Saving Seafood

Retiring of Calcasieu Pass brings opportunity for a menhaden bait fisherman

August 31, 2026 — The recent sinking of the Calcasieu Pass in Delaware waters in the Atlantic Ocean to make a reef perhaps speaks more to the changing times of Virginia’s menhaden fishery than to an end of life grave for an old fishing vessel.

The former 180’ menhaden carry-away boat Calcasieu Pass was donated by Ocean Harvesters of Reedville, Va., to Coleen Marine for the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC).

The boat was sunk in August on Delaware’s Del-Jersey-Land reef about 26 miles off Indian River Inlet in the ocean. The vessel will provide new habitat for reef-associated fish and marine life while creating opportunities for anglers and divers.

Ocean Harvesters’ fleet is composed of six large menhaden steamers and four carry-away boats. A carry-away boat is a dedicated transport vessel used to carry menhaden back to the processing plant, allowing fishing vessels to continue to fish longer in active fishing zones.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Opinion: Seabed mining would strip mine fishermens’ future

August 24, 2026 — As a family of lifelong commercial fishers, we’ve always done our best to take care of the ocean off Virginia’s coast. But right now, an out-of-state company wants to dig out the foundation of our fishing grounds.

The federal government is considering a recent proposal by a Florida-based mining company to dredge Virginia’s seabed. If granted, our entire Eastern shore – 2,500 square miles – could be opened up to mining that would tear up the ocean bottom and crush the marine life that depends on it.

The two of us have saltwater running through our veins.

As for me – Jim – I fell in the water when I was two and have been driving a skiff since I was eight. My great uncle was a crabber, and my great aunt was picking crabs. I always knew I wanted to be a commercial fisherman here – just fell in love with fishing.

And as for me – Katie – my neighbor in Freeport, Long Island, threw me in the water and told me to swim when I was three. At about nine, I’d take the neighbors’ dog out on a paddle boat at six am to grab mussels off the pylons and stay out until dark. Neighbors would tell my parents they’d seen me.

Today, we are Virginia’s largest harvesters of black sea bass and flounder, fishing over 100 trips per season. Jim, the tech whiz with a chemistry degree, recently designed and built our own boat and fishes all day with our 24-year-old son, Matt. Katie takes care of lobsters in the tank and delivers our product every Saturday to people’s houses. Around Chincoteague, some people know us better as “Jimmy Neutron” and “The Lobsta Lady.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

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

NORTH CAROLINA: North Carolina weighs habitat protections, fishing licenses

August 19, 2026 — North Carolina fisheries managers will consider advancing new coastal habitat protections and setting the number of commercial fishing licenses available for the coming year at the Marine Fisheries Commission meeting on August 19-20 in Raleigh.

Commissioners are scheduled to vote on whether to release a proposed 2026 amendment to the state’s Coastal Habitat Protection Plan for public and advisory committee review. The action would not adopt the plan or create new fishing restrictions but could set the stage for a broader habitat rulemaking process beginning in 2027, according to the Island Free Press.

The draft amendment calls for further consideration of how fishing gear and other activities affect submerged aquatic vegetation, or underwater grass beds, as well as deep-water oyster recovery areas. Any regulations developed through that process would require additional commission approval and public review.

North Carolina’s coastal waters have historically supported nearly 200,000 acres of submerged aquatic vegetation, which provides spawning, nursery, and feeding habitat for commercial and recreationally important species. The draft says those grass beds are declining by more than 1 percent annually as water clarity, warming temperatures, and sea-level rise affect coastal waters.

The proposed habitat work would also overlap with upcoming reviews of the state’s shrimp and bay scallop fishery management plans. Marine Fisheries staff are recommending delaying the bay scallop review until 2027 so it can move forward alongside the shrimp review and habitat rule development.

If the amendment is released for review, the commission would consider comments from the public and advisory committees before the plan returns for possible final action in November.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

MAINE: They wanted to restore wild oyster reefs to the Maine coast. Could it be done?

August 19, 2026 — A team in Phippsburg has been working for nearly a decade to get wild oysters to regenerate in Maine’s cold, turbulent waters.

On a sticky August morning in Phippsburg, Cait Cleaver, an assistant professor of environmental studies at Colby College, crouched along a section of rocky shoreline that framed a circular expanse of deep green seawater. She gently brushed aside strands of thick seaweed to reveal a large oyster nestled between two boulders.

“We’ve got 50 percent algae cover, acorn barnacles, and 100 percent rock,” Cleaver reported to her summer intern. “And we’ve got one live 55-millimeter American oyster!”

Less than three inches long, the oyster didn’t look like much. But it was evidence of something Cleaver and her team had been looking for for years: a wild oyster that had successfully grown from free-floating larva and survived the winter.

For the past seven years, Cleaver has helped run The Basin Oyster Project, a collaboration initially started by The Nature Conservancy. The project’s long-term goal is to restore wild oysters up and down the Maine coast. More immediately, that means getting oysters to survive and spawn on their own in the Basin, a deep, protected saltwater inlet on the New Meadows River, creating a self-sustaining reef.

Wild oysters were once prevalent along the coast of Maine, but had largely disappeared by the early 1900s, victims of overharvesting by European settlers, pollution and rising sea levels, which brought in cold water and predators. The state has been trying to re-establish oyster populations in Maine since the late 1940s, but they have struggled to take hold at scale.

Read the full article at the Maine Monitor

DELAWARE: DNREC sinks old oilfield supply ship to expand Delaware artificial reef

August 18, 2026 — The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has expanded the state’s artificial reef system by sinking the 180-foot Calcasieu Pass at Reef Site 13, creating new marine habitat and recreational opportunities for anglers and divers.

Reef Site 13, also known as the Del-Jersey-Land Reef, is located offshore at a point roughly equidistant from ports in Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland, due east of Bethany Beach. DNREC describes the site as the centerpiece of Delaware’s artificial reef system.

Read the full article at CoastTV

ALABAMA: ‘A thousand cuts’: What’s lost when we lose Alabama coastal marshes?

August 17, 2026 — “No marsh, no seafood.”

That’s the old adage about the impact of losing marsh habitat, said Blair Morrison, science and monitoring program lead with the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program.

While most Alabama residents think of marshes as providing crucial habitat for shrimp, crabs, red snapper and other culturally significant foods, marshes provide a wider suite of services for the coast and the state at large that would be sorely missed if marshes were gone.

“We can’t directly attribute anything to marsh loss directly,” Morrison said, “but it is one of those cumulative effects of, the more marsh that you lose, you’re more likely to see certain issues with water quality, nutrient impairment, loss of habitat and species. It is very much kind of an intertangled web of, if you lose habitat, you’re losing an entire suite of services.”

Read the full article at AL.com

Former Menhaden Vessel F/V Calcasieu Pass Begins Second Life as Artificial Reef Off Delaware

August 14, 2026 — The following was released by Ocean Harvesters:

The F/V Calcasieu Pass, a retired menhaden fishing vessel formerly operated by Ocean Harvesters, was intentionally sunk Wednesday, August 12, at Delaware Reef Site 13, approximately 26 miles off Indian River Inlet.

The Calcasieu Pass will now begin a second life as artificial reef habitat, adding structure for marine life and providing new opportunities for recreational fishing and diving off the Delaware coast.

Ocean Harvesters transferred the retired vessel to Coleen Marine for a nominal $1 purchase price in 2024, donating the Calcasieu Pass for conversion into an artificial reef. Coleen Marine subsequently prepared, towed and sank the vessel at the Delaware reef site.

“Retired working vessels can continue to provide value long after their fishing days are over,” said Monty Deihl, CEO of Ocean Harvesters. “We’re pleased to see the Calcasieu Pass begin a new chapter as marine habitat, supporting the ecosystem while creating new opportunities for anglers and divers.”

Menhaden vessels have a long history of being repurposed as artificial habitats. In 2023, the former F/V Mermentau and F/V G.P. Chauvin were intentionally sunk off the Mississippi coast as part of that state’s artificial reef program. Other retired vessels associated with the menhaden fishery have been deployed as artificial reefs in Louisiana, Delaware and Mississippi.

Another former menhaden vessel, the Reedville, was sunk off Delaware in 2020. Like the Calcasieu Pass, the vessel was prepared and deployed by Coleen Marine as part of Delaware’s artificial reef system.

Artificial reefs provide hard structure on otherwise largely featureless ocean bottom, creating habitat for marine organisms and attracting fish while expanding recreational fishing and diving opportunities. Delaware has developed a network of artificial reef sites along the Atlantic Coast and in Delaware Bay using retired vessels and other cleaned, stable materials.

The Calcasieu Pass deployment adds another retired working vessel to that network and extends a practice that allows vessels which spent decades supporting coastal fishing communities to continue serving the marine environment after their working lives have ended.

Video
Video of the F/V Calcasieu Pass being sunk at Delaware Reef Site 13 is available here.

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.

VIRGINIA: Coastal Virginia communities push back against proposed offshore seabed mining

August 12, 2026 — Chincoteague resident Jim Dawson has been fishing the waters off the Eastern Shore for more than four decades, catching species including black sea bass and Atlantic lobster.

During his many hours out at sea, Dawson said he’s come to appreciate the tiniest creatures that dwell on and around the seafloor.

“The microscopic world is just phenomenal, that you would never know is there,” he said. “What lives in that water, we don’t know anything about. And everything is vital.”

Dawson worries a new federal proposal to dig up huge portions of the seabed could threaten the ecosystem that supports his livelihood.

“Once you knock one thing off balance, it really impacts all of it,” he said.

The Trump administration announced in June that it is considering issuing an ocean lease to allow mineral mining within a 2,700-square-mile area flanking the Eastern Shore, stretching from 3 to 63 miles off the coast.

The move was prompted by an unsolicited request from a Florida company late last year.

Administration officials say the industry, which mines the seabed to extract valuable minerals, could reduce U.S. reliance on foreign suppliers.

But many community leaders and residents along the Virginia coast are strongly opposing the proposal, particularly on the Shore.

The counties of Accomack and Northampton sent the government formal notices against it.

Read the full article at WHRO