — The following was released by the California Wetfish Producers Association:
The California Wetfish Producers Association (CWPA) is delighted to announce that Marine Stewardship Council’s Ocean Stewardship Fund (OSF) has awarded CWPA a grant to help us continue our field research on market squid. We are honored to receive this award, as it signifies that the OSF acknowledges the importance of our squid research program.
In collaboration with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), CWPA has conducted field surveys several times a year since 2011, capturing market squid paralarvae via bongo net tows to investigate the environmental factors that influence squid populations. Led by CWPA’s supervising scientist Joel Van Noord, this research has encompassed more than 77 surveys and 1,900 net tows to date. Research findings indicate that squid density at the traditional spawning grounds, distribution, and timing of spawning are largely driven by environmental forcing.
California’s market squid fishery received MSC certification in 2023. This OSF grant supports a full season of sampling effort. Bongo net surveys yield a density index of squid paralarvae (PDI); these surveys have been used to evaluate recruitment and provide further evidence that the current management tools effectively manage harvests. CDFW is also relying on these data for a novel exploration of the fishery’s management using empirical dynamic modeling (EDM).
The grant also supports our collaboration with CDFW to transition from paper logbooks to electronic logs (e-logs). This new record-keeping platform should improve data accuracy and provide data improvements to managers. OSF funding will support workshops in a pilot program conducted by CDFW to gather ideas from fishermen and finalize the template used to initiate the transition to e-logs. The long-term goal is to implement e-logs across the entire market squid fishery and other fisheries.
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California’s market squid fishery is the largest squid fishery in the United States; in many years, it is the top fishery in California both by value and volume. Begun in 1863 in Monterey by Chinese immigrants, California’s market squid fishery has a deep-rooted history. From humble beginnings to MSC certification, California’s squid fishery has grown in importance both to fishing communities in Monterey and San Pedro, where the bulk of the catches are delivered, and as an essential contributor to the State’s fishing economy.
Market squid abundance and landings fluctuate naturally, influenced by ocean cycles. But advancements in technology and increasing demand in global markets have transformed the fishery into an economic powerhouse, the most important species in the coastal pelagic “wetfish” complex.
“California’s squid fishery is now the backbone of our industry,” says Mark Fina, Executive Director of CWPA. “The OSF grant will help us maintain a long-term data-stream of paralarvae surveys to better our understanding of squid productivity and the factors that contribute to its variability. While the current management, including time and area closures, will remain key to ensure the stock’s sustainability, these further insights into stock productivity will be useful to fishery planning both for management and fishery participants. We are pleased to partner with CDFW to ensure sustainable fishery management. We’re grateful that the Ocean Stewardship Fund acknowledged our work and is helping us achieve our goals.”
“We need squid,” says Neil Guglielmo, a 67-year veteran fisherman and CWPA Vice President. “Fishing squid is very important to our economic survival. It keeps our boats on the water and market doors open. Fishermen understand how important CWPA’s research program is – a sustainable resource helps everyone, including fishermen.”
The importance of sustainable fisheries is even more relevant today, in light of a rapidly changing environment. CWPA’s squid research program is continuing to study the influence of environmental variability on the squid population, in collaboration with CDFW. As the world’s demand for sustainable seafood grows, California’s market squid fishery exemplifies how responsible fishing can benefit both the environment and the fishing economy.
Indeed, California’s squid fishery is much more than a business: “It’s an example of the State’s and industry’s commitment to balancing economic prosperity with environmental stewardship,” says Diane Pleschner-Steele, CWPA’s research coordinator. With careful management, continuing field research and dedication to sustainable fishing, California’s squid fishery is poised to remain a vital part of the State’s fishing heritage.
May 13, 2025 — The search for critical minerals could put deep-sea mining and commercial fishing on a collision course.
In 2023, a study published in Nature Magazine predicted a collision between Pacific tuna fleets and deep-sea mining interests as both converged on the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ), a 1.7 million square mile region between Hawaii and Mexico. Lead author Dr. Diva Amon and her colleagues predicted that global warming would drive tuna, particularly yellowfin, bigeye, and skipjack, to seek refuge in the cooler waters of the CCZ. At the same time, countries and companies from around the Pacific Rim and beyond are eager to conduct deep-sea mining in the CCZ, and President Trump signed an Executive Order on April 24, 2025, aimed at “revitalizing American dominance in deep-sea minerals.”
The existence of rare earth minerals in the CCZ has been known since 1873, when the British research ship HMS Challenger hauled up polymetallic nodules laden with manganese, copper, cobalt, and more. Since 1994, the International Seabed Authority has regulated deep-sea mining in areas outside any national jurisdiction as part of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The Authority currently has contracts with 17 companies to explore mining in about 500,000 square miles of the zone. While there is no active mining in the Clarion Clipperton Zone yet, all contract holders are undertaking geological and environmental studies as part of their contractual obligations to determine the feasibility and impacts of deep-sea mining.
May 12, 2025 — The ban is in place from Point Conception to the Mexico border.
The presence of a naturally occurring toxin in the ocean prompted state officials to ban the catch of Pacific sardines for human consumption from Point Conception to the Mexico border.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife issued the order. State Health officials say they’ve found elevated levels of domoic acid in the fish.
May 9, 2025 — U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) took to the Senate floor 7 May to warn his colleagues of the threat the warming climate and plastic pollution poses to the world’s oceans and fisheries.
“In the 10 minutes that it takes me to give this speech, the oceans will absorb 4,000 Hiroshima detonations’ worth of heat,” Whitehouse said. “That is why seawater off the Florida Keys hit jacuzzi temperatures. That is why measuring devices along our coasts show a foot of sea level rise already. That is why fish species are moving about and fisheries are collapsing. That is why the world’s coral reefs are bleaching out – over 80 percent of the world’s reefs hit in the last ocean heating surge caused by fossil fuel.”
May 8, 2025 — As part of the Trump’s administration’s effort to expand fossil fuel production in the United States, the Department of the Interior announced recently that it would accelerate the permitting process for a range of energy sources and seek new oil and gas lease sales in offshore waters, including in the Gulf of Maine.
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said the permitting changes — which speed up review under the National Environmental Policy and Endangered Species Acts, among others — would cut what is often a multi-year review process down to several weeks.
Environmental groups and Maine lawmakers decried the moves while oil and gas industry representatives celebrated them. Days later, a group of New England Senators, including Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King, introduced legislation to ban offshore drilling in waters throughout New England.
“The waters off Maine’s coast provide a healthy ecosystem for our fisheries and are an integral part of our tourism industry, supporting thousands of jobs and generating billions of dollars in revenue each year,” said Collins in a statement. “Offshore drilling along the coast could impact Mainers of all walks of life for generations.”
April 30, 2025 — Coral restoration won’t save reefs from global warming, according to a recent study – at least, not the way we’re doing it now.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Helsinki and published earlier this month in Nature Ecology & Evolution, finds coral degradation is significantly outpacing restoration efforts. Its results indicate most unsuccessful projects fail due to prohibitive costs, lack of global coordination, location unsuitability, and bleaching events caused by rising water temperatures, during which coral becomes white due to stress.
Despite “public perception and scientific enthusiasm” for coral restoration, we can’t restore our way out of this one, the study finds.
“Scaling up restoration to any meaningful level going beyond the very local scale would be extremely challenging,” senior author Giovanni Strona, now a quantitative ecologist at the European Commission in Italy, told Mongabay.
Sebastian Ferse, a senior ecosystem scientist at the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research in Germany, who wasn’t involved with the study, told Mongabay that its results suggest “reef restoration is prohibitively expensive, particularly when looking at the scale of the problem we are facing.”
“It is much more cost-efficient to prevent degradation of reefs in the first place than having to restore the damage afterwards,” Ferse said.