Saving Seafood

State and Local

MASSCHUSETTS: Two Guatemalan fisheries workers arrested in early-morning operation

May 15, 2025 — Two Guatemalan men — one of whom is waiting for a kidney transplant — never made it to work at a seafood processing plant on Monday.

Marvin Yobani Chitic Us, 30, and Justo Rufino Chitic Us, 33, both undocumented immigrants without any criminal history in Massachusetts, were allegedly taken into custody by federal agents before their early-morning shift at Oceans Fleet, where they have worked for years processing scallops. Though they share a surname, they are not related, their families say.

The first sign something was wrong came shortly after 5 a.m., when Marvin’s sister — who also works at Oceans Fleet — noticed that both men were missing. She called her other brother, Gerardo, to tell him that Marvin did not show up for work.

Alarmed, Gerardo contacted Isaias, Justo’s brother. The two began searching the neighborhood and soon found the car the men used to drive to work. It was parked one block from Marvin’s usual spot on Purchase Street, near his apartment. Inside were two cups of coffee, two pastries, and the car keys in the glove compartment.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

MARYLAND: Moore signs Chesapeake Bay bill as federal cuts loom large

May 14, 2025 — Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed what he called “the most comprehensive piece of Chesapeake Bay legislation that Maryland has seen in years,” at a time when federal cuts threaten environmental programs for the estuary.

The Chesapeake Bay Legacy Act was signed Tuesday, one of 171 bills signed into law at the fourth and next-to-last bill signing ceremony following the 2025 legislative session.

The wide-ranging Legacy Act allots “up to $900,000 per year” to a new certification program for farmers who use sustainable practices that decrease runoff into the bay, establishes a water quality monitoring program to unify current testing efforts and aims to streamline oyster aquaculture leasing, among other provisions.

“At a time when we see how our federal administration has stepped back from protecting our air and our water, Maryland is stepping up,” Moore said.

The governor also signed an abortion grant program that will help fund abortion services for uninsured and underinsured individuals, and a bill allowing individuals with autism and other nonapparent conditions to add an identifying symbol to their state IDs. That, and Tuesday saw the approval of a new state mineral, chromite, and a new state cocktail, the Orange Crush.

Read the full article at Maryland Matters

ALASKA: Alaska’s 2025 salmon forecast more than doubles last year

May 14, 2025 — An early advance from fishery managers shows that Alaska’s 2025 salmon season could be a doozy.

A full report on the 2025 salmon fishery and an overview of the 2024 season should be released any day, but draft projections by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) reveal big increases for all but Chinook salmon.

If the numbers hold true, a statewide salmon catch of nearly 215 million salmon would more than double a 2024 harvest that barely topped 101 million fish.

Here’s the projected harvest breakdown by species with comparisons to the 2024 season.

For sockeye salmon, the forecast calls for a catch of nearly 53 million fish, compared to just over 42 million last year.

For pinks, a huge boost to more than 138 million should hit Alaska fishermen’s nets this summer. In 2024, the pink salmon catch barely topped 40 million fish.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

MAINE: How climate change impacts alewives and other migrating fish in Maine

May 14, 2025 — If you have ever experienced an alewife migration, you know it is a true Maine experience that you must see to believe. As temperatures warm in Maine, alewives are beginning their remarkable migration into the Gulf of Maine. These small but mighty fish face new challenges as climate patterns shift.

“I love alewives, I think they are the most important fish in the sea and the river and the lake,” says Zach Whitener, Research Associate at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. “When you see them scurrying up their brooks, they’ll swim on their side through half an inch of water. They are such determined to get where they want to go.”

Alewives join several species including blueback herring, American shad, and Atlantic salmon that migrate from ocean to freshwater. “These are anadromous fish, which means they live in the ocean as adults, but they spawn in freshwater,” Whitener explains. “In freshwater, the fish don’t have much competition as juveniles.”

After feeding in the ocean for three to four years, these fish return to their birthplace to spawn in the same lakes where they were hatched.

The Gulf of Maine serves as a “grocery store for most of the North Atlantic,” but climate change is creating complex challenges for migrating fish.

Read the full article at WMTW

MAINE: Maine lobstermen remain mighty political force despite shrinking numbers

May 12, 2025 — Maine lobstermen once held more than 7,000 commercial licenses, but now about half many actively fish for Maine’s most valuable catch.

The decline has occurred since the late 1990s as Maine’s commercial fishing industry, which is dominated by lobstermen, faces increasing challenges in the form of climate change, increased regulation and competition for space in the Gulf of Maine.

While the drop has been gradual, its effects could be far-reaching, given lobstermen’s central role in Maine’s coastal economy and their political might in both Augusta and Washington D.C.

On the local level, declining numbers of lobstermen could take away a key economic support for Maine towns and businesses that rely on the fishery.

Read the full article at Bangor Daily News

LOUISIANA: Looking back: The impact of the BP oil spill on Louisiana’s commercial menhaden fishing industry

May 12, 2025 — The BP oil spill—triggered by the Deepwater Horizon explosion 15 years ago last month—remains the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. The Deepwater Horizon explosion killed 11 people and released nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf, devastating ecosystems and contaminating key fishing grounds.

Among the species affected were menhaden—small, oily fish essential to the Gulf’s ecosystem and Louisiana’s economy. As filter feeders and prey for larger predators, they play a critical ecological role. Louisiana’s menhaden fishery, one of the largest in the nation, was hit especially hard. Just two companies harvest menhaden from Louisiana’s waters: Westbank Fishing in Empire and Ocean Harvesters in Abbeville. Together, they employ more than 2,000 workers and contribute over $25 million annually to the state and local economy. But when oil from the spill spread across the northern Gulf, it forced widespread closures of federal and state waters—including over half of Louisiana’s inshore fishing grounds. The industry was suddenly paralyzed, facing a collapse in access, markets, and operating stability.

For Westbank Fishing, the disaster struck just five years after Hurricane Katrina had devastated its home base in Plaquemines Parish. The company had only recently rebuilt its fleet, processing facility and workforce. “We’d already learned how to survive after Katrina,” said Shane Treadaway, Vice President of Operations. “So, when the oil spill happened, we knew how to dig in, stay focused, and do whatever it took to come back strong.” That hard-earned resilience became critical as the company confronted yet another crisis.

Read the full article at The Advocate

Alaska Sen. Sullivan pushes U.S. government to complete key stock surveys, fight illegal fishing amid possible NOAA funding cuts

May 9, 2025 — The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation unanimously passed a seafood bill on April 30 to fight illegal fishing. The legislation would rely on efforts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which Sen. Dan Sullivan said is already struggling to complete key fisheries surveys.

Sullivan co-sponsored the Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvest, or FISH, Act with seven other senators, including Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Sullivan said he hopes it will help fight unfair trade practices and give a boost to Alaska’s fishing industry.

Sullivan said the act takes aim at foreign illegal, unreported and unregulated, or IUU, fishing.

“It would blacklist foreign vessels and owners that have engaged in IUU fishing — it’s mostly Chinese,” Sullivan said. “And it would provide much more enforcement with regard to our Coast Guard’s ability to increase at-sea inspections.”

Any blacklisted vessels would be prohibited from accessing U.S. ports, traveling through U.S. territorial seas, except in accordance with customary international law, making deliveries in U.S. waters, or receiving services from American vessels.

Read the full story at KYUK

Trump administration is ending NOAA data service used to monitor sea ice off Alaska

May 8, 2025 — The Trump administration is ending National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration services that monitor Arctic sea ice and snow cover, leading climate scientists said Tuesday.

NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information has decommissioned its snow and ice data products as of Monday, the National Snow and Ice Data Center announced.

The data collected by that NOAA office is critical to the daily updates provided by the Colorado-based center, which tracks one of the most obvious effects of climate change: the long-term loss of Arctic sea ice.

It is also critical to the regular sea ice reports produced by Rick Thoman at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy, as well as to research done by his UAF colleagues.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Washington State River Restoration Project to Revive Salmon Habitat, Support Local Jobs

May 7, 2025 — This spring, NOAA partner the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership broke ground on a large-scale salmon habitat restoration project on the lower East Fork Lewis River in Washington State. This project will support the recovery of threatened steelhead and salmon on one of the few undammed rivers in the Lower Columbia River watershed. It will also inject millions into the local economy and generate hundreds local jobs in construction, heavy equipment operations, trucking, engineering, forestry, and other industries.

In addition, the work will help maintain fishing opportunities that further contribute to the local economy.

Flooding Destroys Habitat

In 1996, Steve Manlow, Executive Director of the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board, watched in horror as a 500-year flood event destroyed crucial salmon and steelhead habitat on the lower East Fork Lewis River. Flood waters breached the levees around nine abandoned gravel mining pits, fundamentally shifting the river’s course.

This once-braided, multi-channel river began flowing through the excavated pits. It formed a series of interconnected warm-water ponds that prevent salmon and steelhead from migrating upstream for much of the year. The river channel deepened, cutting off floodplain habitat and causing severe erosion downstream.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

Tariffs could add $500M to cost of Virginia Beach offshore wind farm, Dominion tells investors

May 7, 2025 — Dominion Energy expects to pay more to complete the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project because of the Trump administration’s new taxes on imported goods including monopile foundations and turbine towers.

The $10.8 billion offshore wind farm about 30 miles off the Virginia Beach coast will be the nation’s largest, consisting of 176 turbines that generate about 2.6 gigawatts of electricity, or enough to power up to 660,000 homes.

Dominion CEO Bob Blue told investors last week that if current tariffs continue through construction of the project late next year, the utility would expect about $500 million in added costs.

“Of course, changes to future tariff policy could affect these estimates,” he said. “It’s difficult to fully assess the impact tariffs may have to the project’s final cost, as actual costs incurred are dependent upon the tariff requirements and rates, if any, at the time of delivery of the specific component.”

Read the full story at the Virginia Mercury