Saving Seafood

LOUISIANA: Fishermen question LNG industry’s efforts to boost Louisiana fisheries

September 24, 2026 — Two major players in the liquified natural gas industry in Louisiana covered part of the cost of a recent restocking of redfish in coastal waters, but fishermen are skeptical about whether it will be effective. They’re instead calling for more investment in marshland restoration.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries released 150,000 redfish on Sept. 18, with young, hatchery-raised fingerlings in the Rigolets just outside New Orleans, near Grand Isle and in West Cove, adjacent to Calcasieu Lake.

The releases were funded in part by the joint venture Cameron LNG, which operates a large export terminal along the Calcasieu Ship Channel, and Sempra Infrastructure, the company that has a controlling interest in the facility. Restocking costs amounted to about $6 per fish, according to The Times-Picayune, which would total $900,000.

The Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana and the nonprofit Recreational Fisheries Research Institute organized the restocking, which also had financial support from Air Products, the American Fishing Tackle Co. and Jefferson Parish, according to the report.

Read the full article at News From the States

The Gulf Stream is speeding up. Scientists say that’s a big deal

September 15, 2026 — For years, the story about Atlantic Ocean currents has been one of slowdown, which will cause irreversible change. A new NOAA study complicates it.

Researchers at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) and the University of Miami analyzed 31 years of continuous satellite measurements and found the Gulf Stream weakened for a decade and then sped up for about a decade.

Where this happened

The Gulf Stream is a warm ocean current that originates around the Gulf and Caribbean and pushes warm water to the North Atlantic and Europe. But the behavior of the Gulf Stream was not uniform.

Shenfu Dong, an oceanographer at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, mentioned that the shift was “far more dynamic than a simple slowdown narrative.”

Long story short, one of the segments of the Gulf Stream, the current upstream leg that moves between Florida and the Bahamas, stayed consistent. But when the stream separates from the coast and runs free in the open Atlantic, that is where the speed-up occurs.

Read the full article at The Weather Channel

More than $100 million in habitat funding targets key US fisheries

September 14, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries is directing $103 million toward habitat restoration projects across the country, with several of the largest awards aimed at improving habitat for commercially important salmon, shrimp, oysters, and other species.

The agency announced Sept. 10 that it selected 16 projects for funding, ranging from salmon habitat work in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest to salt marsh restoration along the Gulf and Southeast coasts.

The funding is intended to restore wetlands, rivers, coral reefs, and other habitats fish rely on for feeding, spawning, and growth. NOAA said healthy habitat is essential to sustaining both commercial and recreational fisheries and the communities and industries that depend on them.

Demand for funding far exceeded what was available. NOAA received nearly 350 proposals requesting a combined $1.5 billion, more than 17 times the amount ultimately awarded.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

$103 Million in NOAA Funding Awarded to Restore Habitat for Fisheries

September 11, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries has awarded $103 million in funding for 16 habitat restoration projects across the country. These projects will recover and sustain our nation’s fisheries by ensuring fish have access to high quality habitat.

By supporting America’s fisheries, these projects will “Make America Beautiful Again” through proactive, voluntary, on-the-ground collaborative conservation efforts. America’s abundant natural resources—including valuable commercial and recreational fisheries—are vital to our nation’s economy and culture, bolstering industries, jobs, recreation, and more.

Fisheries rely on healthy habitats like wetlands, rivers, and coral reefs as important areas to grow, eat, and reproduce. These projects will restore healthy habitat for fish across the country: from planting corals to rebuild reefs in the Caribbean, to reconnecting rivers for salmon, to restoring salt marsh for shrimp and oysters in the Gulf of America.

NOAA received many more applications than we could fund. The total demand from the nearly 350 proposals we received was $1.5 billion, more than 17 times the amount of funding available. The full list of funded projects can be found below.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

Court rejects fishermen’s gag grouper challenge

September 10, 2026 — A federal appeals court ruled that the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council has powers it cannot constitutionally exercise under its current structure, but the decision will not overturn a rule that sharply reduced gag grouper catch limits.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit issued its unanimous decision Sept. 3 in a case brought by commercial fishermen Dominick and James Russo and their family business, FFC Seafood. The Russos challenged a federal rule that reduced annual gag grouper catch limits by approximately 86 percent.

The brothers have been in commercial fishing in the Gulf for about 30 years and argued that the reduction affected one of their most profitable fisheries.

Rather than challenging the biological basis for the catch limits, the Russos’ case centered on the structure and authority of the Gulf Council. They argued that council members exercise significant federal authority without being appointed in accordance with the Constitution’s Appointment Clause and are improperly insulated from removal.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Gulf shrimp advocate urges federal caution in aquaculture expansion

September 9, 2026 — An organization representing shrimp harvesters and other related small businesses in eight Southern states last week cautioned the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to choose its next round of potential large-scale offshore commercial aquaculture sites carefully.

Published July 30, NOAA’s latest request for information seeks guidance from the public and industry stakeholders on selecting the most suitable locations for what the federal agency calls Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs). NOAA has already undertaken this process in Alaska, California and the Gulf of Mexico, which the Trump administration prefers to call the Gulf of America. The deadline for public comment is Sept. 14.

The Florida-based Southern Shrimp Alliance said in a news release Sept. 3 that NOAA’s process must be mindful of what already exists in the Gulf.

The SSA noted identifying AOAs is the “first critical step in a multi-year process” of downstream planning and environmental review, in this case for NOAA’s South Atlantic fisheries. It added feedback it previously gave had helped prevent two important shrimping areas in the Gulf from being designated as AOAs.

Read the full article at CHRON

Atlantic tuna, swordfish and shark fisheries see mixed outlook

September 9, 2026 — Commercial fishermen from New England to the Southeast are seeing a mixed picture across Atlantic highly migratory species, with several major tuna and swordfish stocks remaining in relatively strong conditions while some shark stocks continue to face rebuilding challenges.

NOAA Fisheries released its 2024- 2025 Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Report for Atlantic Highly Migratory Species on Sept. 4, providing an updated look at tunas, swordfish, billfish, and sharks managed along the East Coast, Gulf, and Caribbean.

For fishermen, the report offers more than a snapshot of stock health. It also shows where commercial landings and revenues are moving, including a notable decline in overall highly migratory species revenue in 2024.

Tuna stocks show some of the stronger signs

Among the major commercial species, North Atlantic albacore remained well above its biomass target and was not considered overfished or subject to overfishing. Atlantic yellowfin and western Atlantic skipjack were also classified as not overfished, with overfishing not occurring.

The picture is less straightforward for bluefin.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Health experts agree — eat more fish. The harder question: Wild-caught or farm-raised?

September 8, 2026 — Shelly Marie Redmond, a Shreveport dietitian, says one of her first priorities with clients is to get seafood into their meal plans.

“Fish can add so much to our well-being,” she said. “It’s rich in protein, which can help us lose weight, but it also is full of healthy omega-3 fats that protect our hearts and decrease inflammation.”

But not all of this underwater bounty is created equal when it comes to health. In particular, the debate over wild-caught seafood vs. farm-raised seafood can become complicated, balancing concerns around nutrition, contamination, overfishing and environmental degradation.

Dana Honn, chef-owner of New Orleans-based restaurants Nikkei Izakaya and Tempero’s Kitchen as well as founder of the Tropical Foodways Institute and the Louisiana Shrimp Festival, says that creating hard and fast rules between wild-caught and farm-raised seafood is not easy.

Read the full article at NOLA.com

US Court Says Gulf of Mexico Fishery Council Has Too Much Power, but Overfishing Rule Can Stand

September 5, 2026 — A federal appeals court ⁠said ⁠a council created by Congress ⁠to help the U.S. commerce secretary manage the nation’s fisheries exercised ​unconstitutional powers, but refused to strike down a rule limiting the catch of a Gulf of ‌Mexico fish.

• In a 3-0 ‌decision on Thursday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta said the ⁠law creating ⁠the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council improperly gave that body ​power to block various actions by the commerce secretary, including repeals of fishery management plans designed to prevent overfishing and ensure sustainability.

• It nevertheless rejected a challenge by two commercial fishermen to a ​rule limiting the annual catch of gag grouper by an estimated 86%, saying the ⁠council’s ⁠improper veto powers had nothing ⁠to do ​with that rule.

• The fishermen, Dominick and James Russo, said the rule should be ​voided because council members ⁠were improperly appointed and wielded significant federal authority, violating the U.S. Constitution’s Appointments Clause.

Read the full article at U.S. News

US appeals court rejects challenge to turtle excluder device requirements in Louisiana

September 5, 2026 — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has rejected a challenge to turtle excluder device (TED) requirements in Louisiana, upholding a lower court ruling.

“We are delighted by this current ruling that will reduce the number of sea turtles from drowning in large shrimp nets, but we will continue to advocate for TEDs to be required in all skimmer trawls to prevent the continuing cruel and unnecessary drowning of these gentle endangered turtles,” Turtle Island Restoration Network Ocean Director Joanie Steinhaus said in a release.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource