Saving Seafood

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

Experts issue warning after observing dramatic shift in key fish species: ‘They might get flushed out’

June 5, 2025 — Some fish stay in the same cozy bodies of water all year long. Others, like the alewife, a fish found in the waters of the Northern Atlantic Ocean, migrate between different areas to spawn and live. But changing weather patterns are affecting alewife migration, potentially harming their entire lifecycle, reported WMTW News 8 Portland.

What’s happening?

Alewives are anadromous fish; they spawn in freshwater but live the rest of their lives in saltwater. They’re commonly found in the Gulf of Maine, where they live and feed for a few years before returning to the freshwater areas they spawned in to start a new lifecycle.

Zach Whitener, research associate at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, told WMTW News 8 Portland that the changing climate, namely, changing precipitation patterns, is affecting alewives and other migrating fish species.

“If we haven’t had enough rain and the lake level isn’t high enough, they can’t physically get out of their lakes when they want to,” said Whitener. “Conversely, if there is a very big storm, they might get flushed out of their lake when they didn’t want to.”

Read the full article at TCD

New Seasonal Forecast Predicts Cooler Waters in Northeast

June 4, 2025 — Deep waters in the Gulf of Maine and the Mid-Atlantic Bight shelfbreak region are expected to remain cooler than in recent years. This prediction, a product of NOAA’s Changing Ecosystems and Fisheries Initiative, is from the first experimental seasonal ocean outlook released by NOAA scientists in April. It is a shift from previous patterns: From 2004 to 2013, sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Maine warmed faster than anywhere else in the world.

Fisheries Data Supports Forecast

Conditions at the bottom of the ocean along much of the Northeast U.S. coast have been colder than normal in the first few months of 2025. Data collected in March 2025 by several surveys and the eMOLT program, a partnership between commercial fishermen and NOAA, showed:

  • Bottom temperatures across much of the Gulf of Maine that were 0.5–2.0 °C (0.9–3.6 °F) below normal for March, though a few locations reported slightly warmer than normal conditions
  • Cooler than normal conditions all along the edge of Georges Bank and deep along the Mid-Atlantic Bight shelf break and slope
  • Patches of near to slightly above normal temperatures inshore around Long Island

The first experimental outlook was produced by an advanced integration of NOAA Research’s global seasonal forecast model with a newly developed high-resolution numerical ocean model. The outlook predicts that many of these patterns of above and below normal bottom temperatures will persist into the summer:

  • Continued cold is predicted in the deep Gulf of Maine, while some shallow nearshore regions may see moderately above normal temperatures
  • Colder than normal conditions are also forecast to persist deep along the Mid-Atlantic Bight shelf break and slope, but warmer than normal conditions are predicted to develop in much of the shallower Mid-Atlantic Bight
  • Near the surface, moderately warmer than normal conditions (about 1 °C or 2 °F above average) are predicted throughout most of the region

Since releasing the outlook, NOAA scientists have continued monitoring conditions in the Northeast. Consistent with the forecast and data collected in March and April 2025, they are seeing cooler than normal bottom temperatures.

Are these changes part of a longer term shift?

The recent persistence of cooler than usual conditions in the Gulf of Maine is a marked departure from the last two decades. From 2004 to 2013, the Gulf of Maine sea surface temperature warmed faster than virtually anywhere else in the world. Strong marine heatwaves, or extended periods of substantially warmer than normal conditions, were observed in 2012 and 2016. This abrupt warming had impacts on a number of important fisheries, including cod and lobster.

NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory conducted experimental model predictions of the next 10 years in 2023. They suggest that the warming will pause over the next decade, with the temperature trend at the surface remaining flat or slightly cooling. In the model, this pause in the warming trend is associated with slow variability in the ocean and atmosphere that takes place over several years. This will ultimately result in a temporary southward displacement of the warm Gulf Stream current, which allows colder water into the Northeast U.S. region.

The cool water observed this winter and spring, its predicted continuation at depth this summer, and several cool pulses observed in 2024 point to this prediction being accurate so far. However, several additional years of data will be needed to confirm whether the warming trend has paused as predicted.

These ocean outlooks are based on advanced numerical models developed by NOAA Research. The Seamless System for Prediction and Earth System Research (SPEAR) model was developed at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. It predicts how the ocean, atmosphere, land, and sea ice across the planet will evolve over the next 1 to 10 years. Through a process known as downscaling, predictions from the SPEAR global model are then fed into a much higher resolution regional model, built with NOAA’s Modular Ocean Model version 6 (MOM6). This high-resolution model also simulates coastal tides, plankton, and ocean chemistry.

Preparing for Changing Ecosystems and Fisheries

We will update the seasonal outlook for the U.S. East Coast—which includes the Caribbean and the Gulf of America (formerly the Gulf of Mexico)—every 3 months. We will also continue to regularly update our 10-year forecasts. Combined, these forecasts will provide actionable information about potential near-future ocean conditions. Coastal communities, industries, and resource managers can use this information to reduce the impacts of ocean changes.

Scientists at NOAA Fisheries are working closely with NOAA Research and university partners to understand how these predictions can be best incorporated into marine resource management. Changes such as the cooling of deep bottom waters are expected to be particularly impactful for groundfish species, such as cod and haddock, which live on or near the deep sea floor.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries 

Cooler waters ahead for Gulf of Maine

June 3, 2025 –A new seasonal forecast developed by NOAA scientists predicts cooler bottom-water temperatures across the Gulf of Maine this spring and summer, making a notable shift for one of the fastest-warming ocean regions in the world.

The experimental outlook, released as part of NOAA Fisheries’ 2025 New England State of the Ecosystems Report, points to a southward movement of the eastern Gulf Stream and a potential influx of cooler Labrador Slope and Scotian Shelf waters as key drivers behind the recent trend. As a result, scientists expect bottom temperatures in the Gulf to be between 0.9 and 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than average.

“The cooling trend from the Labrador Shelf region is significant and could have important effects on local marine ecosystems and fisheries,” said Vincent Saba, a research fishery biologist at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NOAA predicts colder than normal deep-water temperatures for the Gulf of Maine

May 30, 2025 — The Gulf of Maine will again experience colder than normal bottom-water temperatures, according to a new forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

NOAA projects deep water temperatures in the Gulf of Maine will be cooler by 0.9 to 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit this summer, compared to the seasonal average. The outlook is based on new models developed by NOAA researchers that provide large-scale predictions of the ocean and regional ecosystem changes.

Read the full article at Maine Public

NOAA ocean outlook projects cooler deep waters for Gulf of Maine

May 28, 2025 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The Gulf of Maine, historically one of the fastest-warming ocean regions in the world, is predicted to experience cooler bottom water temperatures this spring and summer, according to a new experimental outlook developed by NOAA scientists.

Initial signs of this shift were reported by NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center and documented in the NOAA Fisheries 2025 New England State of the Ecosystem Report.

Data shows that since late 2023, the Northwest Atlantic has seen cooler bottom-water temperatures due to the southward movement of the eastern portion of the Gulf Stream and possibly an increased influx of Labrador Slope and Scotian Shelf water into the system. Researchers expect the Gulf of Maine to be 0.9-1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (0.5-1 degree Celsius) cooler this summer compared to the average summer temperature.

“The cooling trend from the Labrador Shelf region is significant and could have important effects on local marine ecosystems and fisheries,” said Vincent Saba, a research fishery biologist at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

Bottom-water temperatures influence the productivity of groundfish, like cod, haddock, pollock, and several species of flounder, which prefer cooler water. Lobster, the most valuable fishery in the northeast, are also temperature-sensitive. Warming waters along the New England coast in recent decades have contributed to the collapse of the southern New England lobster population while the Gulf of Maine population has boomed. Researchers expect that cooler waters will impact this economically and culturally important species.

The commercial fishing industry in New England is a major economic driver, contributing $1.4 billion in revenue to the regional economy in 2022 and supporting over 280,000 jobs. The industry also has a significant socioeconomic impact on coastal communities.

A companion longer-term outlook, also developed by NOAA scientists, suggests that more frequent inflows of cooler deep waters may continue to temper warming in the basin for the next several years. Continued monitoring is needed to confirm this prediction.

“This is the first product to offer high-resolution predictive information on ocean conditions at near-term time scales for the full East Coast of the U.S.,” said Katherine Mills, Senior Scientist at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. “Species in the groundfish complex—like cod, haddock and winter flounder—are more productive when water temperatures are cooler. This information can be used to anticipate where and when certain marine species might be available and help commercial harvesters and supply chain businesses more effectively plan their operations.”

This seasonal outlook was developed under the Changing Ecosystems and Fisheries Initiative (CEFI) by scientists across NOAA Research and Fisheries, with input from the National Ocean Service, National Environmental Satellite and Data Information Service and the National Weather Service.

The outlook is based on two models developed by NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. The first is SPEAR, the “Seamless System for Prediction and Earth System Research”, which provides large-scale predictions for the ocean, atmosphere and land. The SPEAR output is then fed into a higher-resolution regional model, built with the Modular Ocean Model version 6 (MOM6), to simulate ecosystem changes in the coastal regions.

Working in tandem, the two models generate ocean predictions for a wide region along the U.S. East Coast, from the Gulf of Maine through the Southeast U.S. and into the Caribbean Islands  that are home to economically important fisheries and protected species. The outlook for the Southeast U.S. and Caribbean regions predicts moderately above-normal surface temperatures through this spring and summer.

Through CEFI, NOAA Research is building out experimental regional ocean prediction systems for all U.S. coastal regions and the Great Lakes that will include information on ocean chemistry (acidity, oxygen) and plankton populations. The regional configurations all rely on NOAA’s global prediction systems for large-scale information while enabling finer resolution of local features critical for fisheries and coastal communities.

“These outlooks help us communicate these predicted changes, allowing the fishing industry and coastal communities to prepare and respond effectively,” Saba said.

Gulf of Maine may be impacted by Trump’s offshore oil and gas drilling expansion

May 8, 2025 — As part of the Trump’s administration’s effort to expand fossil fuel production in the United States, the Department of the Interior announced recently that it would accelerate the permitting process for a range of energy sources and seek new oil and gas lease sales in offshore waters, including in the Gulf of Maine.

Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said the permitting changes — which speed up review under the National Environmental Policy and Endangered Species Acts, among others — would cut what is often a multi-year review process down to several weeks.

Environmental groups and Maine lawmakers decried the moves while oil and gas industry representatives celebrated them. Days later, a group of New England Senators, including Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King, introduced legislation to ban offshore drilling in waters throughout New England.

“The waters off Maine’s coast provide a healthy ecosystem for our fisheries and are an integral part of our tourism industry, supporting thousands of jobs and generating billions of dollars in revenue each year,” said Collins in a statement. “Offshore drilling along the coast could impact Mainers of all walks of life for generations.”

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

Federal oil and gas leasing plan could include Maine coast

May 1, 2025 — The Trump administration is developing an offshore oil and gas leasing plan that could include waters in the Gulf of Maine.

The Natural Resources Council of Maine warns there are no economically recoverable fossil fuels in the region and that drilling risks environmental and economic harm.

“Offshore oil and gas exploration would directly threaten our marine ecosystems, risk devastation to our vibrant tourist economy, and harm our heritage fishing industry,” the council’s climate and clean energy director Jack Shapiro said in a statement.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management this month opened public comment on developing a new five-year lease schedule for the outer continental shelf.

Read the full story at CAI

Gulf of Maine scallop fishing to be closed a week after area was reopened

April 25, 2025 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Friday that a section of the Gulf of Maine will be closed to scallop fishing in a few days, as the agency has projected the catch will reach the season quota that was recently set.

NOAA Fisheries said the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area will close at 12:01 a.m. Monday, April 28, to all federally-permitted limited access general category scallop vessels. The closure will be in effect until the end of the current fishing year, which lasts until March 31, 2026.

Read the full story at WMTW

Gulf of Maine scallop season resumes

April 24, 2025 — Regulators have reopened commercial scallop fishing in the Northern Gulf of Maine after the season was briefly paused when federal officials failed to approve recommended catch limits in time.

The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) approved new quotas for the 2025 and 2026 scallop seasons in December 2024, setting a quota of 675,563 pounds for 2025 and a quota of 506,672 pounds for 2026 in the Northern Gulf of Maine federal fishery. However, the federal government still hadn’t approved those quotas before the 2025 season launched 1 April.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource