July 20, 2026 — The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has announced the reopening of the commercial Gulf shrimp season, following its annual assessment of shrimp populations and growth in Texas coastal waters.
According to TPWD, the reopening date is determined using biological sampling conducted each June to maximize benefits for both the shrimp resource and the commercial fishing industry while ensuring sustainable harvests.
July 20, 2026 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
NOAA Fisheries is seeking information from fishery participants and others with specialized knowledge on the potential voluntary use of ropeless fishing gear, which includes on-demand fishing gear and other fixed gear that does not use persistent buoy lines.
Responses to this request for information may inform the potential future voluntary use, development, and management of ropeless fishing in the Greater Atlantic Region. NOAA Fisheries is seeking feedback from various stakeholders, primarily fixed-gear and mobile-gear fishermen, and intends to summarize the responses to this request for information and share that summary publicly.
The comment period is open through October 14, 2026. Submit your comments through the e-rulemaking portal. NOAA will accept anonymous and non-anonymous comments.
For more information, read the request for information as published in the Federal Register.
July 20, 2026 — Counting salmon in Alaska has been done the same way since the 1950s.
A field biologist climbs a tower, counts the number of fish swimming through the area every 10 minutes on the hour, hops down and into a skiff, moves to the opposite bank, and counts for another 10 minutes. They then spend 40 minutes reporting that data – just to do it all again the next hour.
July 20, 2026 — A commercial fisherman was rescued Saturday after falling overboard from a fishing vessel east of Truro, Mass., following a coordinated search by the U.S. Coast Guard and nearby fishing vessels.
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, Sector Southeastern New England received a report at 12:52 p.m. on July 18 that a crewmember had fallen overboard from the fishing vessel Western Edge. The vessel reported the crew member missing approximately seven nautical miles east of Truro and immediately turned around to retrace its route while searching for the missing fisherman.
The Coast Guard issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast (UMIB) and launched a 47-foot motor lifeboat from Coast Guard Station Provincetown along with an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod. The Coast Guard Cutter Melvin Bell, which was already on patrol nearby, was diverted to assist in the search.
At 2:47 p.m., the crew of the fishing vessel Seel Jr. reported spotting the missing crewmember in the designated search area.
July 17, 2026 — The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) is calling on the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to ban seafood caught or processed by China, citing concerns over forced labor.
CECC Chair Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Co-Chair Representative Christopher Smith (R-New Jersey), along with commissioners Representative Dale Strong (R-Alabama) and Representative Tom Suozzi (D-New York) wrote a letter to Trump calling for an executive order to ban seafood either caught by Chinese-linked vessels or processed in China.
July 17, 2026 — Fishing is one of the oldest commercial activities in New England, and experts with the University of Maine are working to ensure its future remains sustainable.
For the 14th year in a row, Maine harvested over half-a-billion dollars in seafood, around $619 million in 2025 to be exact according to Damian Brady, a professor at UMaine’s School of Marine Sciences.
“We have about 7% of the coastline of the United States, and we produce 25% of the value in seafood,” said Brady.
July 17, 2026 — A growing effort to restore federal funding for a Columbia River salmon hatchery program is drawing support from Congress as concerns mount over the potential impacts on commercial fishing communities in Oregon and Washington.
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., announced July 15 that she has asked the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to explain its decision to end funding for the Select Area Fisheries Enhancement (SAFE) program, arguing the move threatens both salmon recovery efforts and the fishing communities that depend on the fishery.
July 17, 2026 — The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries has announced opening dates for the 2026 commercial flounder season in internal coastal and joint fishing waters.
Opening dates for pound net management areas are as follows:
Tuesday, Sept. 15 in waters north of Pamlico Sound. Wednesday, Sept. 30 in Pamlico Sound and its tributaries. Wednesday, Sept. 30 in waters from Core Sound to the South Carolina line. Trip limits will not apply to pound net management areas. The opening date for commercial fishers who use mobile gears, which are all gears other than pound nets, is Wednesday, Sept. 30.
July 17, 2026 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts met via webinar on July 17 to discuss the start date for the 2026 Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) fishery. The Board members previously set the start date for July 19 at 6:00 p.m. as part of days out measures discussed in April 2026 (press release here). The additional meeting was scheduled after some industry members reported a significant increase in bait from the menhaden fishery and imported bait from the Canadian weir fishery on the market. As a result, there are some concerns about the possibility of a surplus of bait at the dock, lack of storage capacity for herring, a crash of the bait market, and general waste if the fishery were to open on July 19. However, not all members of industry expressed those concerns and noted that there are markets for bait. In addition, those industry members expressed that changing the start date at the last minute would cause hardships because crews were already lined up and vessels are prepared to begin fishing on July 19.
Given the lack of consensus among industry and only two days until the original start date, the Board maintained the July 19 start date with landing days starting at 6:00 p.m. this Sunday, July 19.
The effort control measures set in April 2026 are unchanged.
Days Out of the Fishery
Weekly Landing Limit
At-Sea Transfer and Carrier Restrictions
The following applies to harvester vessels with an Atlantic herring Category A permit and carrier vessels landing herring caught in Area 1A to a Maine, New Hampshire, or Massachusetts port.
Harvesters are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip from Area 1A until July 19, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. Landings will be closely monitored and the fishery will be adjusted to zero landing days when the Season 1 quota of 1,748 metric tons is projected to be reached.
For more information, please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at efranke@asmfoc.org or 703.842.0740.
The press release can also be found at https://asmfc.org/news/press-releases/atlantic-herring-area-1a-start-date-remains-july-19-2026-at-600-p-m/
July 17, 2026 — The Trump administration has taken another step toward launching a U.S. offshore critical minerals industry, with the newly created Marine Minerals Administration (MMA) releasing a proposed leasing notice that could lead to the first federal deep-sea mineral lease sale in U.S. waters.
The proposal covers federal waters off American Samoa and marks one of the first major regulatory actions by the MMA since the Trump administration announced plans in April to merge the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) into a single offshore regulator.
The proposed lease sale is part of the administration’s broader effort to secure domestic supplies of critical minerals—including nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese—that are widely used in batteries, defense systems and advanced manufacturing while reducing dependence on Chinese-controlled supply chains.
“Critical minerals have become a strategic asset in global competition, and China’s dominance in the supply of many of these materials creates unacceptable risks for America’s energy, defense and manufacturing sectors,” Acting MMA Director Matt Giacona said.