Saving Seafood

MAINE: What’s the biggest threat to the lobster industry?

September 1, 2026 — Lobstermen are under threat. They all agree on that much. The threats they describe vary from one to the next. But they are worried about their future, and the future of a livelihood that many learned from their fathers and grandfathers and want to pass to their children and grandchildren.

The risks are larger than any one lobsterman — or even the industry as a whole. Lobstering “is not only an economic driver of coastal and island communities, it is an identity of our communities,” said Kristin Garabedian, a community development officer with the Island Institute’s Center for the Marine Economy. In other words, losing lobstering would make a town like Harpswell less like Harpswell.

Most lobstermen see the biggest threats coming from outsiders pursuing their own aims without regard for the lobstermen who live and work here. Those might be wind-power proponents, whale protectors, big businesses or homebuyers.

Few, if any, see climate change as an immediate or catastrophic threat, although they are deeply in tune with the changes happening in the Gulf of Maine and are worried about human impacts on the environment they depend on.

Read the full article at Harpswell Anchor 

California Sues DOI Calling Offshore Wind Cancellation “Blatantly Unlawful”

August 31, 2026 — California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Energy Commission moved forward with their earlier challenges and filed a lawsuit on August 28 against the Trump administration and Golden State Wind over what it is calling “the unlawful buyout” of the offshore wind energy lease. The state is contending the deal to buy back the offshore wind lease is illegal and would jeopardize its investments to support the project, the state’s energy policy, and the commitments from the developer for workforce training, the supply chain, and investments in the local communities.

The California Energy Commission in May served an administrative investigative subpoena to Golden State Wind seeking documents and information related to the buyout. The California Department of Justice and CEC followed up in June by sending a Notice of Intent to Sue targeting what it terms an “unlawful agreement between the Department of the Interior and Golden State Wind.” It is asserting that the deal is “blatantly unlawful” and is asking the courts to strike it down.

“The Trump administration’s backroom buyout with Golden State Wind to stop offshore wind development in favor of gas and oil drilling is, unfortunately, a classic playbook for them to line the pockets of their Big Oil donors,” said Attorney General Bonta, announcing the filing of the lawsuit.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive 

ALASKA: St. Paul’s new research vessel marks a milestone in effort to rebuild local economy

August 28, 2026 — The Pribilof Islands community of St. Paul is now the homeport for a research vessel. The 50-foot Eventide arrived in St. Paul late last month, marking a major milestone for the community.

John Wayne Melovidov is president of the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island Tribal Government. He said St. Paul is working to build a research economy after declines in the local fishing industry. The island’s Trident Seafood plant closed after the Bering Sea crab fishery crashed in 2022. Melovidov said monitoring the area’s crab, halibut and fur seal populations will be especially important.

“If anybody should be doing the research on what’s going on with our species out in our backyard, it should be us,” he said. “So we set up a lab to do that research ourselves, but also to invite other scientists to do whatever research they want to do.”

Read the full article at KUCB

NORTH CAROLINA: Bronze statue ‘Samuel’ unveiled at Beaufort park honors Black menhaden fishermen legacy

August 27, 2026 — A new bronze statue along the Beaufort waterfront is helping preserve a key part of the town’s commercial fishing history.

The statue, named “Samuel,” was recently unveiled at John Newton Park.

It honors the thousands of Black menhaden fishermen who helped build Beaufort’s fishing industry and shape the community once known as “Fishtown.”

“Samuel is bringing a face to those individuals that have worked hard to contribute to Beaufort. More than just what they did on the water or in the processing plant, it helps you see them as people.”

After the Civil War, menhaden became a major part of the local economy.

Read the full article at ABC News 12

NEW HAMPSHIRE: New fish pier in Portsmouth officially opens, with space to scale up

August 25, 2026 — Gov. Kelly Ayotte and other dignitaries gathered in Portsmouth on Tuesday to formally cut the ribbon on a recently renovated commercial fishing pier. The structure, which was financed with pandemic-era stimulus money, replaces a dilapidated building from the late 1970s.

“New Hampshire’s whole fishing industry, it’s iconic,” said Ayotte. “It’s something that’s passed down through generations. It’s something that really defines New Hampshire and our Seacoast.”

The state set aside $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act money for the project, and spent another $240,000 in operation funds from the New Hampshire Division of Ports and Harbors. In recent years, the state has also reconstructed a nearby seawall and installed a new pier, overhauling the entire space on Peirce Island.

Read the full article at NHPR

Mel Allen: Telling the stories of New England

August 25, 2026 — For more than 50 years, Mel Allen has made a career out of telling stories about those in New England.

He has written about fishermen and island communities, sardine packers and chefs, scientists counting fish aboard NOAA research vessels, and people whose livelihoods disappeared as fisheries and working waterfronts changed around them.

So when the former longtime editor of Yankee Magazine stood before a room filled with ocean scientists, researchers, and industry partners at the 2026 Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems (NERACOOS) Annual Meeting, he came with a message that was surprisingly simple.

Tell people a story.

“If you want people to care about something big, whether conflicts between nations, the dilemma of immigration, or our changing oceans, do not show the topic,” Allen said. “Show how people have been touched by the topic. That’s how we relate to each other.”

For NERACOOS, that message comes at an important moment.

NERACOOS helps coordinate sensors, models, data systems, and other technology used to track conditions across New England’s waters. Now, its work is expanding through the new National Science Foundation (NSF) Seafood Engine in New England, an initiative focused on supporting New England’s seafood industry.

The potentially 10-year initiative is designed to build an innovation network across the seafood supply chain, connecting work on the water with processing, distribution, and the consumer. Its focus includes environmental sensing and modeling, technology development, workforce training, and investment.

For commercial fishermen, that puts an industry accustomed to being on the receiving end of scientific data and management decisions closer to the center of a much broader effort to determine how New England seafood adapts to a changing ocean and economy.

But Allen’s keynote reminded everyone what all that technology and investment is ultimately intended to serve.

People.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

MARYLAND: Maryland Seeks Strategies for Slumping Seafood Sector

August 24, 2026 — Telling the stories of watermen and meeting consumers where they’re at emerged as priorities during a hearing for a new seafood marketing initiative in Maryland.

With consumption down and state regulations adding to the hurdles faced by seafood harvesters, Marylanders are making a coordinated effort to revive seafood sales both locally and abroad.

Earlier this year, the state Legislature tasked the Maryland Department of Agriculture with forming a seafood marketing workgroup to identify challenges and opportunities in the industry and develop an expanded state-led strategy.

Seafood industry representatives, state legislators and the secretaries of agriculture and natural resources make up the group.

The first of two public listening sessions for hearing stakeholders’ input took place Aug. 18 at the Ag Department office, with an introduction by Maryland Ag Secretary Kevin Atticks.

He said the state’s seafood industry is diverse and the workgroup needs stakeholder input to form a coherent plan.

“The market has completely changed in some respects and in other areas hasn’t changed in a century,” Atticks said.

Read the full article at Lancaster Farming

NORTH CAROLINA: “Samuel” sculpture unveiled in Beaufort to honor Menhaden fishing history

August 24, 2026 — A new addition at John Newton Park is honoring Beaufort’s long connection to the menhaden fishing industry.

The Town of Beaufort held a ribbon cutting Friday to unveil “Samuel,” part of the Menhaden Tales project created and donated by Arts In Beaufort NC.

Town officials say the project recognizes the lasting legacy of the menhaden industry in Beaufort. Menhaden fishing has played a major role in the town’s history and coastal economy.

Community members gathered at the park for the unveiling of the new artwork, which is designed to help share that history with visitors and residents.

Read the full article at ABC News 12

MAINE: Gratitude for our sea farmers

August 22, 2026 — Cultivating food for human consumption is among the most noble and important jobs in society. Harnessing the resources gifted to us by nature and turning them into delicious meals for our neighbors and visitors is a challenging task, and farmers—of both the land and sea—deserve our gratitude.

Our pristine waters produce the most exquisite seafood on the planet. The flavors of our farmed oysters, mussels, and salmon are desired by the finest chefs in America and envied by seafood producers all over the world. Maine’s sea farmers are the ones who make it possible for us to be nourished by this local, sustainable, and delicious food.

The Maine Farmed Seafood Coalition consists of over 50 businesses and industry support groups—including seafood farmers and dealers, banks, educational institutions, and nonprofits. Our goal is to tell the authentic stories of sea farmers and educate the public about the opportunities aquaculture presents for our economy, communities, and ecosystems.

Read the full article at Bangor Daily News

$15 million federal grant will fund fishing tech projects

August 19, 2026 — A“third eye” camera for groundfishermen and autonomous robots for lobstermen. That’s, in part, what a group of New England commercial fishing advocates, oceanographic researchers and tech companies hope to build with a $15 million federal grant.

The goal of the U.S. National Science Foundation funding, awarded in late July, is to help commercial fishermen catch better, healthier fish and bolster the region’s seafood industry from harvest to processing.

Researchers will use some of the money to further develop a camera system that allows captains and crews to see what’s swimming into their nets, before it is hauled onto the deck. The innovation could mean the difference between a net full of bycatch — fish that crews don’t want, because they’re heavily regulated, or can’t keep — and a harvest that makes money.

Other parts of the federal grant will be spent to develop autonomous robots to detect environmental conditions underwater that could lead to bringing up traps filled with dead lobsters.

The awardees also plan to use the money to figure out how to strengthen the processing side of the seafood industry, said Jake Kritzer, executive director for the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems — the organization leading the group awarded the grant — in an interview with The Light.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light