October 24, 2025 — The Trump administration is readying a proposal to open almost all U.S. coastal waters to new offshore oil drilling despite opposition from state governors and the president’s previous efforts to close off some of the territory. The draft plan for selling oil leases includes waters near the southeast U.S. that President Donald Trump tried to close off while campaigning for reelection five years ago, a nod to Republican allies worried about the risk of spills fouling beaches and their tourism-tied economies.
Shutdown means some fishermen can use expired permits, NOAA says
October 24, 2025 — Fishermen in the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico can continue to fish on expired permits through the government shutdown as long as they have applied for renewals, according to NOAA’s Southeast regional office.
In a bulletin issued Wednesday, regulators said the shutdown, now in its 23rd day, has created a backlog of applications at the agency’s St. Petersburg permitting office, creating a potential disruption for thousands of fishermen and dockside dealers who purchase their catches.
Fishermen navigate a new offshore horizon
October 23, 2025 — Across every U.S. coast, there is a push for a changing horizon. Towering turbines and wave-energy buoys could steadily multiply in the same water where generations of commercial fishermen have hauled gear.
What began as pilot programs in the Northeast and Pacific Northwest has expanded into full-scale federal-led rounds off Massachusetts, New York, California, and the Gulf of Maine, marking a new era of ocean use and industrial overlap.
Supporters call it a long-overdue step towards decarbonizing America’s energy supply, but for commercial fishermen, it’s a shift that could rewrite where and how they make their living.
As the push for clean energy accelerates, offshore wind and wave projects are becoming a growing presence along the U.S. coastline. While these developments aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they also bring new challenges to fishermen working in already crowded and heavily regulated waters.
Facing a Hostile Administration, U.S. Offshore Wind Is in Retreat
October 23, 2025 – Each year, the Sweeney Center for Public Policy at Rowan University in New Jersey hosts a conference on the state’s current and future energy landscape. In 2023 and 2024, the gatherings focused heavily on the rapidly accelerating development of offshore wind, which state officials then predicted would power some 2.5 million homes — about two-thirds of the state’s total housing units — by 2030. At this year’s event, however, the industry was barely mentioned, and when it was, its one-time advocates were subdued and almost eulogistic.
Tim Sullivan, the head of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, which had been closely involved with the state’s efforts to develop offshore wind, sounded wistful. “I remain optimistic and confident that it gets done sometime in our lifetime,” he told the conference.
Optimism about the future of U.S. offshore wind has collapsed since President Trump, a vehement critic of the industry, returned to office in January. In the ensuing nine months, his administration has accelerated the end of federal tax credits for wind development, imposed tariffs on turbines and other needed parts, and eliminated funds for building onshore port facilities for servicing wind farms.
Fishermen push back on proposed 55 percent cut to menhaden quota
October 23, 2025 — At the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) 83rd Annual Meeting in Dewey Beach, Delaware, the Atlantic Menhaden Management Board is weighing a drastic cut to one of the coast’s most important forage fisheries. The board will consider new specifications for the 2026 through 2028 fishing years that could slash the coastwide total allowable catch (TAC) by more than half, from 233,550 metric tons to 108,450 metric tons, based on updated point benchmarks and committee projections.
According to an ASMFC report, the 2025 benchmark assessment identified a 37 percent decline in average menhaden biomass compared with prior models, largely due to revised natural mortality data. The ecological reference point (ERP) fishing mortality target was reduced from 0.19 to 0.15, meaning the current TAC now carries a 100 percent probability of exceeding the new limit. Even the recommended 108,450-ton TAC represents only a 50 percent chance of meeting sustainability goals, according to ASMFC.
The divide between industry and environmental groups
Public comments that have already been submitted to the board show a sharp divide between recreational and commercial interests. The American Sportfishing Association (ASA), Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, and other recreational coalitions urged the board to adopt the reduced TAC, calling it essential to rebuild striped bass stocks and uphold the integrity of the ERP framework. The ASA’s letter argued that “under the current TAC of 233,550 mt, projections show a 100 percent probability of exceeding the ERP F target- placing the menhaden stock and dependent predators at risk.”
Commercial fishing group calls proposed cut “unscientific and absurd”
Commercial fishermen and their advocates see the proposed 55 percent reduction very differently. Dustin Delano, chief operating officer of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA), called on commissioners to “reject this unscientific and absurd 55 percent reduction to menhaden quota.”
NEFSA Reacts to ASMFC’s Proposed Menhaden Harvest Limit
October 22, 2025 — The following was released by the New England Fishermans Stewardship Association:
Dustin Delano, NEFSA COO, Warns Fishermen about the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Potential New Harvest Limits:
“All New England ASMFC Commissioners should reject this unscientific and absurd 55% reduction to menhaden quota. NEFSA calls for a fact-based quota reduction of no more than 10%, which would reduce the risk of overfishing to zero. Menhaden crews, lobster and crab fisheries, and working waterfronts would all suffer significantly under the proposed reduction. The ASMFC decision should be based on the best science available, not activist pressure from environmental groups.”
Delaware to host Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission meeting this year
October 22, 2025 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 83rd Annual Meeting will be hosted by Delaware for the first time since 2008 starting Oct. 27 to Oct. 30. at the Hyatt Place Dewey Beach, on Coastal Highway.
DNREC encourages anglers, commercial fishers and conservationists to attend the meeting either in-person or virtually to provide input specifically for striped bass, menhaden and horseshoe crabs. Proposed changes will be voted on by ASMFC commissioners.
The Horseshoe Crab Management Board meeting is on Oct. 28 from 8:30 – 10 a.m., followed by the Atlantic Menhaden Management Board meeting, starting at 1:30 p.m. The Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board meeting will take place on Oct. 29 from 9:45 a.m.-noon and resuming from 1:30-5 p.m.
New Bedford Mayor Urges NOAA to Advance Targeted Scallop Permit-Stacking to Keep Fleet Working
October 17, 2025 — Mayor Jon Mitchell today wrote to Eugenio Piñeiro Soler, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries, setting forth his position on a proposed rule that would allow full-time, limited-access scallop permit holders to “stack” two permits on a single vessel. New Bedford has been the nation’s highest-value fishing port for 23 consecutive years, since 2001. As the Mayor writes, “the Atlantic sea scallop fishery is one of America’s highest grossing commercial fisheries and is concentrated in New Bedford,” giving the city “a singular interest in policies that govern the allocation of scallop permits.”
Background and changing circumstances
Three years ago, the mayor opposed a proposal that would have authorized leasing of limited-access scallop permits. In his view then, it went further than necessary to address over-capitalization and risked inexorable industry consolidation, costing shoreside jobs and diminishing returns to single-boat owners and their crews, while failing to sufficiently engage the small businesses most exposed. He now notes that changing circumstances have prompted him to revisit his position, given the continued tightening of effort controls and their knock-on effects throughout the fleet and waterfront.
Why the industry needs relief
“The continued decline in available days-at-sea and closed area trips for limited-access permit holders has forced a broad reckoning in the industry that the traditional assignment of one permit per boat is antiquated. It has resulted in scallopers remaining in port for nearly eleven months a year on average – hardly an efficient use of a multi-million-dollar business asset,” the mayor writes. Building on that point, the mayor cites the practical consequences in port: prolonged vessel idling has increased congestion on municipal piers, reducing safety for fishermen; and by cutting average-boat revenues, it has constrained reinvestment in vessels, raising additional safety concerns.
What’s different now
“The new proposal is being advanced by a different group of proponents, who went back to the proverbial drawing board to fashion a more measured approach. In its broadest terms, the proposal would not allow the leasing of permits, but it instead would allow the transfer of permits between two vessels of similar size and common ownership. In practice, this would enable one boat to fish for approximately twice as long in any given year,” the mayor wrote.
NEFMC approves, resubmits controversial cod plan
October 16, 2025 — The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) has revised and resubmitted a controversial plan that will split the New England cod fishery into four individual stocks starting next year.
Amendment 25 would divide the New England cod population – which is currently managed as two stocks – into four distinct stocks for more precise management. Under the new plan, catch limits would be independently set for the four stocks: Eastern Gulf of Maine, Western Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and Southern New England. The new plan also slashed the total allowable catch limit across all stocks by 43 percent to 382.9 metric tons (MT).
NEFMC moves forward on scallop framework
October 16, 2025 — The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) is advancing work on Framework Adjustment 40 (FW40), which will guide scallop fishery specifications for the upcoming 2026 season and establish default measures for 2027.
The Council’s Scallop Advisory Panel and Scallop Committee will meet for a webinar on November 19-20 to review specifications and alternatives and select final preferred options. FW40 will set key parameters, including the overfishing limit, acceptable biological catch, and annual catch limits, days-at-sea allocations, and access area trip allocations for both limited access and limited access general category vessels. The framework will also define the total allowable landings for the Northern Gulf of Maine management area and the target total allowable catch for limited access general category incidental catch, along with observer and research set-asides.
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