September 23, 2025 — A judge on Monday temporarily lifted the Trump administration’s order to halt construction of Revolution Wind, a massive offshore wind energy project that would power hundreds of thousands of homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
NOAA reports higher than average number of large whale entanglements in 2024
September 23, 2025 — According to a new report by NOAA Fisheries, the number of large whale entanglements recorded by the agency in 2024 was higher than average, with 95 entanglements confirmed nationally – 87 of which featured entangled animals that were still alive at the time of the entanglement report.
That number was a significant increase from the 64 confirmed entanglements in 2023, and from the 17 year average of 71.4 entanglements per year. The agency said it is still looking into the causes of the uptick, and unable to yet determine whether the “increase is temporary or part of a longer term trend.”
US district judge lifts stop-work order on Ørsted offshore wind project
Sptember 23, 2025 — A U.S. judge has lifted a stop-work order on Ørsted’s Revolution Wind project, a large offshore wind installation off the nation’s East Coast.
The Revolution Wind project, which is being built off the coast of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, was halted in August after the Bureau of Energy Ocean Management (BOEM) issued a stop-work order, just weeks after it also canceled all offshore Wind Energy Area designations. BOEM issued a director’s order to halt “all ongoing activities” related to the project, which Ørsted said was 80 percent to completion.
Scott, Whitehouse introduce bill to investigate declining East Coast shellfish populations
September 23, 2025 — Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced new legislation Friday to study the causes of declining native shellfish populations along the United States’ East Coast.
The bipartisan bill’s primary function would be to study the declining quahog, or hard shell clam, population, earning the apt moniker of the QUAHOGS Act – Quantifying Uncertainty and Action to Help Optimize Growth of Shellfish.
Besides quahogs, the legislators cited declining populations of other bivalves too, like oysters, scallops, and soft-shell clams, up and down the eastern coast. The bill would establish the East Coast Bivalve Research Task Force comprised of between 16 and 21 members chaired by a representative from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Agriculture, New England, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Atlantic States Fishery Management Councils, officials from state fish and wildlife management agencies, bivalve fishing industry representatives, academic experts, and at least one Tribal representative would all be appointed by the US Secretary of Commerce to flesh out the task force.
Trump administration seeks to revoke SouthCoast Wind approval
September 23, 2025 — The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion in federal court to revoke federal approval for the SouthCoast Wind project off Massachusetts. Striking at the planned array of 141 turbines is the latest move by the Trump administration to stamp out surviving renewable energy projects approved during the Biden presidency.
The project with a planned 2.4 gigawatt nameplate rating took four years to complete the permitting process and “could now arbitrarily lose approval for its construction and operations plan,” advocates with the BlueGreen Alliance said. “This is the last major federal permit wind projects need before putting turbines into the water and was awarded to SouthCoast Wind after years of careful review.”
The Sept. 18 court maneuver targeting SouthCoast Wind came on the heels of the Trump administration seeking to revoke permits for the US Wind project off Ocean City, Md. SouthCoast was one of the last acts in the Biden administration’s push to move offshore wind projects forward. Its final permit was issued Jan. 17, three days before Trump’s inauguration and his directive that same day to suspended further action on wind power projects.
Whale entanglements were up sharply in 2024, NOAA says
September 23, 2025 — Incidents of large whales becoming entangled in fishing gear and marine debris rose in 2024 to 95 confirmed cases, up from 64 confirmed cases recorded in 2023, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Sep. 18.
The news from NOAA Fisheries came with the release of its National Report on Large Whale Entanglements Confirmed in the United States in 2024. The total is “also above the average annual number of confirmed entanglements over the previous 17 years, which was 71.4,” according to an agency statement.
“We will continue to analyze data from 2024 to understand what factors contributed to the increase and whether this increase is temporary or part of a longer term trend.”
Judge rules against Trump administration, allows Revolution Wind to resume
September 23, 2025 — A federal judge on Monday ordered that Orsted’s Revolution Wind may resume construction, affirming the company’s arguments that the Trump administration’s halting of the project is unlawful.
The ruling is a major win for the offshore wind industry, which to date has not seen much relief from the courts in addressing the obstacles that the Trump administration has put in place through executive and secretarial orders.
The preliminary injunction, as the name suggests, is a preliminary decision that halts the stop-work order while the case plays out. Still, such an injunction must meet four conditions, including that the plaintiff (Orsted) is likely to succeed on the merits of their argument and suffer irreparable harm without relief, and that an injunction would be in the public interest.
Amid economic volatility, financial challenges, U.S. seafood producers are calling for change
September 23, 2025 — Every year, more than US$100 million in federal financing programs are allocated to support U.S. aquaculture businesses. But some producers are finding that availability and meaningful access can be two different things – and they are beginning to speak out.
It’s a seeming disconnect between government pronouncements to support the growth of U.S. aquaculture through these funding programs and the difficulties and hurdles business owners say they face when trying to access them.
“ One of the things that’s really making it a lot more difficult is the position of NOAA,” says Robin Pearl, co-founder and president of Florida-based shrimp genetics producer American Penaeid. “And it shouldn’t be this hard and it shouldn’t be this way.”
Pearl, who also co-founded American Mariculture (AMI), the company behind Sun Shrimp, maintains the current system governing NOAA-managed financing programs has not been responsive to the needs of seafood farmers, especially after their businesses have had to endure a global pandemic and other natural disasters.
NOAA proposes allowing offshore fish farms in Gulf, Pacific
September 23, 2025 — The Trump administration plans to offer up to 21,000 acres of federal waters off Southern California and Texas for large-scale commercial aquaculture, according to a NOAA proposal for 13 “aquaculture opportunity areas” in the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.
The initiative — which could provide a boon to U.S. seafood production while carrying risks for traditional fishing economies and ocean environments — shifts into high gear a Trump administration policy priority embodied in two executive orders, one signed by President Donald Trump during his first term and another this spring.
The Biden administration continued the work of studying possible aquaculture projects, including releasing two draft environmental impact statements. The NOAA documents released Friday are the final environmental reviews.
NORTH CAROLINA: Fighting for a fishing future
September 23, 2025 — Fate brought Mark Vrablic to Wanchese, N.C., at a young age. He grew up in the Etheridge family – more specifically, he grew up in the Willie R. Etheridge Seafood Co. Established in 1936, the Etheridges’ fish company has seen decades of history in southeast and Mid-Atlantic fisheries.
On a hot August afternoon, Vrablic, now manager of Etheridge Seafood, is sitting upstairs in his office, contemplating the past and the future and how he can help keep the North Carolina commercial fishing industry alive and healthy. “I ain’t got time, buddy,” he says when I first arrive. “Come back when I got some boats in and I’m in a better mood.”
But Vrablic is always ready to fight for the industry he’s given his life to. As soon as he answers one question, he’s engaged and telling the story of change on the Wanchese waterfront, a story he hopes the Willie Etheridge Seafood Company will survive.’
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