Saving Seafood

Whale Entanglements in Fishing Gear Surge Off U.S. West Coast During Marine Heatwaves

February 26, 2026 — Each spring, humpback whales start to feed off the coast of California and Oregon on dense schools of anchovies, sardines and krill—prey sustained by cool, nutrient-rich water that seasonal winds draw up from the deep ocean.

That process, known as coastal upwelling, turns the California Current into one of the most productive marine ecosystems in the world, giving whales a chance to rebuild the energy reserves they depleted during months of fasting in their winter breeding grounds in Mexico.

But according to a new study published on Wednesday in the scientific journal, PLOS Climate, rising ocean temperatures are shrinking and redefining this critical foraging habitat, putting the humpbacks at greater risk of entanglement in fishing gear.

Marine heatwaves weaken upwelling, reducing the amount of cold, nutrient-rich water reaching the surface. That, in turn, reduces offshore krill blooms. Humpbacks then begin to move inshore, where other prey, like anchovies and sardines tend to swarm. There, they are more likely to overlap with dangerous fishing activity and fixed gear, like Dungeness crab traps.

Read the full article at Inside Climate News

MASSACHUSETTS: State officials release updated regulations targeting fishing gear debris

January 30, 2026 — State officials have announced new regulations for the cleanup of fishing gear debris, to go into effect as of Friday, January 30, 2026. 

The new regulations will serve to rewrite old laws affording gear with property rights – a relic of the days when biodegradable wooden lathe traps made up a significant portion of in-use fishing gear – and will permit local leaders, community organizations, and partner groups to cleanup derelict gear, 9% or more of which is lost each year. 

The decision was informed by a report produced by the Derelict Gear Task Force, a collaboration of state, fishing industry, and conservation partners established by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries in 2022. 

Read the full article at CapeCod.com

CALIFORNIA: Whale-safe pop-up gear could bring crab back to Monterey Bay markets

August 5, 2025 — Pop-up fishing gear is one step closer to becoming available to local crab fishermen.

“We hope to see Monterey Bay fishermen really get back out on the water and keep bringing in crab in a way that’s whale-safe,” said Geoff Shester with Oceana.

In recent years, Monterey Bay has seen the Dungeness crab fishing season closed down or shortened due to the risk of whale entanglements in fishing ropes. The closures have put a financial burden on local fishermen.

“We’ve lost a good number of fishermen who have either retired or stopped fishing and taken land jobs,” said Gasper Catanzaro with Monterey Fish Co.

The pop-up gear is designed to keep whales safe while letting fishermen get back on the water.

“The way the pop-up gear works is all of the lines and buoys stay down with the trap. The fisherman is actually able to push a button on their tablet, see everyone else’s gear as well, and then retrieve the gear,” Shester said. “So, it pops up.”

Shester said Oceana’s most recent trial for the gear was their most successful yet; it brought in $1.4 million worth of crab this past spring.

“We were able to get out on a fishing boat, and every time it popped up, all the fishermen yelled, ‘Science!’” Shester said.

Read the full article at KSBW

Whale entanglement reports declined slightly in 2023, NMFS reports

July 29, 2025 — Entanglement in fishing gear or marine debris ensnared 64 large whales in U.S. waters during 2023, below the average annual number of cases in recent years but not yet a clear trend, the National Marine Fisheries Service reported.

The National Report on Large Whale Entanglements Confirmed in the United States in 2023 notes the 64 confirmed large whale entanglement cases nationally was less than 67 confirmed large whale entanglement cases in 2022.

“It is also below the average annual number of confirmed entanglements over the previous 16 years (which was 71.8),” according to a July 28 summary from the agency. “We will continue to analyze data from 2023 to understand whether this dip is temporary or part of a longer-term downward trend.”

Along with ship strikes, entanglements are a threat to individual whales and threatened or endangered species, such as the North Atlantic right whale with a population now estimated at only around 370 animals.

Reducing that danger to meet NMFS’ mandates  under the Marine Mammal Protection Act drives management actions on the East, Gulf and West coasts, including changes to fishing seasons, gear restrictions and efforts to develop and test so-called ropeless gear in fisheries.

According to a NMFS  breakdown of 2023 confirmed entanglement cases, 61 cases or 95 percent involved live animals, and three were whales found dead and floating when initially reported. The 2023 cases were lower than the average annual number of 71.8 confirmed entanglements from 2007–2022.

Four species of large whales were documented with 2023 entanglements in U.S. waters: humpback whales,  gray whales, minke whale and North Atlantic right whales.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

New England gear shop talks tech, costs, and barriers

June 19, 2025 — From Gulf of Maine draggers to deep-sea pair trawlers, the push to modernize New England’s trawl gear has met a familiar wall: cost.

Paul Nosworthy, owner of New England Marine Engineering and Supply Inc., knows the numbers better than most.

“The back end of a midwater trawl — just the codend — costs around $40,000,” said Nosworthy. “Then you’ve got the sweep, the ground cables, the head section. All of that adds up. It’s not cheap gear.”

In a region where fuel efficiency is directly tied to profit margins, interest in lower-resistance nets, knotless twine, and semi-pelagic doors has grown, but Nosworthy said sticker shock still leads the conversation. “The technology has changed some,” he said, “There are new door designs depending on the fishery — midwater and otter trawls — but if you want to talk about what really works and what doesn’t, we’d need to ask the net-making companies.”

For now, fishermen are hesitant to gamble on new gear without proof that it will pay off. That hesitation, said Nosworthy, is rooted in survival. “It’s all about the cost. Gear on the bottom has a short life and a high cost to build and maintain,” he said. “And regulations are always changing — mesh sizes, chafing gear limits, you name it. Guys are less willing to try new stuff when the rules could change next year.”

He’s not wrong. In 2023 to 2024, five researchers with deep roots in the U.S. commercial fishing industry joined forces through the Fishery Friendly Climate Action Campaign to establish an evidence-based framework for fishing industry-led advocacy aimed at fostering a transition to a low-carbon fishing fleet. They evaluated emissions-reduction programs like the EPA’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) andCalifornia’s Carl Moyer Program, which underscore the high financial bar for commercial fishermen. According to the DERA report, the average cost of upgrading even a single engine on a fishing vessel is tens of thousands of dollars. While grants have made a difference, they haven’t erased the problem. Though these programs offer opportunities for some commercial fishermen, the programs and grants mainly focus on reducing air pollution, but do not cover all the technology and equipment that could lead to a low carbon fishing fleet.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

MAINE: Alternative fishing gear in focus

March 26, 2025 — Demonstrations and discussions focused on alternative lobster fishing gear will take place on April 1, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Hosted by the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries in partnership with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the demos will take place at the Stonington public landing/Hagen Dock while the discussions will be held at MCCF at 13 Atlantic Ave.

Read the full article at the Mount Desert Islander

How scientists plan to prevent plastic pollution in the ocean

February 12, 2025 — You may have seen images of seabirds that have built their nests on discarded nets, lengths of rope and other plastic litter, or perhaps birds with stomachs full of microplastics.

We also know there is an invisible and very harmful effect of discarded , known as “ghost fishing,” where abandoned traps and nets are left behind to continue fishing almost indefinitely. This littering has major consequences for life in and around the ocean.

It may be invisible, but it is still a huge problem

Other fishing gear, ropes and microplastics sink to the bottom and become an invisible problem; a nylon line can last up to 600 years on the seabed. This gear is mostly made from non-degradable types of plastics, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester and polyamide.

Scientists are now seeking to develop new materials which will break down faster without causing pollution.

“Fishing gear remains in situ for a long time and in practice turns the ocean into a plastic landfill site, because particles of microplastics are formed when the materials degrade in the ocean. This slow, natural decomposition starts with photodegradation (caused by light) and thermo-oxidative degradation (caused by temperature) of the polymers,” explains researcher Christian Karl from SINTEF.

Read the full article at phys.org

VIRGINIA: VA Marine Scientists Leads National Program Cleaning up Discarded Fishing Gear, Awarding New Grants

January 16, 2025 — The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and William and Mary’s Coastal Sciences school are leading the charge nationwide to clean up discarded fishing gear and “ghost pots” from U.S. waterways.

William & Mary’s Batten School and VIMS, administrators of the National Fishing Trap Removal, Assessment, and Prevention (TRAP) Program, has awarded $1.4 million to fund 11 projects to retrieve derelict lobster and crab traps in 2025. This initial round supports projects in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, New York, Washington and the Pacific Island State of Palau, as well as ongoing efforts by the Virginia Marine Debris Program.

In 2023, using funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Marine Debris Program awarded an $8 million, four-year competitive grant to the Batten School & VIMS to administer the TRAP program. One important feature of the project will be standardizing data collection practices and establishing a national database to evaluate the environmental and economic impacts of these projects.

Read the full article at Chesapeake Bay Magazine

New research aims to keep sharks away from commercial fishing gear

February 21, 2023 — North Carolina Sea Grant’s Sara Mirabilio is continuing collaborative research to keep sharks away from commercial fishing gear. A multi-campus team is partnering with the private sector to pilot test a device that deters the predators.

“Several sharks are overfished or are experiencing overfishing on the U.S. East Coast,” says Mirabilio, a fisheries extension specialist. “Populations of scalloped hammerhead, dusky, sandbar, and blacknose sharks all could benefit from an effective deterrent from commercial fishing gear.”

Most often, sharks are caught unintentionally — as “bycatch” — when fishers are targeting other fish, she explains.

Mirabilio and colleagues, including Richard Brill, an affiliated scholar at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, are further testing a state-of-the-art electronic device that could help conserve species of sharks whose populations fishery managers are trying to rebuild. Brill says that unlike other fish, sharks possess an electrosensory system that equips them to detect close-range movements of predators or prey.

“The objective of the project is to keep the sharks away from the fishing gear, not the fishing gear away from the sharks,” says Brill. “To an approaching shark, even a weak electrical impulse can be disorientating or physically uncomfortable.” The device produces a small electric field around a baited hook

Read the full article at Island Free Press

Maine lawmakers pitch relief fund for lobstermen

February 2, 2022 — Maine lawmakers are pitching a plan to buoy commercial fishermen whose livelihoods could be impacted by pending new federal regulations.

A proposal heard Tuesday by the Legislature’s Committee on Marine Resources would require the state government to create a new $30 million fund “to mitigate negative financial impacts experienced by individuals and businesses involved in the state’s fixed-gear fishing industry.”

The bill’s primary sponsor, Rep. Holly Stover, D-Boothbay, told the panel that the federal restriction “challenges the viability, sustainability and future of Maine’s fixed gear fishing industry.”

“The long-term sustainability of Maine’s fixed gear fishing industry requires immediate action to mitigate the fiscal losses experienced by those who relied on offshore fishing as part of their livelihood,” Stover said in testimony. “We need to create some level of certainty and relief for the people who work and support our coastal communities.”

The new regulations, which are aimed at protecting critically endangered north Atlantic right whales, will require fishermen to make gear modifications to reduce the number of vertical lines in the water and will set a 950-square-mile section of the Gulf of Maine that will be off-limits to traditional lobstering during the lucrative winter months.

They will require buoyless or “ropeless” fishing gear – a new and costly technology that brings lobster traps to the surface using wireless signals – in some locations.

Read the full story at The Center Square