June 20, 2025 — Trawlers wouldn’t be allowed to net shrimp in North Carolina’s inland waters or within a half-mile of the coast under a proposal passed by the North Carolina Senate on Wednesday. Critics say the measure, if approved, would destroy the state’s shrimping industry.
Judge allows lawsuit challenging Trump’s wind energy ban to proceed
June 20, 2025 — A lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s temporary ban on wind energy development throughout the United States can go forward, a federal court in Boston ruled Wednesday.
More than a dozen Democratic attorneys general sued over a Trump executive order suspending all federal wind energy approvals, citing the need for further review of their economic and environmental impact. U.S. District Judge William Young allowed the challenge to proceed against the Interior Department under the Administrative Procedure Act but dismissed several other claims based on different theories and involving other defendants.
Young said that his oral ruling from the bench was tentative and he reserved the right to alter his decision when he issues a written opinion.
Assuming Young’s oral ruling stands, both sides will submit motions for summary judgment that will be heard on September 4.
Fishing council to ask Trump to lift fishing ban in Papahanaumokuakea
June 20, 2025 — The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council which sets fishing policies will ask President Trump to allow commercial fishing in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the northwestern Hawaiian islands. It’s the largest marine protected area in the world.
“That ask is to open waters of Papahānaumokuākea to commercial fishing. We may also include recreational fishing and subsistence fishing,” said Kitty Simonds, Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, executive director.
Simonds was in the Oval Office when President Trump signed the executive order in April to allow commercial fishing in a different preserve, the Pacific Island Heritage Marine National Monument around Johnston Atoll in the Central Pacific.
“It was very exciting for us,” said Simonds.
NORTH CAROLINA: Restaurateur rips NC bill HB 442: ‘Slitting the throats of the commercial fishing industry
June 20, 2025 — Ryan Speckman is the co-owner of Locals Seaford and told ABC11 that 99% of his product comes from North Carolina waters. Only salmon is brought in from Maine. He has made it a mission to highlight the work of local fishers, and his No. 1 seller year-round is shrimp.
Speckman said supply and prices are in jeopardy because of House Bill 442.
It’s a serious issue for Speckman, who said the shrimping industry itself could be destroyed.
“You’re basically slitting the throats of the commercial fishing industry,” said Speckman. “We have to decide do we want good food or do we want to rely on other countries to get the food.”
Federal judge to allow states’ offshore wind lawsuit to proceed
June 19, 2025 — A federal judge on Wednesday issued a tentative ruling, partially allowing and partially denying the Trump administration’s motion to dismiss the multistate lawsuit against its freeze on offshore wind permitting and leasing — a consequential case for the industry and the coastal states relying on it to supply electricity amid growing grid demand in the coming decades.
Judge William G. Young ruled that the states have standing to bring this case, and that the permitting freeze – which has been given no deadline or timeline – is essentially a final agency decision (as opposed to an ongoing review) and as such, can be challenged by the states.
Still, he continues to express concern as to how a lifting of the freeze would consequently lead to government agencies issuing the outstanding permits to wind developers. (In the words of the federal government in its filing, “they would not” automatically issue.)
For example, SouthCoast Wind received final project approval, but it still needs three federal permits, which were previously set to issue in March, before construction can start.
The lawsuit will tentatively proceed to a motion for summary judgment in September, for which the federal government must submit administrative records to the court that document its decision to implement the wind order by July 2.
Shipping rates remain stable, but logistics industry bracing for impact of global conflict
June 19, 2025 — Spot rates for ocean shipping have remained relatively stable in mid-June, but experts are warning industry stakeholders to prepare for more upheaval as the Israel-Iran conflict escalates.
Average spot rates between the Far East and the U.S. West Coast, according to shipping price analysis service Xeneta, rose just slightly, reaching USD 5,345 (EUR 4,639) per 40-Foot Equivalent Unit (FEU), up from USD 5,082 (EUR 4,411) on 5 June.
CALIFORNIA: California closes Dungeness crab fishery to protect whales from entanglement
June 19, 2025 — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has announced the closure of the Commercial Dungeness Crab Fishery in the Northern Management Area to protect whales from entanglement. This decision, assessed under the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program (RAMP), affects Fishing Zones 1 and 2, spanning from the California-Oregon border to the Sonoma-Mendocino County line.
Marine scientists at Oceana have highlighted the severe damage that entanglement can cause to whales.
“Whales, in particular Humpback Whales, are getting entangled in trap fisheries in that line gear, which then wrap around their flukes or around their fin and cause them injuries and reduced feeding and potentially reduced reproduction as well,” said Oceana’s Campaign Manager & Marine Scientist Caitlynn Birch.
New England gear shop talks tech, costs, and barriers
June 19, 2025 — From Gulf of Maine draggers to deep-sea pair trawlers, the push to modernize New England’s trawl gear has met a familiar wall: cost.
Paul Nosworthy, owner of New England Marine Engineering and Supply Inc., knows the numbers better than most.
“The back end of a midwater trawl — just the codend — costs around $40,000,” said Nosworthy. “Then you’ve got the sweep, the ground cables, the head section. All of that adds up. It’s not cheap gear.”
In a region where fuel efficiency is directly tied to profit margins, interest in lower-resistance nets, knotless twine, and semi-pelagic doors has grown, but Nosworthy said sticker shock still leads the conversation. “The technology has changed some,” he said, “There are new door designs depending on the fishery — midwater and otter trawls — but if you want to talk about what really works and what doesn’t, we’d need to ask the net-making companies.”
For now, fishermen are hesitant to gamble on new gear without proof that it will pay off. That hesitation, said Nosworthy, is rooted in survival. “It’s all about the cost. Gear on the bottom has a short life and a high cost to build and maintain,” he said. “And regulations are always changing — mesh sizes, chafing gear limits, you name it. Guys are less willing to try new stuff when the rules could change next year.”
He’s not wrong. In 2023 to 2024, five researchers with deep roots in the U.S. commercial fishing industry joined forces through the Fishery Friendly Climate Action Campaign to establish an evidence-based framework for fishing industry-led advocacy aimed at fostering a transition to a low-carbon fishing fleet. They evaluated emissions-reduction programs like the EPA’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) andCalifornia’s Carl Moyer Program, which underscore the high financial bar for commercial fishermen. According to the DERA report, the average cost of upgrading even a single engine on a fishing vessel is tens of thousands of dollars. While grants have made a difference, they haven’t erased the problem. Though these programs offer opportunities for some commercial fishermen, the programs and grants mainly focus on reducing air pollution, but do not cover all the technology and equipment that could lead to a low carbon fishing fleet.
NORTH CAROLINA: New plan would pay shrimp trawlers who lose access to inland waters
June 19, 2025 — North Carolina lawmakers have a plan to pay commercial fishermen impacted by proposed restrictions on shrimp trawling in the state’s coastal sounds.
The Senate gave its final approval to the trawling ban Thursday afternoon. The proposal now goes to the House of Representatives.
Earlier Thursday, the Senate unveiled its plan to “provide annual transition payments to eligible holders of commercial fishing licenses with verifiable lands of shrimp” since 2023.
The payments would last until Oct. 1, 2028. The amount of the payment would depend on the value of eligible shrimp trip tickets submitted by the license holder, plus $180.
The bill would also increase the cost of a Standard Commercial Fishing License from $400 to $580. It would increase the license fee for non-residents to at least $2,000. The fee for a Retired Commercial Fishing License would increase from $200 to $290. The bill includes fee increases for commercial fishing vessel registrations, shellfish licenses, new fish dealers, land or sell licenses and temporary fishing licenses.
Supporters of the ban say it is necessary to help other fish stocks and that it would align North Carolina with other East Coast states that ban trawling inland. Opponents of the ban say it will destroy the shrimp industry in the state and hurt the entire commercial fishing industry.
Cooler Gulf of Maine Waters Could Benefit Lobster Fishing This Summer
June 19, 2025 — There is good news for lobster fishermen in the Northeast. NOAA scientists predict cooler bottom waters in the Gulf of Maine this spring and summer, potentially creating favorable conditions for fishing in the region’s most valuable fishery. For lobstermen who’ve weathered years of unpredictable conditions, this news could be a welcome relief.
The experimental seasonal forecast indicates that bottom temperatures are expected to drop 0.9 to 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit below average, marking a significant shift for waters that warmed faster than almost anywhere else globally from 2004 to 2013.
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