Saving Seafood

Council Addresses Executive Order and NOAA Directives through 2027 Work Priorities

September 21, 2026 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

During its September 2026 Council Meeting the New England Fishery Management Council addressed multiple management priorities that were identified by NOAA in a July 2, 2026 letter regarding Executive Order 14276, “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness”. Updates and Council next steps on each item are outlined below. The Council will send an official response to NOAA by September 30, 2026.

IMPLEMENT ROTATIONAL ACCESS FOR THE NORTHERN EDGE SCALLOP FISHERY

The Council committed to considering scallop fishery access to the Northern Edge during the 2027 priority setting process at the December 2026 meeting. NOAA had requested the Council establish a controlled, rotational limited-access scallop fishery within the Northern Edge Habitat Areas of Particular Concern. This will allow time to evaluate the request alongside all potential 2027 priorities. The Council considered four potential management options to open the area to scalloping including a holistic habitat management review; a dedicated habitat action; a scallop action that builds on previous analyses and alternatives; or not including this work as 2027 priorities which could lead to a Secretarial Action. The Northern Edge is currently designated a Habitat Management Area, which closes it to dragging gear to minimize impacts on essential fish habitat for Atlantic cod, American lobster, Atlantic herring, among other species.

IMPLEMENT SCALLOP PERMIT STACKING

NOAA tasked the Council with pursuing an action on scallop permit stacking but due to capacity constraints, the Council will not include this issue as a 2027 priority, deferring to NOAA and a potential Secretarial Action. While the Council does not have a position on stacking permits, it last took up the issue of consolidation at the September 2022 meeting when it opted not to develop an action to allow leasing in the Limited Access component of the fishery following a scoping process. At the time, the Council cited concerns about job losses and other negative economic impacts on waterfront communities as reasons for not developing an action. The July 2026 NOAA letter also cited these associated risks of stacking including “foreign ownership, job reductions, and erosion of our critical working waterfronts.” Proponents of stacking cite the economic relief of reduced operational costs, reduced congestion in ports and while fishing, and the ability to fish two allocations on their safest and best vessel.

Long-awaited Framework takes effect for Northeast groundfish fleet

August 4, 2026 — After months of uncertainty that left New England groundfishermen planning around regulations that had yet to take effect, NOAA Fisheries has cleared the second major regulatory hurdle for the 2026 fishing year.

The agency published an interim final rule Aug. 4 implementing Framework Adjustment 72 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan, making updated catch limits, revised sector allocations and other management measures effective immediately while accepting public comments through Sept. 3.

The action follows NOAA’s June implementation of Amendment 25, which restructured Atlantic cod management into four biologically distinct stocks. Together, the two rulemakings complete the regulatory changes that many fishermen and sector managers had been waiting on since before the start of the May 1 fishing year.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NOAA Fisheries Sets Management Measures for Northeast Multispecies

August 4, 2026 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is approving Framework 72 developed by the New England Fishery Management Council that sets or adjusts catch limits for Northeast multispecies (groundfish) stocks for the 2026 fishing year (May 1, 2026 – April 30, 2027), including the three stocks managed jointly with Canada. Framework 72 revises catch limits of 12 groundfish stocks based upon the results of stock assessments conducted in 2025 and are intended to help prevent overfishing and rebuild overfished stocks. It revises status determination criteria for Georges Bank yellowtail and modifies the process for the Regional Administrator to set recreational management measures for Atlantic cod and haddock stocks that do not have a recreational allocation.

We are accepting public comment on this interim final rule as published in the Federal Register and submit your comments through the online portal. The comment period is open through September 3, 2026.

Questions?
Industry: Contact Liz Sullivan, Regional Office, 978-282-8493

Media: Contact GARFO Public Affairs

NOAA Report Finds Gulf of Maine Warming Slowed for Now, but Ecosystem Remains Unstable

July 28, 2026 — Maine’s fishing ports are doing well for now, but climate change is destabilizing the Gulf of Maine, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s latest “State of the Ecosystem” report for New England waters. Federal scientists presented the report to the New England Fishery Management Council in April, and published it online last week.

They found that some Maine fishing ports are growing busier, likely driven by the high price of lobster. Stonington, Harpswell and Friendship all see more activity now than they did roughly 20 years ago.

And 2025, like 2024, offered slightly cooler water temperatures after more than a decade of rapid and record-breaking warming in the Gulf of Maine. But the scientists predict that temperatures will warm again this fall, and will continue to rise long-term as the burning of fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

To weather these ongoing changes, fishermen and their communities need to diversify their businesses, experts say.

“Things don’t look particularly stable either in terms of the fishery or the ecosystem,” said Joseph Caracappa, a research biologist at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center who edited the report. “We’re seeing big changes that are sweeping across the ecology of the system and fisheries. Even socially, culturally — how communities are structured, where people are fishing, who’s actually doing the fishing.”

This annual report includes contributions from more than 100 scientists across the Northeast. NOAA has had to make do with fewer resources as the federal government’s priorities have changed under the second Trump administration, but otherwise the report has been prepared and published as usual, Caracappa said. And in fact, this latest report debuted a new section dedicated to forecasting ocean conditions in the year ahead.

Read the full article at U.S. News

NOAA holds first-ever international cooperative research gathering

July 28, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries recently held what it is describing as its first-ever international cooperative research knowledge exchange with Scotland.

NOAA hosted 16 members of the Scottish Fishermen’s Association in a three-day event which involved tours of multiple ports, fishing vessels, and seafood processing facilities. The goal of the exchange was to share fisheries knowledge between the two organizations, which share management of multiple fisheries species in the Atlanic including Atlantic cod, Atlantic pollock, haddock, Atlantic mackerel, and Atlantic herring.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Scottish fishing leaders look to Northeast cooperative research model

June 21, 2026 — A delegation of commercial fishing leaders from Scotland toured ports across the Northeast last month to study how cooperative research between fishermen and scientists is shaping fisheries management, with hopes of applying similar approaches as Scotland revises its own fisheries policies.

According to NOAA Fisheries, 16 members of the Scottish Fishermen’s Organisation participated in the agency’s first international cooperative research knowledge exchange, visiting four ports over three days. The group toured 12 commercial fishing vessels, six seafood processing facilities and dealers, a net manufacturing company in Point Judith, R.I., and the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center.

The delegation focused on fisheries shared by the United States and Scotland, including Atlantic cod, haddock, Atlantic pollock, Atlantic mackerel, Atlantic herring, dogfish, and shortfin and longfin squid.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Thirty years after closure, Northern Edge scallop grounds could reopen

July 10, 2026 — President Donald Trump’s proposal to reopen the Northern Edge of Georges Bank to scallop fishing is generating optimism throughout New England’s scallop industry, though fishermen and scientists say reopening one of the East Coast’s most productive fishing grounds will likely take time and require approval through the federal management process. The Northern Edge has been closed to scalloping since 1994 to protect Atlantic cod habitat.

The Trump administration announced it plans to reopen the area on a rotational basis and allow “stacking” of scallop permits, which would enable vessels to harvest multiple permits on a single trip. However, Maine Public reported that the New England Fishery Management Council would first need to approve the change before the fishery could reopen.

“From an industry perspective, access to the Northern Edge would be a blessing,” Eric Hansen, owner of two New Bedford scallop vessels and a council member, told Maine Public. “The loss of resource and revenue for the scallop industry for the last 30 years has been huge.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NEFMC splits Atlantic cod stock, but fishing advocates still take issue with management methods

July 2, 2026 — The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) has approved a new multispecies fishery management plan, officially splitting the management areas for cod in the Northeast U.S.

Amendment 25 has separated the management of Atlantic cod in New England into four distinct areas – Eastern Gulf of Maine cod, Western Gulf of Maine cod, Georges Bank cod, and Southern New England cod.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

National Marine Fisheries study determines four genetically different cod populations in Gulf of Maine, southern New England, adjusts management

July 1, 2026 — The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has approved an update to the Multispecies Fishery Management Plan developed by the New England Fishery Management Council. The plan is to improve management of the chronically overfished Atlantic cod population and rebuild the historic New England fishery by incorporating new genetic information and requiring 100% observer coverage, according to a June 30 news release.

For more than 40 years, Atlantic cod has been managed as two distinct populations: Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank. Recent studies, however, show there are four genetically distinct populations: Eastern Gulf of Maine, Western Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and Southern New England. Using new genetic data to count and manage each population individually is a more effective way to reduce overfishing, prevent collapse, and help rebuild fish populations, the NMFS said.

“Sound science is the foundation of good management. We commend the National Marine Fisheries Service for integrating new genetic data to create forward-looking policies for one of New England’s most iconic and economically vital fisheries,” said Gib Brogan, Fishery Campaign Director for Oceana, in the release. “Using this new genetic information will lead to better management within each population of Atlantic cod to prevent overfishing, reduce the risk of collapse, and rebuild fish populations for future generations.” 

Read the full article at Penobscot Bay Pilot

MASSACHUSETTS: Scientists and fishermen join forces to study Atlantic cod

June 4, 2026 — After ten days at sea, researchers from the UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) have returned from the Spring 2026 Gulf of Maine video trawl survey with encouraging early signs for one of New England’s most iconic fish species: Atlantic cod.

Conducted in partnership with commercial fishermen and supported by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the survey uses a unique open cod end video method developed by SMAST researchers to observe fish populations with minimal impact. The collaborative project reflects the growing role of industry-science partnerships in fisheries research while generating data that can help improve understanding and management of Gulf of Maine fish stocks.

The team departed May 6 and returned May 15 aboard the F/V Justice, owned by New Bedford commercial fisherman Danny Eilertsen. The vessel crew included Captain Robert Kohl, First Mate Tim Barrett, and Andrew Earle, who served as cook and deckhand. SMAST’s scientific team included Chief Scientist Dr. Nicholas Calabrese, PhD student Stephanie Merhoff, and MS student Helena Norton. On the first day of the survey, a film crew joined the expedition to collect footage for a documentary film about the historical and ongoing importance of the fishing and seafood industry in Boston and Massachusetts. This short film will be a centerpiece for the Boston Fisheries Museum’s upcoming exhibit during Sail Boston.

Read the full article at UMass Dartmouth