February 20, 2026 — President Donald Trump signed a federal spending package in January that includes two-point-five million dollars for menhaden research, ending a two-year wait for state funding. Businesses, scientists, and anglers support the study, saying solid data is needed before imposing limits. Some environmental advocates however, argue reductions should happen now, but regulators are holding off pending the research. We reached out to Omega Protein for comment, and they told us that “Ocean Harvesters, headquartered locally in Reedville, has a long track record of supporting rigorous, independent science to better understand Atlantic menhaden and the broader Bay ecosystem. The Company believes that any funding for menhaden projects at NOAA-Fisheries is in good hands.”
Starfish, moon snails and squid: Researchers work to give scallop boats new purpose
February 19, 2026 — On any given day, research assistant Kelly Alves’ car is full of moon snails.
The little-understood marine species is thought to prey on sea scallops, and that’s as good a reason as any for Alves and her colleagues at the Coonamessett Farm Foundation to learn more about the animal — and all the ways to catch, kill, and potentially market it as seafood. The work comes with hazards.
“One time in New Bedford, I picked them up and there were 100 pounds or so of moon snails in these boxes with holes at the bottom, so the slime just oozed all over the back,” research assistant Emily O’Toole said.
The scientists’ foray into moon snail research is part of a larger federally funded initiative to adapt New Bedford’s scallop fleet for potential new frontiers. Scallop trawlers spend over 300 days a year tied up at the dock. Coonamessett Farm Foundation’s research is working to get them back in the water — even if it means chasing some far-flung fish.
Senior research biologist Samir Patel leads the team of scientists pursuing a number of projects to repurpose or retool scallopers for new uses and markets. Some, like the moon snail project, involve exploring entirely new species these boats could fish besides scallops. Others involve developing new user-friendly research technology that can make scallop trawlers operate more like research vessels.
“We’re not trying to make scallopers more adaptable,” Patel said. “We’re trying to take advantage of how adaptable this industry already is.”
Scientists Prove Shellfish Can Be Farmed Far From Shore
February 19, 2026 — Rutgers researchers have made a discovery that could change the future of seafood farming in New Jersey.
A study led by marine scientist Daphne Munroe has shown that Atlantic surfclams can be successfully farmed in the open ocean.
Her research, published in the North American Journal of Aquaculture, proves that offshore aquaculture is not only possible but promising. This method could help meet the increasing demand for seafood while protecting wild clam populations.
“We’re among the first to show that offshore clam farming can really work,” said Munroe, an associate professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences in the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. “It’s exciting because it opens the door to a new kind of business for New Jersey’s farming and fishing industries.”
The study was funded by a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and was done in partnership with commercial fishing companies.
Seasonal Survey for the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery on the Eastern Part of Georges Bank Project
February 12, 2026 — The Coonamessett Farm Foundation has released the final report for its
Seasonal Survey for the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery on the Eastern Part of Georges Bank
project. The report was formally submitted in November 2025 and was prepared under the 2024
Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside Program, continuing more than a decade of collaborative,
industry-based research. The report summarizes findings from six research trips conducted
between August 2024 and June 2025, providing high-resolution seasonal data on scallop
biomass, spawning activity, meat yield, health condition, predator interactions, and bycatch
dynamics. Sampling focused on key SAMS areas within Closed Area II, the CAII Extension, and
the Southern Flank on eastern Georges Bank.
More information about the project and the full report is available here
What zooplankton can teach us about a changing Gulf of Maine
February 10, 2026 — Karen Stamieszkin, a senior research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, was out on the Gulf of Maine three years ago when she saw red pooling in different directions beneath the waves: a large spring bloom of plankton.
“You could see these plumes of this fat, rich copepod population right at the surface,” said Stamieszkin, referring to a type of tiny crustacean. “That is what drives the Gulf of Maine’s iconic fisheries.”
She was examining the masses of an organism that plays a central role in the Gulf of Maine’s ecosystem, feeding on plant-like plankton and then transferring that energy up the food chain, thereby fueling the region’s cod, herring, and tuna populations.
Three-Dimensional Acoustic Tracking Sheds Light on Beaked Whale Dive Behavior and Acoustic Detection
February 10, 2026 — A new peer-reviewed study in PLOS One sheds light on why some beaked whale species are more detectable than others using passive acoustic monitoring. Researchers examined how differences in species-specific diving and echolocation behaviors affect the ability to detect beaked whales using underwater listening devices. Beaked whales are one of the ocean’s most elusive groups of whales.
The findings are particularly important for the Gulf of America (formerly the Gulf of Mexico), a heavily industrialized region where reliable beaked whale population estimates are needed. A recent study found that beaked whale populations in the Gulf may have declined by as much as 83 percent since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This highlights the need to better understand them to conserve them effectively.
Beaked whales are notoriously difficult to study because they spend little time at the surface to be seen during traditional infrequent visual surveys (vessel and aerial). Passive acoustic monitoring offers a powerful alternative as continuous data is recorded for months at a time. However, this method requires knowledge of whale behavior to understand how to interpret the detection of whale sounds for population monitoring.
Acoustic Detection is Species-Specific
The study shows that detectability varies among beaked whale species, as does their dive and echolocation behavior. Goose-beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris), for example, were detectable for longer periods than Blainville’s (Mesoplodon densirostris) or Gervais’ (Mesoplodon europaeus) beaked whales. Goose-beaked whales performed deeper foraging dives, often close to the seafloor, and produced clicks with higher source levels. These behavioral differences significantly increase the likelihood of detecting goose-beaked whales compared to the other two species.
Pacific Cod Gene Expression Analysis Reveals how Changing Oceans Impact Larvae
February 9, 2026 — A new study used gene expression analysis to explore how temperature and ocean acidification affect Pacific cod larvae. Scientists discovered that larvae are equipped with genes that allow them to survive cool and acidified conditions. However, warming may cause mortality by depleting energy and triggering inflammatory responses. These mechanisms are possible links between changes in ocean conditions and the recruitment of young fish in the Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod population.
Decrease in Pacific Cod Population
Pacific cod is a highly valued commercial fishery, and cod also play a key role in the ecosystem as both predator and prey. However, cod populations in Alaska have declined in recent years. Decreased population size is likely linked to recent marine heat waves, and early life stages seem to be the most impacted. Scientists predict that marine heatwaves may be more common in the future and that ocean acidification will intensify, particularly at high latitudes.
Experiments have shown that Pacific cod are sensitive to temperature during their early life stages. Temperature influences how their eggs develop, how their bodies use energy, and how they grow and survive as larvae. We don’t know as much about the impacts of ocean acidification.
In a 2024 study at the NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center, scientists raised Pacific cod from embryos to larvae at multiple temperatures (3°C, 6°C, 10°C). To examine the potential interaction between temperature and ocean acidification, they also raised them in water that replicated current ocean conditions and in more acidified conditions. This mimicked conditions projected for the end of this century. The study found that larval mortality was very high in warm water but the effect of acidification was more complex.
The effects of temperature and acidified conditions depended on the fish’s development stage. Scientists need to better understand how changing ocean conditions can affect important species like Pacific cod, and whether these species can adapt to these changes.
Bering Sea surveys show positive signs for pollock and snow crab
February 4, 2026 — A pair of NOAA Fisheries surveys of the Northern and Eastern Bering Sea show positive signs for two Alaskan fisheries: pollock and snow crab.
“The good news is that there’s lots of good news,” Thaddaeus Buser, a NOAA Fisheries research biologist who worked on the Bering Sea bottom trawl surveys, said.
NASA utilizing molecular “fingerprints” to collect data on oceanic debris
February 2, 2026 — The Jet Propulsion Laboratory within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is mirroring the same successful sensor data system used at the International Space Station (ISS) for use in marine environments that hold an estimated 8 million tons or more of plastic a year.
In late 2025, NASA scientists were able to successfully detect concentrations of plastic pollution on land for the first time, using a technology called “Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT)” sensors aboard the ISS. According to NASA, strong winds can blow mineral rock dust across continents, as dust trapped in the air can simultaneously heat or cool the Earth’s atmosphere. Mineral dust can also affect atmospheric chemistry, disrupting sunlight absorption and accelerating melting. It also affects human health and visibility.
Context matters: Looking at role in fishery sustainability could serve as a foundation to improve fisheries worldwide
January 26, 2026 — Governance arrangements that fit social-ecological context help support fishery sustainability.
University of Rhode Island marine affairs professor Mateja Nenadović is the lead author on a new paper in Fish and Fisheries, looking at the management of natural resources via local governance arrangements. Such arrangements range from the collective, such as cooperatives and associations, to the individualistic, such as patrons and owner-operators.
Nenadović and colleagues are researching how these arrangements influence marine resource use and associated outcomes. They theorized that sustainable resource use is not associated with a specific governance arrangement, but instead that every type of arrangement has a certain set of conditions under which sustainability is feasible.
His team investigated this hypothesis by studying coastal marine fisheries in Mexico, focusing on the Baja California Sur region between the Gulf of California and the Pacific Ocean. This is one of the most productive marine ecosystems in the world and important for both people and marine biodiversity. Nenadović has been working with fishers in the region for the past 15 years.
Now, his group’s findings have identified which governance arrangements are best suited to particular contexts. Their results provide the initial building blocks for developing a theory of governance fit, instead of “one size fits all” prescriptions for marine management. Such insights will be relevant to small-scale fisheries globally. These fisheries are a critical provider of global food security, biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation worldwide.
Nenadović says their findings suggest that there is no single best governance agreement to achieve sustainable resource use. Instead, they found that each of the two dominant governance arrangements evaluated — cooperative and patron — were both associated with sustainable resource use depending on social and environmental conditions.
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