Saving Seafood

DELAWARE: Retired fishing vessel sunk as artificial reef off Delaware

August 24, 2026 — Delaware has sunk a retired 180-foot menhaden vessel on its flagship offshore artificial reef, the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced Aug. 18.

The Calcasieu Pass, a former offshore oilfield supply boat that went on to spend more than 30 years in the Atlantic menhaden reduction fleet out of Reedville, Va., was placed on Reef Site 13, better known as the Del-Jersey-Land Reef. DNREC said the vessel went down after environmental remediation and approval by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Coast Guard for environmental cleanliness and safety.

Ocean Harvesters, which operated the vessel, said in a separate announcement that the sinking took place Wednesday, Aug. 12, at a site roughly 26 miles off Indian River Inlet.

The boat measures 180 feet with a 40-foot beam. Built in 1982, it supported offshore oilfield work until 1989, when it was converted to an Atlantic menhaden fishing and processing vessel. Its name comes from Calcasieu Pass, a bend in the Calcasieu Ship Channel near Lake Charles, La., an area DNREC noted for liquefied natural gas production.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Lobsters and acidic seas: can shellfish help neutralise one of the greatest threats to the ocean?

August 21, 2026 — For many in the US region of New England, the lobster roll is synonymous with summertime. Loaded into a toasted bun, chunks of the sweet meat are served hot and soaked in butter, or chilled and slathered in mayonnaise with celery and herbs.

The only thing more debated than the recipe is the price: the once-humble roll now routinely fetches $30 (£22), or even $50, in a sign of the changing times – and seas.

A third-generation lobster fisherman, Scott Lord spends his days hauling traps on the Gulf of Maine, which is warming faster than 99% of the world’s oceans. “Whether you agree with who says why it’s happening, it is happening,” he says.

Bycatch that was once plentiful, such as sea urchins, sand dollars or starfish, are increasingly rare. And, most concerning, Lord has noticed the number of inshore lobsters dropping dramatically over the past 15 years, pushing fishers farther and farther offshore.

Motivated to find a remedy, Lord joined a regional shellfish committee. “Why are there not clams where there used to be clams? Why are they not coming back, no matter what we do?” he asks.

Hundreds of miles to the south in Massachusetts, on a sandy crook of land that spins out to form Cape Cod, Adam Subhas, a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is trying to find the answers.

Read the full article at The Guardian

Judge finds decades of failures in coastal fisheries management

August 21, 2026 — A North Carolina judge has ruled that the state violated its constitutional and public-trust obligations to protect coastal fisheries, setting the stage for additional court proceedings that could ultimately affect how the state manages commercial and recreational fishing.

Wake County Superior Court Judge G. Bryan Collins Jr. entered judgment Monday in favor of Coastal Conservation Association North Carolina and 86 individual plaintiffs, concluding that evidence presented during the case “overwhelmingly established” decades of systemic failures in the state’s management of coastal fish stocks, according to Island Free Press.

The ruling does not immediately ban shrimp trawling or restrict gillnets, nor does it close fishing areas or change seasons, quotas or recreational bag limits. Those issues could be addressed during a separate remedy phase. Collins ordered attorneys for both sides to meet within 30 days and submit a joint report within 45 days regarding further proceedings.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Judge rules North Carolina breached duty to protect coastal fisheries

August 19, 2026 — North Carolina violated its constitutional and public-trust obligations to protect coastal fisheries, a Wake County judge has ruled in a major victory for a recreational fishing organization and 86 residents who sued the state nearly six years ago.

Superior Court Judge G. Bryan Collins Jr. entered judgment for the plaintiffs on Monday after concluding that the evidence “overwhelmingly established” decades of systemic failures in the state’s management of coastal fish stocks.

The decision does not immediately ban shrimp trawling, restrict gillnets, close fishing waters or change seasons, quotas or recreational bag limits.

Those questions could be addressed during a separate remedy phase, and Collins ordered attorneys for both sides to meet within 30 days and submit a joint report within 45 days about scheduling further proceedings.

The plaintiffs are seeking a declaration that the state violated its duties and a prospective injunction requiring the state to protect and rebuild coastal fisheries, rather than monetary damages.

The 190-page order followed a trial that ran from Jan. 20 through Feb. 25 and included testimony from fisheries scientists, current and former state employees, commercial and recreational fishermen, fishing guides and other coastal residents.

Collins found the state breached the public-trust doctrine, which requires it to manage resources belonging to the public for the benefit of current and future residents.

He also found violations of two provisions of the North Carolina Constitution: Article I, Section 38, which says the right to hunt, fish and harvest wildlife must be preserved for the public good, and Article XIV, Section 5, which establishes a state policy of conserving and protecting lands and waters.

The lawsuit was filed in November 2020 by Coastal Conservation Association North Carolina and 86 individual plaintiffs, including five former members of the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission.

A 2022 N.C. Court of Appeals ruling allowed the case to proceed and held that the state has an affirmative duty to preserve the public’s right to fish, protect fisheries from destruction and manage them for the public’s benefit.

Collins said that appellate decision established the law he was required to apply during the trial.

Read the full article at Island Free Press

NOAA announces $4 million in funding to build coastal resilience

December 1, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

As part of its efforts to provide communities and businesses with products, tools, services, and funding to better address weather- and climate-related threats, today NOAA announced $4 million in recommended funding for six habitat restoration projects across the United States.

The projects recommended for funding, under NOAA’s 2015 Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants Program, focus on dam removal in New England, creation of living shorelines in North Carolina, and reconnection of rivers to floodplains and flood protection in Washington, Florida, Massachusetts and California.

“Funding these innovative habitat restoration projects supports our mission of fostering resilient coastal communities and sustainable marine resources, and that’s a priority for us,” said Eileen Sobeck, assistant NOAA administrator for fisheries. “These on-the-ground restoration projects, along with the other restoration projects we support, will enhance ecosystem resilience against extreme weather and changing environmental conditions, provide habitat to support sustainable fisheries, and help recover protected species.”

Habitat restoration experts from around the country selected these projects based on rigorous reviews and a highly competitive process. Recommended projects have been approved by their state’s Governor’s offices. At least $2 million in the federal grants will be matched by applicants, and the projects must begin within 12 months of funding.

NOAA is taking a multifaceted approach to building coastal resilience through two grant programs. NOAA Fisheries’ Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants program is dedicated to the development of healthy and sustainable coastal ecosystems through habitat restoration. A complementary NOAA National Ocean Service grant program, the Regional Coastal Resilience Grants, focuses on regional-scale projects that enhance the resilience of coastal communities and economies to effects of extreme weather, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions. Activities may include improving coastal risk assessment and communication, promoting collaborative approaches to resilience planning, and better informing science based decision making.

The National Ocean Service plans to announce the results of that grant competition in early 2016.

Application approval and funding is not yet final. Divisions of NOAA and the Department of Commerce must still give final approval for the projects. 

Aquaculture on the rise in coastal North Carolina

October 22, 2015 — NEW HANOVER COUNTY, N.C. – Nearly all of southeastern North Carolina’s waters are now open for shellfish harvesting after heavy rains and floods left most areas polluted earlier this month.

Not only are oysters one of the state’s most popular shellfish to eat, but the shells themselves can be used as hardworking landscape material, in the form of driveways and patios.

Oyster shells make up many of the paths at Colonial Williamsburg to to get around. But starting October 1, a new law went into effect prohibiting contractors from using the shells in commercial landscaping.

The new law is an effort to increase the state’s oyster shell recycling program, where the shells are used to rebuilt oyster reefs.

“Oysters happen to be one of the few species that when we harvest it, we take the habitat right along with it, so we are trying to put that back into place,” said UNC-Wilmington’s Troy Alphin. “Larvae oysters depend on the adult oyster shell for settlement, and they have a very narrow window for settlement in their life span, only a couple of weeks. So if the shells are not in the water, they are not available for the larvae to settle on, these larvae will die. What we are trying to do is make sure the shells are back in the water as soon as we can they will be available for the next generation of oysters.”

At a summit earlier this year, North Carolina ecologists, scientists and politicians announced new efforts to make North Carolina the “Napa Valley of Oysters.”  One way that can be accomplished is by developing new oyster sanctuaries, something that Virginia and other states have already done.

A healthy oyster population is linked to the overall health of coastal fisheries.

Read the full story at WECT6