February 6, 2026 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The press releases, meeting summaries, and motions from the Commission’s 2026 Winter Meeting are now available at https://asmfc.org/
Remembrance of the F/V Lily Jean
February 6, 2026 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council extends our sincere condolences to the families, loved ones, and fishing communities affected by the tragic sinking of the F/V Lily Jean on Friday, January 30, 2026.
A full remembrance, along with information on how to support the families impacted by this loss, is available here.
MASSACHUSETTS: Gloucester nonprofit launches support fund for Lily Jean crew member families
February 5, 2026 — The Gloucester community launched a fund to help provide for the families of seven crew members who died last week when their fishing vessel sank.
The Lily Jean Fund, named after the vessel, was started after an outpouring of support from Gloucester residents. The crew members are presumed to have perished after their ship sank Jan. 30 approximately 22 miles from Cape Ann.
“In the wake of this tragedy, there have been overwhelming expressions of support for the families of those who were lost, along with requests for a clear and trusted way to provide direct financial assistance,” the fund’s website reads. “The Lily Jean Fund has been created for this purpose.”
Read the full article at Boston.com
Whale strandings prompt Dungeness crabbing rule changes
February 5, 2026 — Last September, a humpback whale off the coast of California and another off the coast of Mexico were found dragging gear from Dungeness crabbing operations in Oregon. In November, rigging from the Oregon Dungeness crab fishery caused the stranding of a juvenile humpback whale on the beach in Yachats that was subsequently euthanized, according to wildlife officials.
Whale entanglements are becoming more common along the west coast of the United States, with NOAA Fisheries reporting as many as three dozen confirmed sightings in 2024.
In an effort to prevent the entanglements, last year, the state of Oregon mandated that commercial crabbing operations reduce the number of pots they deploy and stick to shallower waters on May 1. Now, state regulators have moved the date earlier in the season, April 1.
The impact of the change
Poggy Lapham is owner/operator of the 66-foot, Newport-based fishing vessel Michele Ann. On a recent morning, Lapham stood on the bridge of his boat while watching a small crane lift five-foot-square plastic bins brimming with freshly-caught Dungeness crab from the ship’s hold. A forklift took the bins to a scale and then a refrigerated tractor-trailer.
Lapham said the crabbing community was not consulted about the new rules, and even though the change will likely not impact his bottom line, it will undermine the profitability of many smaller operations.
“I typically don’t fish [for crab] that late in the season, as it is, but if you look out the window of this boat right now, I can pick out a whole bunch of boats where that is an essential part of their season,” he said.
Typically on April 1, Lapham begins to harvest sablefish, which is also known as black cod. He uses traps that sit on the sea floor like crab pots. And just like crab pots, the denial-of-exit trap is tethered to a rope and a buoy that floats on the surface.
Lapham knows the industry well. In fact, he’s a member of the federally mandated West Coast Take Reduction Team for sablefish pot fishing.
US lawmakers want NOAA Fisheries to consider climate impacts and shifting stocks in setting fishing quotas
February 5, 2026 — A trio of U.S. senators have introduced legislation that would require NOAA Fisheries to consider the impact of climate change on fish distribution in setting commercial fishing quotas.
“This legislation addresses outdated fishing requirements and ensures that climate change conditions like rising water temperatures that shift fish stocks are prioritized in fishery management plans. Our changing climate has seriously altered our oceans, forcing fishermen to travel far distances to earn a living or throw back valuable fish,” U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) said in a release.
HAWAII: Tension persists as Hawaii cultural practice is still barred by federal law
February 5, 2026 — Hawaii’s formerly endangered green sea turtle population has rebounded in recent decades, with the species now a common sight along the state’s beaches. While the increased populations have benefited tourism, with visitors gathering on beaches to take photos of the animals, some Native Hawaiians are asking when they, too, will be allowed to benefit from the rising population by harvesting turtles for food.
“A lot of people, they think it’s a bad thing, you know, especially, like, the outsiders that not from here,” Native Hawaiian fisherman Miki Duvauchelle told SFGATE. “They come over here and you know, they just want to put all these laws, all these protections, and it’s like, ‘Hey, it’s a source of food, just like a fish.’”
Fifty-year-old Duvauchelle was born and raised on Molokai. The island has no large resorts, and its residents have a history of resisting development and overtourism. There’s no Costco or McDonald’s, and grocery stores are limited. Residents, he said, largely rely on subsistence living — hunting, fishing and gathering for their families.
“It was a blanket listing, so it didn’t consider at the time the importance of turtle use in Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. It didn’t look at any of that cultural importance,” Asuka Ishizaki, the protected species coordinator for the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, told SFGATE. The council is one of eight regional councils managing federal waters, and it has long advocated for the cultural harvesting of Hawaii’s turtles while still prohibiting them from commercial fishing or sale.
Ishizaki said the endangered species listing lumped long-standing cultural practices with commercial exploitation, creating a tension that continues today.
“You going to get arrested and go to court, and no matter what you do, they going to find fault with you and put you in jail, charge a big fine, whatever, and that is something that we cannot control. This ban is part of their control,” Kelson “Mac” Poepoe, a 76-year-old Molokai resident, told SFGATE.
22 Right Whale Calves Born So Far This Winter
February 5, 2026 — An aerial survey of Cape Cod Bay conducted by the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) on Jan. 10 found 33 North Atlantic right whales here — the highest number on a single day in January in the center’s 27 years of such surveys. Normally the whales are just starting to trickle into the area at this time of year, said Daniel Palacios, director of the center’s right whale ecology program.
“It was a surprise,” said Palacios. “There are good plankton resources in the bay right now, and that’s drawing them here earlier than usual.”
Over more than 40 years of research, the CCS has established that Cape Cod Bay is the greatest known aggregation point for the roughly 380 members of the endangered species. In the winter, more than half of the remaining population comes here to feed on dense patches of plankton, said Charles “Stormy” Mayo, who founded the center’s right whale ecology program after conducting the first successful whale disentanglement in 1984.
In the warmer waters between Florida and the Carolinas, calving season, which runs from mid-November through mid-April, has been good. Twenty-two calves have been born so far, compared to 11 in last winter’s season and 20 the year before.
The most recent calf to be identified was just off the coast of Flagler Beach, Fla. on Jan. 30, according to the New England Aquarium.
The sighting of so many calves is “a very positive sign,” Mayo said. “We should be encouraged. But this population, at less than 400 animals, is still in tough shape.”
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the right whale is in the midst of an “unusual mortality event” that began in 2017, when 17 whales are known to have died in one year.
There are only about 70 breeding females in the entire population, and the number of calves born per season can range dramatically, with the highest recorded number being 39 in 2009 and the lowest zero in 2018.
The average number of calves born from 1980 to 2022 was 16, so 22 calves is considered a good season. Nonetheless, population biologists at NOAA Fisheries have said that 50 or more calves need to be born every year for many years to reverse the species’ decline and set the stage for recovery.
The original cause of the right whales’ decline was whaling — the entire population was reduced to 100 or fewer animals off the coast of the U.S. and Canada in the early 1900s. An international ban on hunting all right whales went into effect in 1935, but the population has struggled to recover due to mortality and serious injury from vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear.
MARYLAND: Maryland Eyes August Rockfish Ban to Save Struggling Striped Bass
February 5, 2026 — Maryland anglers and conservationists have until Feb. 23 to weigh in on proposed changes to striped bass recreational fishing seasons that aim to bolster protection for the species during its most vulnerable periods in the Chesapeake Bay.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is accepting public comments on a “baseline reset” that would impose a full no-targeting closure for striped bass throughout August in Maryland waters, including the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries. The proposal also includes reopening limited catch-and-release fishing in April, while maintaining harvest opportunities from May through July and from September through early December, with catch-and-release only from mid-December onward.
This adjustment addresses documented challenges facing striped bass, locally known as rockfish. Maryland’s juvenile striped bass survey has shown below-average recruitment for six consecutive years, meaning fewer young fish are surviving early life stages due to factors such as habitat degradation and predation by invasive species like blue catfish. Meanwhile, mature striped bass face elevated mortality risks during summer catch-and-release due to high water temperatures, low oxygen levels, and heat stress. Maryland-specific studies indicate release mortality rates can reach 30 to 40 percent in summer conditions, far higher than the 9 percent assumed in coastwide models.
Read the full article at The Southern Maryland Chronicle
WTO hands out first tranche of grants to help developing countries meet terms of fishing subsidy deal
February 5, 2026 — A fund set up by the World Trade Organization (WTO) to help developing countries adapt to an agreement on curbing harmful fishing subsidies has handed out nearly USD 3 million (EUR 2.54 million) in its first tranche of grants.
The grants aim to help nations meet the stipulations of a deal originally signed by WTO members in 2022 to prohibit global subsidies that support vessels engaging in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities, fishing overfished stocks, and operating on the unregulated high seas.
US lawmakers introduce legislation to better map whale habitats, reduce vessel strikes
February 5, 2026 — A group of U.S. lawmakers has reintroduced legislation designed to improve the federal government’s ability to map whale habitats and help reduce vessel strikes.
The Whale Conservation Habitat Analysis, Research, and Technical Strategies (CHARTS) Act directs NOAA to improve its mapping of whale habitats while also developing predictive maps that estimate how whale populations might change their habits in response to environmental conditions. The legislation would require the agency to create high-resolution maps showing where whales are now and where they may be in the future. Critically, the maps must be usable for commercial and recreational mariners to help them avoid collisions.
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