October 22, 2026 — In the North Sea, commercial pelagic trawlers and seals both forage for some of the same fish stocks, creating a dynamic that can pose operational, regulatory, and conservation challenges.
To mitigate the issue, fishing industry groups have teamed up with fishing gear firms to develop and adapt excluder devices, aiming to reduce seal captures in the region’s sandeel and herring fisheries, as well as bycatch of other species.
October 22, 2026 — Twenty Southeast Alaska commercial troll vessels will help researchers investigate how changing ocean conditions influence where salmon and other fish are found as part of a new nearly $600,000 research project.
According to the Juneau Empire, the Sitka-based Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust announced the project Oct. 1 after receiving a $293,600 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Combined with $300,000 in matching funds, the project is valued at $593,600.
The effort will recruit 20 commercial troll vessels for the 2028 and 2029 fishing seasons, pairing fishermen’s catch information with measurements of underwater temperature and depth.
October 22, 2026– The National Seafood Association welcomes the announcement of the new Harvest Fuel Relief program, designed to offset the impact of higher fuel prices on agriculture and seafood communities. Getting America’s healthiest animal protein from bait to plate involves a complex supply chain, and rising fuel costs have placed significant financial pressure on seafood businesses.
The Trump administration’s work with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, the USDA Office of Seafood and the Farm Service Agency to include seafood in this critical program illustrates a focus on affordably feeding Americans. Likewise, it demonstrates the important role seafood plays in nutrition and food security.
Fuel continues to be one of the biggest operating expenses in the commercial seafood sector and this understanding and assistance from the Agriculture Department will help consumers and the hardworking families who harvest America’s seafood.
October 21, 2026 — Record diesel prices are currently having a profound effect on the global economy.
This week, I want to provide both a high level perspective of how those prices are shaping the seafood sector and an on-the-ground perspective on how one regional fishery is experiencing them.
October 21, 2026 — The following was released by Ocean Harvesters:
A total of 1,267 menhaden industry employees and community members submitted letters during the public comment period asking the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Atlantic Menhaden Management Board to reject further cuts to the Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery cap and mandatory seasonal allocations.
The signers included 386 industry employees and 881 community members. They signed three letters representing menhaden workers, residents of Virginia’s Northern Neck, and people outside the region who recognize the fishery’s broader economic importance.
The three letters described a fishery whose economic reach extends well beyond the vessels and processing plant. The fishery supports workers and local businesses, contributes to the coastwide bait sector and supplies products used by other industries.
All three letters opposed the options in Draft Addendum II that would cut the Bay Cap by as much as 50%, tie it to the annual coastwide total allowable catch or divide it into seasonal quota periods.
The letters made six central points:
1. The proposal has not demonstrated the need for new restrictions
Draft Addendum II does not establish a demonstrated Bay-specific biological problem, show that the existing Bay Cap has failed, connect the reduction fishery to a Bay-specific biological problem or demonstrate that the proposed restrictions would produce a biological benefit. The addendum’s own statement of the problem acknowledges that there are not enough scientific data to fully describe menhaden abundance and distribution throughout the Bay or determine the influence of fishing pressure.
2. The Bay Cap was precautionary, not a scientifically calculated biological limit
The Bay Cap began in 2006 while managers pursued research into possible localized depletion. It was later reduced from 109,020 metric tons to 87,216 metric tons in Amendment 2 and then to 51,000 metric tons in Amendment 3. Amendment 2 states that the cap was not based on a scientifically quantified harvest threshold, fishery health index or population-level study.
3. The funded Bay-specific research should be completed first
Virginia has committed $2 million over two years for research needed to inform a scientifically defensible and ecologically meaningful Chesapeake Bay harvest cap. The federal government has committed another $2.5 million, while industry-supported projects are developing a research roadmap and testing tagging technology. The letters urged the Board to allow that work to produce the needed evidence before imposing another major restriction.
4. The evidence does not establish that the reduction fishery caused the reported problems
The 2026 Chesapeake Bay osprey study reported reproductive deficits and signs of food stress in higher-salinity areas, but it does not establish that commercial menhaden harvest caused the reduced prey availability or reproductive problems. The study states that there is no fishery-independent monitoring of adult menhaden in the Bay and that the data needed to evaluate the relationship between harvest and adult menhaden abundance are not available.
The ASMFC’s Maryland pound-net analysis likewise showed different catch-rate patterns in 2023 and 2024 and identified limits on what can be inferred from those data. Those results do not establish that the reduction fishery caused the changes.
5. Seasonal allocations could disrupt fishing, processing and jobs
Employees warned that seasonal allocations could leave vessels and the processing plant idle during productive summer weeks and push more work into less dependable fall conditions. The addendum’s economic analysisacknowledges potential harm if seasonal restrictions limit periods of high catch efficiency or interrupt steady processing.
Employees also explained why access to the Bay matters. Rough offshore weather can prevent crews from seeing the schools they locate by sight or catching enough fish to keep the plant operating. Fishing in the Bay is safer, uses less diesel and gets crews home sooner.
The ASMFC’s Committee on Economics and Social Sciences has also warned that the industry must maintain a minimum operating volume and that falling below it could potentially result in a complete facility shutdown. That would affect fishermen, processing and manufacturing employees, union families, suppliers, local businesses and the surrounding Northern Neck community. UFCW Local 400 describes a heavily unionized, multigenerational workforce that includes one of Northumberland County’s largest minority workforces.
6. The economic consequences would extend beyond the Northern Nec
The letters from outside the region emphasized that the industry supports businesses, workers and customers across Virginia and in other states. The fishery supplies bait used by commercial and recreational fishermen, while the reduction fishery produces fish meal, fish oil and fish solubles. NOAA Fisheriessays these products are used in aquaculture and that refined menhaden oil is used in nutritional supplements for people.
Together, the 1,267 signers asked the Atlantic Menhaden Management Board to reject further Bay Cap cuts and mandatory seasonal allocations. They urged the Board to complete the funded research, establish the problem and show that a proposed restriction will improve the outcome before putting additional jobs and communities at risk.
The Board is expected to consider final action on Draft Addendum II at the ASMFC Annual Meeting in November 2026
About Ocean Harvesters
Ocean Harvesters owns and operates a fleet of more than 30 fishing vessels in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of America. The company’s purse-seine fishing operation is exclusively engaged in the harvest of menhaden, a small, nutrient-dense fish used to produce fish meal, fish oil, and fish solubles. Both its Atlantic and Gulf Menhaden fisheries are certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council. Committed to responsible fishing operations, Ocean Harvesters is proud to be heir to a fishing legacy that extends nearly 150 years.
October 21, 2026 — The European Commission has released Vision 2040 – a 15-year strategy for the E.U. fisheries and aquaculture sector that sets out plans to improve competitiveness, strengthen food security, and safeguard the natural resources on which the industry depends.
Vision 2040, presented on 20 October, is built around strengthening both the supply of and demand for E.U.-produced aquatic food and spans the bloc’s entire aquatic food value chain, seeking to provide businesses with greater predictability for investment and growth.
October 21, 2026 — Preliminary results from an ongoing long-term survey conducted by William & Mary‘s Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) suggest that an average year class of young-of-year striped bass was produced in the Virginia tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay in 2026.
Striped bass are an important top predator in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem and a valuable resource for commercial and recreational anglers. The 2026 year class, representing fish hatched this spring, will reach fishable sizes in three to four years.
The VIMS Juvenile Striped Bass Seine Survey recorded a mean value of 9.52 fish per seine haul in the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay. The 2026 value is an increase from the 5.12 fish per seine haul recorded in 2025, though both years are similar to the historical average (7.77 fish per seine haul) observed in Virginia tributaries. The improvement in recruitment observed in 2025 and 2026 is consistent with historically observed patterns: years with below-average recruitment (i.e., 1999, 2002, 2012, 2024) were followed by years with average to above-average recruitment (i.e., 2000, 2003, 2013, 2025).
“While this year’s class is considered average in terms of abundance, it represents a significant increase from 2024,” said Jack Buchanan, marine scientist at VIMS and the chief scientist of the Juvenile Striped Bass Seine Survey, who noted that striped bass recruitment can vary considerably from year to year. “A single year of poor recruitment can be partially offset by the previous or following year’s production, which helps stabilize the overall population and the fisheries it supports.”
October 21, 2026 — The Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources has charged two Nova Scotia, Canada-based seafood companies with purchasing illegally harvested lobsters as the government works to crack down on black market shellfish.
“The laying of these charges demonstrates the important work that the conservation officer service does to help protect Nova Scotia’s fisheries and support people and businesses that follow the rules. We look forward to ongoing collaboration with the service as our new fisheries compliance unit prepares to take the lead for fisheries enforcement going forward,” Nova Scotia Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Kent Smith said in a release.
October 20, 2026 — Months after first threatening to do so, the Trump administration has officially filed a request to reconsider the construction permit it issued to an offshore wind project proposed off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland.
It’s just the latest episode in President Donald Trump’s battle against offshore turbines since returning to office last year. The Republican administration has halted coastal wind leasing, issued stop work orders to projects under construction and spent billions to buy back wind leases previously issued to developers.
When it comes to the Ocean City project, proposed by US Wind, the federal government is arguing that the project did not receive adequate consideration under a federal law known as the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
In their filing, Department of Justice officials cited possible adverse impacts of the project on: the North Atlantic right whale, “scenic and visual resources, some commercial fisheries, and scientific research.”
The administration is requesting to remand the permit “without vacatur,” meaning it would remain in place while the Department of the Interior reconsiders it.
October 20, 2026 — U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act into law 15 October.
“Red snapper is one of the most well-managed and profitable fish in the Gulf, but illegal fishing by Mexican lanchas puts law-abiding U.S. fishermen and seafood producers at a competitive disadvantage,” Senate Commerce Republicans said in a social media post. “Now that this bipartisan bill is law, it will allow federal and state law enforcement officers to utilize technology that determines the country of origin for certain species of fish, and confiscate any such illegally caught fish before sale in the United States.”