Saving Seafood

Offshore wind turbines create home for Jonah crabs in New England as lobster population declines

July 16, 2026 — From the docks at the Port of Galilee in Narragansett, fishermen are selling lobster, but they’re also selling Jonah crab, a crustacean that’s been making itself at home near offshore wind turbines.

Historically, Jonah crabs that were caught in lobster traps were thrown back out to sea, but things started to change in the early 2010s when fishermen started targeting the species. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration attributes the shift to a decline in lobsters in Southern New England waters.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission estimated there were roughly 50 million lobsters in this area in 1998. Fast forward to 2022, and the population dropped to less than 10 million.

“Environmental conditions in the American lobster’s range are changing at some of the fastest rates in the world,” the Commission wrote on its website. “The 2025 Assessment indicates the [Southern New England] stock is significantly depleted and overfishing is not occurring.”

Read the full article at WPRI

Golden-sponsored bill to extend pause on new lobster fishing rules

July 16, 2026 — The Maine lobster industry may be getting an extended reprieve on new regulations aimed at protecting North Atlantic right whales.

A bill, the Northeast Lobstermen Protection Act, co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), will extend a moratorium on those regulations for Maine lobster fishermen until 2035. Yesterday, the bill passed the House Natural Resources Committee by a vote of 22-13.

In remarks to the committee, Golden noted that many communities in Maine rely on the lobster industry, and are being threatened by the new regulations.

Read the full article at Spectrum News

US congressional committee votes to extend moratorium on new right whale regulations through 2035

July 16, 2026 — In a 22-13 vote, the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee advanced legislation that would extend a five-year pause on new lobster regulations related to North Atlantic right whales through 2035.

“Protecting the North Atlantic right whale and supporting America’s fishing communities are goals that can and must go hand in hand. By extending the current regulatory framework through 2035, the Northeast Lobsterman Protection Act provides the time needed to develop durable, science-driven solutions that protect this endangered species without imposing unnecessary burdens on fishermen,” U.S. Representative Mike Lawler (R-New York) said in a release.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Millions of seafloor images fuel scallop stock assessments

July 13, 2026 — The cameras are rolling again on Georges Bank, where NOAA Fisheries scientists are collecting millions of images of the seafloor to help shape future management of the Atlantic sea scallop fishery.

The agency’s annual Habitat Camera, or HabCam, survey completed its second leg in late May after spending nine days photographing the seafloor across Nantucket Lightship, the Great South Channel and Georges Bank, roughly 60 to 100 miles offshore. Unlike traditional research surveys that collect animals, HabCam relies on a towed camera system that documents scallops and other bottom-dwelling species without disturbing them.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

One lobsterman’s lawsuit going to the Supreme Court

June 24, 2026 — In 2023, the state of Maine mailed a package to Vinalhaven lobsterman Frank Thompson. “I got the little black thing in the mail, and the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) said, ‘hook it up and turn it on.’ I did. They wanted to track us, to collect data. Some guys mailed it back, but the DMR just sent it back to them. But I was curious, and so I sent it to a friend of mine at Google, and he said, ‘yeah, it’s tracking you 24/7 whether you’re fishing or not, and it has the potential to transmit video and audio.’”

According to legal filings, available here, “the primary purpose is to reduce the risk of North Atlantic right whales from getting entangled in fishing lines… (1) improve information available to fishery managers and stock assessment scientists; (2) support the development of offshore renewable energy in U.S. waters; and (3) improve the efficiency and efficacy of fishery management and offshore enforcement efforts in the EEZ.”

It was too much for Thompson and many other lobstermen, who contend that then DMR commissioner Pat Keliher told them that it had nothing to do with the whales or the wind, but never gave a definitive answer on what it was for, even when asked. They say it violates their 4th Amendment protection from unlawful search and seizure, and Thompson is now taking the case to the Supreme Court.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Consumers would pay more for lobster caught with ropeless gear, study finds

June 16, 2026 — Consumers are willing to pay a premium for lobster harvested with ropeless fishing technology designed to reduce whale entanglement risks, according to new research from the University of Maine.

The study, led by Qiujie “Angie” Zheng, associate professor of business analytics at UMaine’s Maine Business School, found that consumers would pay an average of $3.42 more for a lobster roll when informed that the lobster was caught using ropeless gear — particularly when messaging emphasized animal welfare.

Zheng was careful to frame the findings in context. “These findings do not suggest that Maine’s lobster industry needs to change its current practices,” she said. “Rather, they provide insight into how consumers might respond if ropeless technology were adopted.”

Read the full article at National Fisherman

SCOTUS to consider lobsterman’s challenge to GPS tracking rule

June 10, 2026 — Vinalhaven lobsterman Frank Thompson’s case challenging the constitutionality of Maine Department of Marine Resources’ rule requiring 24/7 GPS tracking on federally licensed lobster boats was among the cases to be considered by the Supreme Court of the United States this week. However, SCOTUS will no longer decide whether to hear the case on June 11, as they have called for a response from the DMR. This information was shared in an email from Pacific Legal Foundation, the public-interest law firm representing Thompson, along with co-counsel from Holtzman Vogel.

In March, Thompson filed a 34-page petition for a writ of certiorari asking the Supreme Court to overturn the GPS tracking rule, arguing that it violates lobstermen’s Fourth Amendment rights protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures. The DMR rule states that every licensed lobster boat must be equipped with a tracker, and the tracker must be fully operational even when boats are docked or not being used for commercial fishing purposes. Failure to comply can result in hefty fines and the loss of fishing licenses.

Read the full article at The Ellsworth American

Ocean conflicts are growing. A new lab at UMass Dartmouth studies how we share the sea

June 9, 2026 — Humans put many demands on the ocean — for fishing, shipping, raw materials, and more. Those demands can threaten marine life and the communities that depend on local fisheries. A new lab at UMass Dartmouth aims to help us share the ocean. CAI’s Jennette Barnes takes us there.

“Over here, we’ve got field supplies.”

Assistant Professor Melissa Cronin is showing me around the room. It has a work table, white boards on the walls, supply cabinets, and a refrigerator.

What we’re really in this room to see, though, are the manta tails.

She invites me to put on some gloves.

“It’s just really … so you don’t, like, shed skin cells,” she says. “And I’ll just show you what we’ve got in here.”

She brings out a plastic tube, labeled with the name of a fishing boat. She uncaps the tube and gently pours a pile of white silica beads onto a piece of bubble wrap.

“And here’s the tail.”

Among the beads sits a dried piece of a manta ray tail. It looks like a short length of dark-gray wire.

Read the full article at CAI

High diesel prices may dampen summer lobster fishing season

June 1, 2026 — Higher diesel fuel prices are worrying lobster fishermen in Maine, just as the summer fishing season is beginning to ramp up.

“It’s going to be more expensive for them to fish if this continues,” said Marianne LaCroix, executive director of the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative.

National data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows the on-highway diesel fuel price on May 25 was $5.52 a gallon. That’s up more than $2 a gallon compared to the same time a year ago.

In New England, the data shows the price on May 25 was $5.80 a gallon, up almost $2 versus a year ago.

“Diesel fuel is one of the big expenses for fishing,” LaCroix said. “Higher fuel costs just makes it more expensive for them to fish.”

Right now, there are about 5,000 lobster fishermen operating off the coast of Maine, and the busy season starts in June.

Read the full article at Spectrum News

Fishermen challenge sea otter protections in Calif. waters

May 22, 2026 — Otters and California’s sea urchin and lobster fisheries are a bad mix, and fishermen are taking legal action to protect themselves from the marine mammal.

“We’ve filed two petitions,” says Nate Hotes, a lawyer with the fishermen’s advocacy organization Pacific Legal Foundation.

“There are two timelines,” says Hotes. “The first is the delisting of the otters under the Endangered Species Act. Back in 2003, the Southern California sea otter population was 3,090 animals above the threshold for listing. We have been trying for the last ten years to get them delisted, and the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) hasn’t moved.”

To provoke action by the FWS on delisting, Hotes reports that the PLF filed a petition on April 24, 2026, requesting that the California otters be delisted. “I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he says. “But they’re supposed to respond to that in 90 days.”

Read the the full article at the National Fisherman