September 22, 2025 — The scallop market in the US has faced continued challenges in 2025. Low domestic landings continue providing upward pricing pressure, while potentially constrained availability from Canada adds to tight North American supply. A similar scenario played out in 2024, when many market participants turned to Japanese product as a quality substitute for domestic shortfalls.
BOEM Tells Court it Wants to Resume Review of Permits for SouthCoast Wind
September 22, 2025 — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management formally filed with a federal court on Thursday, September 18, calling for the court to set aside the actions of the Biden administration so that it can restart the environmental review on a Massachusetts offshore wind farm project as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing review of the industry.
The Department of Justice made the filing to the federal court as part of a legal action brought in March 2025 by Nantucket, which was challenging the approval of the Construction and Operation Plan for the proposed 2.4 GW SoutCoast Wind. The Department of the Interior and its BOEM are parties to the suit. They have asked that the case be postponed and the permits, which were granted on January 17, just days before the end of the Biden presidency, undergo further review.
The project, which was approved for up to 141 wind turbines and up to five offshore substation platforms, would be located 20 miles south of Nantucket and approximately 30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. It is being developed by Ocean Winds, which is a joint venture between EDP Renewables and Engie. They won the lease for the project originally known as Mayflower Wind at the end of 2018, and the company points out that it spent four years in the review and approval process before the Department of the Interior issued its Record of Decision on December 20.
RHODE ISLAND: Sen. Whitehouse wants to know where the quahogs have gone
September 22, 2025 — A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) aims to address the decline of the quahog and other shellfish populations on the East Coast — and the legislation even bears the name of Rhode Island’s official state shell.
The Quantifying Uncertainty and Action to Help Optimize Growth of Shellfish (QUAHOGS) Act would create a research task force of state and federal agency representatives, fishery management councils, and industry leaders dubbed the “East Coast Bivalve Research Task Force” to find out why fewer bivalves are in the water.
At its peak in 1959, nearly 5 million pounds of quahogs were harvested from Rhode Island waters, according to a March 2024 report by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM). Between 2020 and 2023, that number was less than 500,000 pounds.
“Quahogging in Narragansett Bay is a quintessential Rhode Island trade whose harvest brings us the Ocean State summer staples of clear chowder and stuffies,” Whitehouse said in a statement. “Unfortunately, quahog and other shellfish landings are in steady decline across the Eastern Seaboard, and it’s been difficult for shell fisherman and researchers to pinpoint exactly why.”
Trump administration moves to revoke permit for Massachusetts offshore wind project
September 22, 2025 — The Trump administration has moved to block a Massachusetts offshore wind farm, its latest effort to hobble an industry and technology that President Donald Trump has attacked as “ugly” and unreliable compared to fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, filed a motion in federal court Thursday seeking to take back its approval of the SouthCoast Wind project’s “construction and operations plan.’’ The plan is the last major federal permit the project needs before it can start putting turbines in the water.
SouthCoast Wind, to be built in federal waters about 23 miles south of Nantucket, is expected to construct as many as 141 turbines to power about 840,000 homes in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
The Interior Department action is the latest by the Trump administration in what critics call an “all-out assault” on the wind energy industry.
First US offshore wind ship arrives for work amid Trump attacks
September 22, 2025 — The first American-made offshore wind installation vessel is ready to work, just as the Trump administration is making moves to shut the industry down.
The Charybdis, a turbine installation ship named for the sea monster from Greek mythology, arrived at Portsmouth Marine Terminal in Virginia last week. The $715 million vessel is set to begin erecting turbines next month at the country’s largest marine wind farm, named the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.
The Charybdis’ arrival marks a significant logistical and symbolic milestone for the U.S. offshore wind sector at a moment when the industry is under siege from President Donald Trump.
In latest anti-wind action, Trump administration moves to revoke SouthCoast Wind permit
September 22, 2025 — In another attack on offshore wind, the Trump administration is looking to reconsider a key permit for SouthCoast Wind, a planned 141-turbine project off the Massachusetts coast.
The move comes a week after it revoked the same permit for a proposed wind farm near Maryland, and represents the latest escalation in the administration’s attempt to kneecap the offshore wind industry. Already, the multi-agency effort has resulted in frozen federal permits, restrictions on where wind farms can be built, and new reviews of existing regulations to make sure they they “align with America’s energy priorities under President Donald J. Trump.”
On Thursday, the government filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. to take back its approval of the SouthCoast Wind project’s “construction and operations plan,” or COP. The COP is the last major federal permit an offshore wind project needs before it can start putting turbines in the water.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management had approved SouthCoast’s COP on Jan. 17, 2025, three days before President Trump’s second term began.
“Based on its review to date, BOEM has determined that the COP approval may not have fully complied with the law regulating the use of federal waters over the outer continental shelf,” the government wrote. “That is reason enough to grant a remand.”
In a statement, SouthCoast Wind said the company “intends to vigorously defend our permits in federal court.”
ALASKA: Commissioner’s permit available for new GOA tuna fishery
September 22, 2025 — A brand-new Pacific tuna fishery is open in the eastern Gulf of Alaska and state fisheries officials are anticipating a commercial harvest coming soon.
“It is very exciting; we are hoping to see some tuna harvested in the Sitka area,” said Rhea Ehresmann, Region 1 groundfish project leader for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G).
Pacific tuna species are not currently covered by federal fisheries management in Alaska waters, so they are being managed by the state. Commercial fishermen eager to target, retain and sell Pacific tuna must apply for a commissioner’s permit and possess a valid Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) vessel license and miscellaneous saltwater finfish interim use permit for the gear type used for directed fishing – in this case hand troll, power troll, or mechanical jig.
Pacific tuna caught as bycatch in the salmon troll fishery may be retained using the fisher’s CFEC salmon troll permit card, but salmon trollers must also apply for a commissioner’s permit, Ehresmann said.
The permits are issued with specific stipulations – such as dates the permits are valid, legal gear types, area restrictions/closed waters, requirements for logbooks and fish tickets, and restrictions on bycatch of other species.
Nations ratify world’s first treaty to protect marine biodiversity in international waters
September 22, 2025 — A major agreement to protect marine diversity in the high seas was struck Friday when Morocco became the 60th nation to sign on, paving the way for the treaty to take effect next year.
The High Seas Treaty is the first legal framework aimed at protecting biodiversity in international waters, those that lie beyond the jurisdiction of any single country. International waters account for nearly two-thirds of the ocean and nearly half of Earth’s surface and are vulnerable to threats including overfishing, climate change and deep-sea mining.
“The high seas are the world’s largest crime scene — they’re unmanaged, unenforced, and a regulatory legal structure is absolutely necessary,” said Johan Bergenas, senior vice president of oceans at the World Wildlife Fund.
Still, the pact’s strength is uncertain as some of the world’s biggest players — the U.S., China, Russia and Japan — have yet to ratify. The U.S. and China have signed, signaling intent to align with the treaty’s objectives without creating legal obligations, while Japan and Russia have been active in preparatory talks.
Ratification triggers a 120-day countdown for the treaty to take effect. But much more work remains to flesh out how it will be implemented, financed and enforced.
“You need bigger boats, more fuel, more training and a different regulatory system,” Bergenas said. “The treaty is foundational — now begins the hard work.”
Invitation: SBA Listening Session on Fishing & Canning Industry – Sept. 23, Portland, ME
September 22, 2025 — The Office of Rural Affairs and the National Ombudsman’s Office are having hearing/listening sessions across various states to hear firsthand from small businesses, fisherman, etc. about the regulatory burdens and challenges they face, particularly in the fishing & canning industry. This is in response to the growing concerns within this sector. Through these hearings, our teams will identify effective solutions.
Please see the attached invitation for the next session taking place tomorrow, in Portland, Maine on Sep 23rd from 9:30am-11:30am
Please encourage your members and stakeholders with these interests to attend.
LOUISIANA: Menhaden Industry Steps Up for Local Communities in Wake of Hurricanes
September 22, 2025 — With the 20th anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita upon us, Louisianians are thinking back to that devastation and remembering all those who helped us get through those difficult times. When hurricanes batter the Gulf Coast, the menhaden industry—often seen only for its fishing fleet and processing plants—has taken on a different role: a committed neighbor ready to step up in times of crisis.
In September 2021, after Hurricane Ida tore through southeastern Louisiana, Omega Protein quickly mobilized relief for hard-hit Terrebonne Parish. The company delivered 550 gallons of gasoline, 3 pallets of water (252 cases), and a pallet of hand sanitizer from its plant in Abbeville to St. Joseph Church in Chauvin. Through social media, the company directed its followers to local charities to help get the community back on its feet. Company employees also partnered with relief organization Bayou Boys Community Helpers to distribute over 1,000 meals to residents who had been impacted by the hurricane in neighboring Lafourche Parish.
A year earlier, when Hurricane Laura devastated Cameron Parish with 150-mph winds, the destruction was staggering. In the days immediately after the storm, Omega Protein stepped in, despite having closed its Cameron facility in 2013.
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