Saving Seafood

Menhaden coalition warns Bay cuts could threaten fishing jobs

October 16, 2026 — The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition (MFC) is pushing back against a congressional effort to further restrict Atlantic menhaden harvest in the Chesapeake Bay, arguing that lawmakers should not make additional cuts before ongoing Bay-specific research is complete.

In an Oct. 15 statement, the coalition challenged an Oct. 9 letter led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Rep. Sarah Elfreth, D-Md., urging the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to take additional action to protect menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay.

The coalition said further restrictions could significantly affect fishermen, processing workers, and communities tied to the Reedville, Va., reduction fishery. Ocean Harvesters and Omega Protein‘s Reedville operations provide approximately 250 to 300 jobs with benefits, according to the MFC.

The coalition also cited a review by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Committee on Economics and Social Sciences that estimated more than 500 full- and part-time reduction fishery jobs in Maryland and Virginia, including hundreds in Northumberland County. The MFC said the Reedville workforce is predominantly minority and unionized, with many families having longstanding ties to the fishery.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Lawmakers Demand Menhaden Cuts Before Chesapeake Bay Science Is Complete, Ignoring Already Struggling Workers

October 16, 2026 – The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition is challenging an October 9 congressional letter, led by Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Representative Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.), urging the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) to impose additional restrictions on Atlantic menhaden fishing before critical Chesapeake Bay research has been completed.

The proposed restrictions threaten a predominantly minority, unionized workforce whose families have depended on the Reedville, Virginia fishery for generations. For more than a century, the industry has helped sustain Virginia’s Northern Neck communities, providing jobs that support families and send children to school and college. United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 has documented the importance of these jobs, including in a video featuring the fishermen themselves.

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) has raised concernsabout the disproportionate consequences of further restrictions for African American workers, union families and rural communities, calling for environmental stewardship and sound science alongside economic justice.

Ocean Harvesters and Omega Protein’s Reedville operations provide approximately 250 to 300 well-paying jobs with benefits. A review by the ASMFC’s own Committee on Economics and Social Sciences cites estimates of more than 500 full- and part-time reduction fishery jobs in Maryland and Virginia, including hundreds in Northumberland County. It also warns that further restrictions could threaten the viability of the entire Reedville operation.

The future of the menhaden fishery, and the families who depend on it, requires a healthy Chesapeake Bay. Nobody has a greater stake in protecting the Bay than the fishermen and processing workers whose livelihoods depend on it. The fishery has worked with regulators and scientists, adjusted its fishing practices, complied with regulatory harvest limits and supported new research to improve management.

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science confirms that scientists lack sufficient data to determine adult menhaden abundance or survival in the Chesapeake Bay. And there is no scientifically established Bay-specific harvest threshold or validated adult abundance index demonstrating that commercial fishing has depleted menhaden to an unsustainable level. Virginia has committed $2 million over two years to new Chesapeake Bay menhaden research. Senator Van Hollen helped secure another $2.5 million in federal funding for a Bay-specific menhaden survey. Yet he is now leading an effort to impose additional restrictions before the research he helped fund produces results.

Participants in the fishery are members of the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS), a member of the National Science Foundation’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers program, and contributed financially to its Chesapeake Bay menhaden research roadmap. The roadmap identifies research needed to establish a scientifically defensible Bay harvest cap. The fishery is actively cooperating with researchers from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as they develop that roadmap.

The congressional letter points to osprey breeding problems and declining Maryland bait landings as evidence of menhaden scarcity. Researchers have documented serious osprey reproductive problems, but have not established that commercial menhaden harvest caused them or that restricting the fishery would improve reproduction. Declining bait landings likewise do not establish declining Bay-wide abundance. Maryland fisheries scientists reported that explaining a recent decline in a local menhaden index through increased harvest would require an implausibly large increase in landings, suggesting other explanations, including migration, should be considered.

Maryland’s own Department of Natural Resources reported in October 2025 that juvenile Atlantic menhaden and bay anchovies were widespread in the Chesapeake Bay for the third consecutive year. The agency’s annual juvenile fish survey documented more than 36,000 fish representing 55 species. The survey does not measure adult abundance, but its findings challenge sweeping claims of Bay-wide scarcity.

The lawmakers call for ecosystem-based management, but the ASMFC already adopted ecological reference points (ERPs) in 2020, following years of work among the commercial fishery, recreational fishing interests, conservation organizations and scientists. Since 2021, those reference points have guided catch limits by accounting for the menhaden needed as prey. Striped bass was selected as the focal predator because the model found it most sensitive to menhaden harvest. The ASMFC’s 2025 ecosystem review also included osprey in the supporting full ecosystem model. The lawmakers have not explained why further restrictions would achieve benefits beyond this existing ecosystem-based system, or why it is inadequate.

Major recreational and conservation organizations helped advocate for the adoption of this system and publicly praised it when the ASMFC approved it. In an August 5, 2020 announcement, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership President Whit Fosburgh called it a “landmark decision” and “a new era in fisheries management.” The American Sportfishing Association welcomed predator-sensitive quotas as “the science-based management we look for.” Coastal Conservation Association Maryland applauded “a more holistic approach,” and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation called the decision a “significant step” in science-based fisheries management. The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas also endorsed the new approach.  Their support explicitly extended to birds: a July 2020 coalition letter urging the ASMFC to adopt the reference points identified ospreys, bald eagles, common loons and brown pelicans among the species the new approach was intended to protect.

The ASMFC’s own ecological reference point analysis found that even ending all menhaden fishing would not, by itself, rebuild striped bass to its biomass target; sustainable recreational and commercial striped-bass fishing remains essential. And the ASMFC’s April 2025 Chesapeake Bay review analyzed eight datasets covering 298,232 striped bass and found, using Fulton’s Condition Factor, that the sampled fish “are not starving and would be considered healthy.” Their body condition does not directly measure menhaden abundance, but it provides strong evidence against widespread striped-bass starvation.

The signers of the congressional letter were misled into believing that Atlantic menhaden are overfished. The facts are clear: according to the ASMFC’s latest assessment, Atlantic menhaden are not overfished, and overfishing is not occurring. The Commission already reduced the coastwide catch limit by 20% for 2026. The Atlantic menhaden purse seine fishery is certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Whole Foods Market, an MSC partner since 1999, describes it as the world’s leading certification program for sustainable wild-caught seafood, involving independent review of fish populations, ecosystem impacts and responsible fishery management.

The existing Chesapeake Bay harvest cap was never based on a scientifically quantified biological threshold. During a May 2008 congressional hearing, then-ASMFC Executive Director Captain John “Vince” O’Shea reportedly described the cap as established “in response to a political problem” and said “there was not a science basis for the Cap,” as documented in published accounts of his testimony. His written testimony describes the cap as a precautionary response to public concern. In 2018, then-ASMFC Chairman James “Jim” Gilmore Jr., responding to Virginia’s appeal of the reduction to 51,000 metric tons, stated that “Leadership agrees the Amendment does not provide sufficient evidence to support such claims” — referring specifically to the argument that lowering the cap was necessary to protect the Bay as a nursery area. His statement is also reflected in the ASMFC’s published proceedings.

The lawmakers have not established that further restricting this fishery would produce those environmental benefits. The ASMFC should reject further Chesapeake Bay cap cuts and mandatory seasonal allocations until the research can establish their necessity and likely benefits. Hundreds of working families should not pay the price for restrictions unsupported by completed Bay-specific science.

Congressional signatories: The published letter bears the signatures of Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), and Representatives Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.-3), Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.-6), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C., at-large delegate) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.-3). The accompanying press release also identifies Representative April McClain Delaney (D-Md.-6), although her signature is absent from the published letter.

About the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition

The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition (MFC) is a collective of menhaden fishermen, related businesses, and supporting industries. Comprised of businesses along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition conducts media and public outreach on behalf of the menhaden industry to ensure that members of the public, media, and government are informed of important issues, events, and facts about the fishery.

ALASKA: Bill introduced by Alaska’s Murkowski aims to promote use of eDNA analysis in fishery management

August 10, 2026 — Federal fishery managers would start analyzing the DNA collected in ocean waters to help inform their decisions, under a bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. Senate, Alaska’s Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said on Thursday.

Called the Fisheries Science Modernization Act, the bill would set up a system for the use of environmental DNA, known as eDNA, in fishery management. The bill would establish a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration pilot program using eDNA to assess fishery stocks, require NOAA to develop an agency-wide eDNA implementation plan and direct the agency to routinely collect eDNA samples and integrate that form of surveillance into its fisheries research and ecosystem monitoring.

Along with Murkowski, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, is a prime sponsor of the measure. Cosponsors are Sens. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska; Jeff Merkley. D-Oregon; Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland; Patty Murray, D-Washington; Angus King, I-Maine; and Adam Schiff, D-California.

Read the full article at KTOO

 

Murkowski and Colleagues Work to Modernize Fisheries Science

August 7, 2026 — The following was released by the Office of U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski:

Today, U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced legislation that would help the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) better assess and protect our fisheries. The Fisheries Science Modernization Act would incorporate environmental DNA (eDNA) and other biomolecular tools into NOAA’s fisheries science programs, allowing for more cost-effective and expanded survey coverage. This would bolster, not replace, traditional stock assessment surveys by providing NOAA with additional scientifically validated tools to improve data collection, expand survey coverage, and strengthen fisheries management.

This bill would establish national standards for this innovative technology while expanding workforce capacity, strengthening interagency coordination, and supporting private-sector innovation without imposing new regulatory burdens. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Patty Murray (D-WA), Angus King (I-ME), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) are co-sponsors.

“Without accurate stock assessments, we cannot make the informed, science-based management decisions needed to ensure our fisheries remain sustainable for generations to come,” said Senator Murkowski. “Environmental DNA is an innovative, cost-effective tool that will give our scientists a clearer picture of our fisheries while expanding survey coverage and reducing costs. This legislation is the product of extensive collaboration with NOAA, Alaska fishermen, Tribal partners, academia, and industry to modernize how we assess fish stocks using the best available science.”

“With climate change wreaking havoc on fisheries, researchers need to stay ahead of the curve,” said Senator Whitehouse. “This bill will allow NOAA to harness new technologies to keep fish stocks healthy and robust.”

“Reliable fisheries surveys and stock assessments are the foundation of sustainable fisheries management,” said Sen. Sullivan. “I’ve consistently fought to ensure NOAA maintains robust fisheries survey coverage in Alaska, where changing ocean conditions are impacting our subsistence, recreational, and commercially important species and the communities that depend on them. As fish stocks shift and ocean conditions become more variable, we need to invest in both the traditional surveys that have served us for decades and innovative technologies that can make those surveys even stronger. By thoughtfully investing in and integrating new tools, we can improve the quality of stock assessments, better support our fishermen and communities, and ensure America’s fisheries remain among the best managed in the world.”

“To implement the best possible fisheries management strategies, we need the best available data,” said Senator Merkley. “Our bipartisan bill modernizes federal fisheries science and invests in innovative data collection and analysis. Bolstering our tools to monitor fisheries is critical to supporting both Oregon fishermen and responsible, sustainable fishing for generations to come.”

“Environmental DNA is a promising new tool for fisheries and ecosystem assessment that could improve fisheries management while also lowering costs,” said Linda Behnken, Executive Director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association. “Senator Murkowski’s Fisheries Science Modernization Act will advance this technology while also improving oversight and collaboration.?ALFA supports this bill and applauds Senator Murkowski for her commitment to science-based management of Alaska’s fisheries.”

“The Fisheries Science Modernization Act comes at a pivotal moment for U.S. fisheries management,” said Austen Thomas, Senior Application Scientist. “As an eDNA service provider, Wilderlab USA sees firsthand how environmental DNA can expand monitoring coverage, reduce survey costs, and deliver data on species that traditional methods often miss. This bill’s focus on national standards and predictable procurement pathways is exactly what the private sector needs to invest with confidence in U.S. eDNA capacity. By bringing the private sector into closer partnership with NOAA and other resource agencies, this legislation will help ensure fisheries decisions are grounded in the best available science. We commend Senator Murkowski for this forward-looking legislation and look forward to supporting NOAA’s efforts to modernize how we understand and manage our nation’s fisheries.”

“United Catcher Boats supports the Fisheries Science Modernization Act of 2026 and appreciates Senator Murkowski’s continued leadership in advancing science-based fisheries management,” said Andrea Keikkala, Executive Director of United Catcher Boats. “Senator Murkowski has long demonstrated a deep understanding of the importance of sound fisheries science and the need to ensure NOAA Fisheries has the tools necessary to sustainably manage our nation’s fisheries. We appreciate her leadership in championing innovative technologies that have the potential to strengthen stock assessments, expand scientific capacity, and improve fisheries management. We recommend that Congress ensure NOAA Fisheries has adequate resources to successfully implement these important new responsibilities without reducing investment in existing stock assessments, fishery-independent surveys, cooperative research, observer programs, or other core science activities that are fundamental to science-based fisheries management. Investments in eDNA should complement, rather than displace, the core science programs that have made the United States the global leader in sustainable fisheries management.”

“The United States is a global leader in sustainable fisheries because of our commitment to science-based management,” said Joanna Slaney, Environmental Defense Fund’s Vice President for Political and Government Affairs. “As technology and science continue to advance, it is crucial for NOAA to examine innovative methods to collect fisheries data and further the best available science. EDF appreciates Senator Murkowski and Senator Whitehouse’s leadership to further science that supports thriving ecosystems, fishery resources, and the communities that depend on them.”

“Environmental DNA collection is an exciting new scientific frontier for augmenting our understanding of fisheries and their ecosystems,” said Meredith Moore, Ocean Conservancy’s Senior Director of Fish Conservation. “The Fisheries Science Modernization Act lays a solid foundation for unlocking this new source of data to improve fisheries management.”

“America’s 11.8 million saltwater anglers depend on healthy fisheries, and sound fisheries management starts with sound science,” said Mike Leonard, the American Sportfishing Association’s (ASA) Vice President of Government Affairs. “Environmental DNA has shown tremendous potential as a tool to supplement traditional fisheries surveys, improve our understanding of marine fish populations, and help managers make more informed decisions. By testing and validating these technologies before incorporating them into stock assessments, the Fisheries Science Modernization Act takes a thoughtful, science-based approach to strengthening marine fisheries research. Better science leads to better management, which ultimately benefits both fish populations and the millions of anglers who contribute more than $145 billion in economic activity to our nation’s coastal communities. ASA appreciates Senator Murkowski’s leadership on this important legislation.”

The legislation is further endorsed by the Cape Cod Fishermen’s Alliance, the Alaska Ocean Observing System, the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System, the Western Alaska Community Development Quota Program, eDNAtec, the National Estuarine Research Reserve Associationand, the Pacific Seafood Processors Association.

Background

Currently, NOAA’s stock assessment methods are constrained by high operational costs and limited vessel availability, resulting in gaps in survey coverage. The integration of eDNA, already widely used in the private sector, would help close these gaps by enabling sampling in remote or hazardous environments while reducing costs.

The Fisheries Science Modernization Act would provide the federal government with key tools to better protect and grow our fisheries by modernizing how fish stocks are assessed while expanding agencies’ capacity to use eDNA. Specifically, the legislation:

Modernizing Stock Assessments

  • Establishes a NOAA eDNA Fishery Stock Assessment Pilot Program to validate methods across diverse regions and species.
  • Requires NOAA to develop an agency-wide eDNA Implementation Plan detailing how eDNA will be integrated into federally managed fisheries.
  • Directs NOAA to routinely collect eDNA samples during existing surveys to improve accuracy, expand coverage, and build long-term datasets.
  • Integrates eDNA into fisheries research and ecosystem monitoring by amending the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
  • Promotes collaboration among NOAA, fishermen, Tribal Nations, academia, and industry.
  • Requires annual coordination meetings and reports to the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Congress to ensure accountability.

Building National eDNA Capacity

  • Creates the National Aquatic Biomolecular Coordination Network (NABCN) to develop national standards for sampling, laboratory workflows, quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC), metadata, and bioinformatics.
  • Establishes a coordinated multi-agency framework enabling consistent biomolecular monitoring across freshwater, estuarine, coastal, and marine environments.
  • Expands NOAA’s workforce and laboratory capacity while supporting complementary private-sector services.
  • Trains National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) technicians in eDNA collection, handling, and modeling.
  • Supports research, innovation, and technology transfer across agencies, academia, Tribal partners, and industry.
  • Provides transparent performance standards and predictable procurement pathways to encourage U.S. innovation and commercialization of emerging eDNA tools, including autonomous and AI-enabled sampling systems.

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eDNAtec and the National Estuarine Research Reserve Association.

Thank you!

US lawmakers introduce bill to reauthorize NOAA’s Chesapeake Bay Office

March 24, 2026 — U.S. lawmakers have introduced legislation to reauthorize NOAA’s Chesapeake Bay office and bolster restoration efforts in the bay’s watershed.

“The Chesapeake Bay is the heart of so many Virginia communities, supporting fisherman and local businesses, offering unique educational opportunities to students, and serving as a hotspot for recreation,” U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) said in a release. “I’m proud to introduce this legislation that works to ensure the Bay remains a resource for generations to come.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Democrats criticize Trump administration for withholding Congressionally-approved money from NOAA

October 2, 2025 — Two U.S. senators are demanding answers as to why the Trump administration is withholding USD 246 million (EUR 210 million) in Congressionally-approved funding from NOAA.

According to U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-California) and U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), a fiscal year 2025 spend plan issued by the Trump administration in August is hundreds of millions of dollars lower than what Congress had appropriated. U.S. President Donald Trump announced nearly USD 5 billion (EUR 4.3 billion) in rescinded funding in August, declaring that his administration “is committed to getting America’s fiscal house in order by cutting government spending that is woke, weaponized, and wasteful.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Van Hollen, Schiff Demand Answers on the Withholding of Funds from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Critical Programs Put in Jeopardy

October 1, 2025 — The following was released by Senator Chris Van Hollen:

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) are demanding the Trump administration provide answers on why the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) spending plan is $246 million short of the funds Congress directed.

In a letter to Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Russell Vought and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, the Senators raise concerns about the environmental and economic harms caused by the withholding of funds.

“The NOAA spending plan cuts funding across multiple NOAA line offices, including the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, the National Ocean Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service. These cuts impact research labs, competitive research grants, cooperative institutes, and fisheries management programs,” the Senators wrote.

“The administration and OMB must make apportionment decisions within the boundaries of laws enacted by Congress, and we expect you to provide NOAA with its full amount of congressionally appropriated funding. We are concerned that the decision to withhold and redirect funding for NOAA could undermine decades of work to ensure the safety of Americans and the economic security of the nation. This work produces economic and public safety benefits that far outweigh the investments Congress has provided for NOAA’s work,” the Senators concluded.

The lawmakers emphasized how NOAA supports a variety of critical services including public safety during extreme weather events; providing accurate weather forecasts; supporting the fishing industry, maritime activities, and economic security; and protecting coastal and marine resources. The withholding or redirecting of funds puts these services in jeopardy.

The full text of the letter can be found here and below.

Dear Director Vought and Secretary Lutnick:

We write to express deep concern regarding the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending plan, approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in August. This NOAA spending plan is $246 million short of the funds Congress appropriated to NOAA in the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (Public Law 119–4). Given this last-minute withholding of funding, we request information on why funding for NOAA is not being allocated and spent as congressionally directed.

NOAA is mandated by Congress to support a variety of critical services for the nation, including public safety during extreme weather events, providing accurate weather forecasts, maritime activities, and economic security. The agency helps support a $183 billion seafood industry and manages fisheries to ensure sustainable and safe seafood for future generations. NOAA also works to protect coastal and marine resources that provide economic benefits for coastal communities through dollars directly spent on recreation and tourism. Conserving coastal places protects against flooding, enhances water quality, and helps coastal counties contribute $9 trillion to the U.S. economy.

On March 15, 2025, Public Law 119–4 was signed into law, extending FY24 spending into FY25. The administration has not apportioned funding in accordance with the law. First, the administration illegally withheld $100 million that Congress classified as emergency funding for NOAA in FY25 continuing resolution (CR), as the Chair and Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee have previously stated. Additionally, the Department of Commerce proposed a $19 million transfer out of NOAA to the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) to cover shortfalls caused by OMB, which also denied $20 million in FY25 funding for BIS classified as emergency spending under the CR. Finally, OMB has not apportioned approximately $127 million for NOAA included in the FY25 CR. The Department subsequently proposed obligating some of this funding for the midlife repair upgrades of the NOAA Vessel Henry B. Bigelow.

The NOAA spending plan cuts funding across multiple NOAA line offices, including the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, the National Ocean Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service. These cuts impact research labs, competitive research grants, cooperative institutes, and fisheries management programs. For example, the National Oceans and Coastal Security Fund was eliminated, the Coastal Zone Management program was cut by $1.5 million, the National Estuarine Research Reserve System was cut by $4 million, the National Sea Grant and Aquaculture programs were cut by a combined $8.73 million, and climate research was cut by more than $58 million.

Cuts to these NOAA programs will lead to environmental damage, economic loss, and social harm across the nation. For example, cuts to the National Sea Grant program mean that fishermen in Gulf states will lose the fishery management support that Sea Grant provides for commercially and recreationally important reef fish species like snapper, communities in the Great Lakes will no longer benefit from Sea Grant’s support to address aquatic invasive species or prepare for coastal storms, and shellfish growers in the Chesapeake Bay and beyond will lose critical resources to support their small aquaculture businesses. Furthermore, cutting Coastal Zone Management competitive research grants will impact coastal communities in Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts, Maine, Wisconsin, and New Hampshire, where FY25 research grants have been awarded but the funding may not be obligated.

The administration and OMB must make apportionment decisions within the boundaries of laws enacted by Congress, and we expect you to provide NOAA with its full amount of congressionally appropriated funding. We are concerned that the decision to withhold and redirect funding for NOAA could undermine decades of work to ensure the safety of Americans and the economic security of the nation. This work produces economic and public safety benefits that far outweigh the investments Congress has provided for NOAA’s work. Thank you and we look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

University of Maryland receives $300,000 for blue crab research

July 31, 2020 — U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen and Congressman Steny H. Hoyer, all D-Md., July 27 announced $299,963 in federal funding for the University of Maryland, College Park for research into a new processing technology that could enhance the competitiveness of the domestic blue crab industry. The funding comes from the 2020 Saltonstall-Kennedy Competitive Grants Program through the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

“Few things are as iconic as the Chesapeake Bay blue crab, and its harvest is a cornerstone of Maryland’s local economies. This grant will expand the competitiveness of domestically produced crab meat in the face of intense foreign competition, and will help unlock new markets for an important Maryland industry,” said the lawmakers.

The U.S. blue crab industry has faced increasing competition from imported products, especially Venezuelan fresh pre-cooked crab, which has a longer shelf life. This has resulted in a major loss of market share for the Maryland seafood industry. This new high-pressure processing technology will extend shelf life of domestic crab products, while improving food safety and expanding market strategies among the seafood industry.

Read the full story at the Dorchester Star

Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts senators push Trump for aid for their states’ seafood industries

July 6, 2020 — Four U.S. senators representing the Chesapeake Bay region wrote a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Wednesday, 1 July, urging him to invest COVID-19 funding to the area’s shellfish farmers whose businesses have been greatly affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The letter, written by Virginia’s U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and Maryland’s U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin, all Democrats, asks Perdue to use some of the USD 16 billion (EUR 14.2 billion) appropriated through the CARES Act to purchase oysters and clams from Chesapeake-based aquaculture businesses.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US Homeland Security to add 45,000 H-2B visas this year

February 25, 2020 — The U.S. seafood industry is on the verge of getting some good news as the Wall Street Journal has reported that the Department of Homeland Security plans to authorize an additional 45,000 H-2B visas.

H-2B visa allow non-agricultural businesses to fill seasonal jobs with immigrant labor. The program is vital for seafood processors, who claim they cannot find enough domestic workers to handle their needs.

Read the full story at Seafood Source