Saving Seafood

State and Local

CALIFORNIA: CDFW authorizes first on-demand gear for Dungeness crab

January 30, 2026 — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has approved the first-ever state-authorized on-demand fishing gear for use in California’s commercial Dungeness crab fishery, marking a significant step forward in efforts to reduce marine life entanglement risk.

CDFW supports the development and testing of fishing gear modifications and innovations aimed at lowering the risk of entanglement with Dungeness crab fishing gear. Currently, the state offers two primary pathways for testing and using innovative or experimental fishing gear: Experimental Fishing Permits (EFPs) and alternative gear authorization.

Under the state’s Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program, alternative gear authorization establishes a process for certifying innovative gear types that reduce entanglement risk. Once authorized by the CDFW director, alternative gear may be used between April 1 and the closure of the commercial Dungeness crab statutory season in areas that would otherwise be closed to traditional crab fishing.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

LOUISIANA: Louisiana Shrimp Association Rebukes CCA Louisiana, Says Don’t Use Us in Attacks on Commercial Fishing

Jan. 29, 2026 — The Louisiana Shrimp Association issued a forceful public response after it said CCA Louisiana tagged the group in a Facebook post that appeared designed to bait shrimpers into joining an attack on Louisiana’s menhaden fishery. “Let us be absolutely clear about where we stand,” the association wrote as it rejected any effort to enlist the shrimp industry in CCA’s menhaden messaging.

In its statement, the shrimpers wrote that CCA Louisiana was “attempting to drag us into their ongoing attack on commercial fisheries,” and framed the episode as part of a broader campaign against working fishermen. “CCA has systematically worked to destroy the way of life of Louisiana’s commercial fishermen,” the statement continued. “Through misleading propaganda and back-room political pressure, they have stripped working fishermen of our rights and our livelihoods.”

The shrimpers cited a series of fishery policy fights it says have steadily narrowed opportunity for commercial harvesters in Louisiana. “Commercial fishermen have lost the right to fish with gill nets,” the statement said. “We are prohibited from fishing mullet at night and on weekends, wiping out our entire winter fishery and the income that sustained our families. Redfish and speckled trout were pushed into ‘game fish’ status, completely removing commercial fishermen from those fisheries.”

With those options reduced many commercial fishing families have become increasingly dependent on shrimp, but only seasonally. “Now, many commercial fishermen are left with shrimp as our only primary income, and only for about six months out of the year,” the association wrote, warning that shrimpers could be next. “We watched what CCA tried to do to shrimpers in North Carolina last year. We know exactly what is coming next. After menhaden, they are coming for the shrimpers, and the Louisiana Shrimp Association is being targeted simply for standing with menhaden fishermen.”

The post that triggered the response was published by CCA Louisiana on January 24, 2026, and highlighted comments from Andrew Godley, identified as the founder and president of Parish Brewing Company. In that post, Godley claimed “one of the ugliest impacts” of the menhaden fishery is its relationship to farmed shrimp overseas, arguing that menhaden-based fishmeal helps make imported farmed shrimp cheaper and therefore harmful to domestic shrimpers. Godley also asserted that Louisiana’s menhaden policy effectively subsidizes foreign shrimp farms by allowing “free, unlimited removal” of menhaden used as feed.

The Louisiana Shrimp Association’s response criticized CCA’s goals for commercial fishing in the state. “Let there be no confusion about the end game: CCA will not stop until every commercial fishery is shut down,” the statement said. “This is not conservation—it is greed and control.”

As part of its criticism, the association raised what it described as a core fairness issue: reporting and accountability. “If CCA truly cared about conservation, they would support accountability for everyone, not just commercial fishermen,” the statement continued. “Every commercial fishery—shrimp, crabs, oysters, crawfish, menhaden, and finfish—must report every pound we harvest through trip tickets. Meanwhile, recreational fisheries remove massive amounts of fish from Louisiana waters without reporting a single fish. That hypocrisy must end.”

The statement called for legislative action to impose reporting requirements on the recreational sector and organizations involved in the policy fight. “We call on the Louisiana Legislature to take immediate action and require recreational organizations and fisheries, including CCA, to report their catch,” the association wrote. “Conservation without accountability is meaningless.”

The association urged the public and lawmakers to oppose what it described as incremental attacks on commercial livelihoods. “To the public: stand with the working men and women who have fed this state for generations,” the statement said. “To our legislators: stop allowing one special-interest group to dismantle Louisiana’s commercial fishing industry piece by piece.”

The shrimpers concluded by unequivocally refusing to ally with any campaign against another fishery: “Commercial fishermen will never take sides with CCA, and we will not be used to help shut down any fishery. The Louisiana Shrimp Association stands united with all commercial fishermen—menhaden, shrimp, and every working fishery in Louisiana and across this country.”

Court says Vineyard Wind can resume ‘full activities’

January 29, 2026 — After two other projects secured relief in the courts, Vineyard Wind on Tuesday also won a decision allowing it to resume “full activities” at its offshore wind power project south of Nantucket.

U.S. District Court Judge Brian Murphy in Massachusetts stayed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Dec. 22 project suspension order, which Vineyard Wind challenged on Jan. 15.

“As the legal process proceeds, Vineyard Wind will continue to work with the Administration to understand the matters raised in the Order,” Vineyard Wind said in a statement. “Vineyard Wind will focus on working in coordination with its contractors, the federal government, and other relevant stakeholders and authorities to safely restart activities, as it continues to deliver a critical source of new power to the New England region.”

Read the full article at the Boston Herald

MASSACHUSETTS: Vineyard Wind’s final turbine tower heads out of New Bedford port

January 29, 2026 — Less than 24 hours after Vineyard Wind secured a win in federal court that lifted the project suspension, it sailed its 62nd and final turbine tower out of the Port of New Bedford on a brutally cold Wednesday morning. The shipment comes more than two years after the first turbine went out, capping off a long installation process that hit several unexpected bumps and delays along the way.

All that remains now are 10 blade sets — or 30 blades — to install by the end of March, when the project will lose access to its specialized installation vessel.

Depending on the weather and sea conditions, a single blade can take a few hours to install. If the seas are too rough, work has to pause.

Chris Melendez, a millwright who started working at New Bedford’s Marine Commerce Terminal for Vineyard Wind in 2024, said workers are “excited that [it’s] finally leaving.”

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

ALASKA: Feds mull first-ever seafloor mining in Alaskan waters

January 29, 2026 — The Trump administration is considering allowing deep-sea mining in the waters off the coast of Alaska, sparking concerns about the fate of world class fisheries and fragile ecosystems.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy and Management, or BOEM, will begin gauging interest in a competitive mineral lease sale on Alaska’s outer continental shelf when a notice is published in the Federal Register on Thursday. The agency, according to a map posted online, is looking at large swaths of the Bering Sea, including the Aleutian Islands.

BOEM’s acting Director Matt Giacona said in a statement that Alaska’s offshore “holds strategic potential for the minerals that drive American industry, defense and next-generation technologies,” and that the request for information is “a practical first step to gauge interest and identify areas where development could make sense for jobs, investment and national supply chains.”

Read the full article at E&E News

Vineyard Wind 1 blows past federal stop-work order, project to resume

January 29, 2026 — Vineyard Wind 1 picked up a legal tailwind on Jan. 27 after a federal judge stayed a Trump administration stop-work order that halted the nearly finished project just more than a month ago.

Judge Brian E. Murphy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted the company a preliminary injunction, blocking a Dec. 22 suspension order the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued to five major East Coast offshore wind projects.

The ruling allows Vineyard Wind 1, a joint venture of Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, to restart full construction activities in its lease area south of Martha’s Vineyard and southwest of Nantucket while the broader legal challenge moves through the court system. The project brings power ashore at Covell Beach in Barnstable, connecting to the New England power grid by way of a substation in Hyannis.

Read the full article at Cape Cod Times

Commission again sets Pacific halibut harvest at rock-bottom levels amid U.S.-Canada tensions

January 29, 2026 — The International Pacific Halibut Commission set the 2026 harvest at a historic low during an annual meeting that drew a Trump administration political appointee to lead tense U.S. negotiations with Canada over shares of a shrunken fishery.

The four-day gathering last week in Bellevue, Washington, came during a time of tumultuous relations between the two nations.

President Donald Trump’s tariff policy and blustering talk of making Canada part of the United States have spurred widespread anger among Canadians. January has been particularly volatile, as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, at an economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, attacked “coercion” by great powers, while Trump, in a subsequent speech, asserted that “Canada lives because of the United States.”

At the Bellevue halibut meeting, Drew Lawler, a political appointee to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, served as the non-voting head of the U.S. delegation.

In private talks sandwiched between public parts of the meeting, the U.S. delegation threatened economic sanctions, and successfully pressured Canadians to trim the British Columbia share of the halibut harvest, according to sources with knowledge of these discussions.

The commission is charged by a more than century-old treaty with conserving Pacific halibut. There are three voting representatives from the United States and three from Canada.

The halibut fishery has been in a deep prolonged downturn that has buffeted sport, commercial and subsistence fishermen in Alaska, British Columbia, Oregon, Washington and Northern California. Since the early 2000s, both the average size and overall population of halibut have fallen precipitously, according to scientists.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

ALASKA: Unalaska’s pollock industry anticipates upcoming chum bycatch decision

January 29, 2026 — The Unalaska City Council took up the issue of salmon bycatch at its two January meetings, ultimately agreeing to support industry-run bycatch avoidance programs.

Salmon bycatch has been a flashpoint for years. And the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which oversees federal fisheries in Alaska, including in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, will now weigh in on whether to impose stricter limits on chum salmon bycatch at its upcoming February meeting.

That’s got Unalaska leaders worried the decision could threaten the pollock industry that underpins the island’s economy.

“This is one of the most important items in the last few years,” said Frank Kelty, the city’s fisheries consultant at the city council’s Jan. 13 meeting.

Kelty warned council members that proposed limits could have major consequences for the community, whose economy revolves around the fishery.

Kelty told council members that the pollock B season — which accounts for about 60% of the annual pollock harvest — is particularly at risk.

He pointed to one proposal that would cap incidental catch of chum salmon at 100,000. Kelty said under that scenario, the pollock B season would have shut down early in eleven of the past twelve years.

That, he said, would ripple through Unalaska’s economy — affecting processors, harvesters, city revenues and support businesses, like refrigeration companies.

Read the full article at KUCB

OREGON: Oregon implements new rules for crab fishers to reduce whale deaths

January 29, 2026 — The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is implementing temporary rule changes for Dungeness crab fishers in the 2025-26 season to restrict gear and areas where fishing can occur.

Beginning April 1, crab fishers must comply with late-season whale entanglement risk reduction measures, including a 20% reduction in pot limits, a 40-fathom depth restriction and the mandatory use of secondary buoy tags.

The changes follow a petition conservation groups filed Dec. 11 asking the state to adopt measures to reduce whale and sea turtle entanglements in Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab fishery after a record number of humpback whales were caught in Oregon Dungeness crab fishing gear in 2024 and 2025.

Read the full article at OPB

MARYLAND: Maryland oyster hatchery faces federal funding cut

January 29, 2026 — In a potentially serious blow to oyster restoration efforts in Maryland, the Trump administration has slashed federal funding that supports the operation of the state-run oyster hatchery on the Eastern Shore.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is cutting nearly in half the $740,000 grant it has provided annually for spawning and rearing oysters at the Horn Point laboratory of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES).

The cut comes on the heels of the successful conclusion of a more than decade-long campaign to restore oysters in 10 Chesapeake Bay tributaries in Maryland and Virginia — an effort the state-federal Chesapeake Bay Program is now looking to expand. It also comes as Congress, in a rare show of bipartisanship, has increased rather than cut federal funding for Bay oyster restoration efforts.

The Horn Point hatchery, one of the largest on the East Coast, has played a central role in the restoration of oyster reefs in Maryland’s five tributaries. Its annual output of oyster larvae since 2020 has ranged from 400 million to nearly 2 billion.

The hatchery sells some of those larvae to private oyster farmers, but three-quarters of the newly spawned bivalves are set or attached to oyster shells and planted on the bottom of Bay tributaries targeted by the state for restoration.

Read the full article at the Bay Journal