February 19, 2025 — The longtime Commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources is stepping down.
Governor Mills announced Tuesday that Patrick Keliher will be retiring on March 14.
Conservationists sue feds to protect Pacific Northwest salmon populations
February 19, 2025 — Conservation groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday morning against the National Marine Fisheries Service for missing its deadline to determine if spring-run Chinook salmon in Oregon, Washington, and Northern California warranted protection under the Endangered Species Act. The organizations behind the lawsuit seek a court order to compel the Fisheries Service to issue a finding within a suitable time frame.
“These iconic fish are at risk of disappearing from our coastal rivers forever if the Service doesn’t act quickly,” Jeremiah Scanlan, a legal fellow at the Center for Biological Diversity, said. “Spring-run Chinook salmon badly need protections, but instead, the agency has taken the lazy river approach and drifted past its own deadlines.”
The Center for Biological Diversity, Native Fish Society, Umpqua Watersheds, and Pacific Rivers claim the Fisheries Service violated federal law when it failed to issue a timely finding within 12 months of their petition asking for three Chinook salmon populations to be listed as “threatened” or “endangered” — the Oregon Coast Chinook salmon, the Southern Oregon and Northern California Coastal Chinook salmon, and the Washington Coast spring-run Chinook salmon.
“The agency’s failure to meet the deadlines delays crucial, lifesaving protections for these species, increasing their risk of extinction,” the groups said in their lawsuit.
Chinook salmon, also known as “king salmon,” are the largest of all Pacific salmon species. Although the fish were once abundant in the river basins of the Pacific Northwest, their populations have declined sharply in recent years and are now only a fraction of their historical size.
SAVE THE DATE: American Lobster Management Board Webinar Scheduled for March 18, 3 – 4 PM
February 19, 2025 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board will meet via webinar on March 18, 2025 from 3 – 4 PM. The purpose of the webinar is for the Board to consider approval of Draft Addendum XXXII for public comment. The Draft Addendum will consider repealing all Addendum XXVII measures pertaining to gauge and escape vent size limits. This action responds to industry concerns regarding the potential economic impacts of an increase to the minimum gauge size in the Gulf of Maine and uncertainty surrounding trade issues with Canada. In addition, the Gulf of Maine states have agreed to work with the lobster industry to develop management strategies to ensure the long-term health of the resource and the coastal communities that it supports.
The draft agenda, meeting materials, and webinar details will be available two weeks prior to the meeting at https://asmfc.org/events/
Council Covers Atlantic Herring, Habitat, and Risk Policy Issues; Learns About Fisheries Research in Offshore Wind Areas
February 19, 2025 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council met January 28-30, 2025 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In addition to standard business, the Council received a series of presentations on fisheries research projects being conducted in offshore wind development areas. The Responsible Offshore Science Alliance (ROSA) organized the presentations at the Council’s request and planned an evening poster session (photos below). Presentations and posters are posted on the Council’s website here.
ATLANTIC HERRING / RIVER HERRING: The Council received a presentation on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) 2024 River Herring Benchmark Stock Assessment. ASMFC staff provided the overview and answered Council questions.
The Council then received an update on Amendment 10 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan, which is an action to minimize user conflicts in the Atlantic herring fishery, support rebuilding of the resource, and address river herring and shad catch. The Council will receive another update in June.
During its September 2024 meeting, the Council took final action on fishing year 2025-2027 specifications for Atlantic herring. At the time, the Council’s proposed specifications assumed the 2024 acceptable biological catch (ABC) would be caught.
Given the limited activity in the commercial fishery over the past year, the Council did not expect the U.S. annual catch limit would be fully utilized in 2024. It therefore tasked the Herring Plan Development Team (PDT) with
reviewing preliminary 2024 year-end catch information and developing an updated 2024 catch estimate, which was presented to the Council at the January meeting along with revised projections.
Based on the new information, the Council agreed to ask its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) to provide updated fishing year 2025 and 2026 overfishing limit (OFL) and ABC recommendations. The Council also asked the SSC to consider results from the March 2025 Atlantic Herring Research Track Stock Assessment and a risk analysis that will be prepared by the PDT.
The Council will receive the SSC’s report during its April 2025 meeting and discuss whether revisions to the 2025 and 2026 specifications are warranted.
ALASKA: From Sea to Community, The Evolution of Alaska’s Community Development Quota Program
February 19, 2025 — For almost 50 years, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act has governed sustainable fisheries all around the United States. It supports 1.6 million jobs and tens of thousands of small businesses. It also supports one of the most enduring and effective economic opportunity programs in America, the Western Alaska Community Development Quota program, or CDQ.
The Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, as Magnuson-Stevens was originally known, is known globally for creating the “exclusive economic zone,” which gave the United States control of natural resources from 3 miles (the end of state waters) out to 200 miles from its shores. The law evicted foreign fishing fleets from the bountiful fishing grounds of the Bering Sea, reserving it for a small but growing fleet of American fishing vessels. The Act also directs that local stakeholders appointed to regional fishery management councils decide how the fisheries should operate. Their decisions are made within firm statutory guardrails that mandate sustainability, minimize bycatch, and protect fishing communities.
America’s Bering Sea fleet was originally based in, and owned by, Seattle companies. When Congress updated Magnuson-Stevens in 1996, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens added the CDQ program into federal law, setting up a mechanism that would slowly shift ownership of the fleet from Seattle to Alaska. CDQ began at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council in 1992, the brainchild of western Alaska advocates who saw that most Bering Sea communities did not have an economic stake in the Bering Sea. The program sets aside ten percent of the fish harvests for a small percentage of the pollock harvest for 65 Bering Sea communities, most of which are majority Alaska Native. The communities are grouped into six regional non-profit entities. These “CDQ groups” harvest the fish on their own vessels or sell the harvest rights to fishing companies, then use the revenues to invest in the Bering Sea industry and fund economic development in one of America’s poorest regions: coastal western Alaska.
OREGON: Dungeness crab haul is down this season for Oregon fleet, but strong prices making up for less volume
February 19, 2025 — Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab catch is down so far this season but the price fishermen are getting for their catch is buoying the fleet’s spreadsheets.
“The volume is down but the price has been really good so the actual money to the boats is still up there,” said Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s state fishery manager Troy Buell.
Last year at this time approximately 17½ million pounds had been landed for a price paid to fishermen of about $63 million.
“This year we’ve got just under 14 million pounds, but the total revenue to the boats is actually better at over $83 million,” Buell said.
The structure of this season’s opening was staggered to allow crab in Oregon’s northern waters to better fill out with meat. The opening was not exactly the same as last year’s staggered opening, but close enough to make a comparison.
The season, which can open as early as Dec. 1, was delayed until Dec. 16 from the California border to Cape Falcon near Manzanita. Cape Falcon north to the Washington border opened Jan. 7.
MASSACHUSETTS: New Videos Highlight New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center and Port
February 19, 2025 — “Catch the Tradition,” a series of promotional videos touting the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center and the fishing industry, are now finished and ready to share with the public.
Overseeing the project was Marketing Specialist Matt Moyer Bell, who joined Townsquare Sunday this week to discuss the videos.
“The Fishing Heritage Center is not just a museum, it’s a community resource that documents an entire culture and community that is the backbone of New Bedford,” Bell said. “It’s a major part of the economy and the people who live here.”
Senate confirms Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary, a key role for Trump’s trade agenda
February 18, 2025 — As Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick will oversee NOAA, which includes the National Marine Fisheries Service. The following excerpt is from an article by the Associated Press:
The Senate confirmed wealthy financier Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary Tuesday, putting in place a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump’s hardline trade polices.
At the Commerce Department, Lutnick, who was CEO at the investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald, will oversee 50,000 employees who do everything from collecting economic statistics to running the census to issuing weather reports. But he’s likely to spend a lot of time — along with Jamieson Greer, Trump’s nominee to be the top U.S. trade negotiator — managing the president’s aggressive plans to impose import taxes on U.S. trading partners, including allies and adversaries alike.
The Senate vote to confirm Lutnick was 51-45.
Trump views the tariffs as a versatile economic tool. They can raise money to finance his tax cuts elsewhere, protect U.S. industries and pressure other countries into making concessions on such issues as their own trade barriers, immigration and drug trafficking. Mainstream economists mostly view tariffs as counterproductive: They are paid by import companies in the United States, which try to pass along the higher costs to consumers and can thereby add to inflationary pressures throughout the economy.
ALASKA: Alaska’s salmon fishery passes MSC audits, marking 25 years of certification
February 18, 2025 — The Alaskan salmon fishery has met all Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard requirements related to its hatcheries after a recent audit, allowing it to continue possessing its certification.
MRAG Americas, an independent assessment body, determined Alaska’s salmon fishery met the MSC’s hatchery management standards, which include comprehensive marking of hatchery-produced salmon to track the origin of fish to certain hatcheries. The tracking is designed to allow fishery managers to assess and regulate fishery contributions and interactions between hatchery salmon and wild salmon.
USDA sends out second-largest pollock bid invitation ever; offers due by late February
February 18, 2025 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is asking seafood suppliers to bid on significant quantities of domestic pollock, shrimp, and catfish.
The agency is asking for bids on more than 21 million pounds of Alaska pollock fillets, nuggets, and sticks for household food distribution through food banks. Offers are due by 27 February for deliveries that will be made between April and June 2025.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 166
- 167
- 168
- 169
- 170
- …
- 3555
- Next Page »