Saving Seafood

LOUISIANA: Amendment seeks aid for Louisiana’s wild-caught crawfishermen

August 4, 2025 — Two Louisiana congressmen, Cleo Fields and Clay Higgins, have introduced an amendment to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to support the state’s wild-caught crawfishermen during disaster relief.

The proposed amendment seeks to expand fishery disaster relief programs to include wild-caught crawfish, which currently do not qualify for disaster assistance under existing U.S. Department of Agriculture or Magnuson-Stevens Act provisions. This change would allow the Secretary of Commerce to declare a fishery disaster for red swamp crawfish and white river crawfish, providing relief in the event of natural or man-made disasters.

Read the full article at CenLANow.com

Louisiana lawmakers introduce bill to expand disaster relief for crawfishermen

August 1, 2025 — Louisiana lawmakers have introduced new bipartisan legislation aimed at providing federal disaster relief to crawfish fisheries,

Currently, wild-caught crawfish are not eligible for disaster relief through the U.S. Department of Agriculture or under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which governs most federal fishery management.

The Fisheries Modernization Act (H.R. 4800), introduced by Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., and Cleo Fields, D-La., would modify the legislation to specifically include red swamp crawfish and white river crawfish — two species central to Louisiana’s wild-caught industry. If passed, the measure would allow the Commerce Secretary to declare a fishery disaster for these species in the event of environmental catastrophes, infrastructure failures, or other crises that lead to significant drops in population or revenue.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

LOUISIANA: Louisiana representatives want to make crawfish eligible for federal disaster relief funds

July 31, 2025 — U.S. federal lawmakers from the state of Louisiana have introduced a bill that would make wild-caught crawfish eligible for the Department of Commerce’s fishery disaster relief program.

“Louisiana’s crawfish harvesters are a vital part of our state’s economy and heritage. This legislation not only recognizes that legacy, but it also ensures that when future disasters hit, they won’t be left behind. Including wild-caught crawfish under the Magnuson-Stevens Act is a simple yet practical way to give this industry the federal support it deserves,” U.S. Representative Cleo Fields (D-Louisiana) said in a statement.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Justice Department in Talks to Settle Loper Bright

July 21, 2025 — Sometimes, a little sunlight does some good. As I reported last month, even while Pam Bondi’s Justice Department has been treating Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo as a victory for conservative and MAGA critics of the administrative state, career lawyers at the DOJ were continuing to defend the very Commerce Department fishing-monitor regulation at issue in Loper Bright and its companion case, Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce. On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled in favor of the government in Relentless, concluding that the Commerce Department could saddle fishing boats with the cost of monitors even without any authorization in the statutory text for charging them such a fee: “The default norm, manifest without express statement in literally hundreds of regulations, is that the government does not reimburse regulated entities for the cost of complying with properly enacted regulations, at least short of a taking.” Never mind that this isn’t a matter of the boats bearing the costs of their own compliance with rules, but of paying a regulatory agent for the government. The judge also found that, because the Magnuson-Stevens Act gives the agency “necessary and appropriate” powers, this “in no uncertain terms, delegates . . . a large degree of discretionary authority.” Actually, a term could hardly be more uncertain, and the whole point of Loper Bright is that agency discretion is about policy — not the interpretation of the law.

Read the full article at the National Review

Court upholds rule requiring fishing boat owners to pay regulators

July 18, 2025 — A federal court has upheld the government’s ability to require commercial fishing boat owners to pay for monitors aboard their vessels, a year after the Supreme Court took up the case and broadly curbed federal agencies’ authority.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island ruled Tuesday that a NOAA Fisheries rule was lawful under the primary U.S. fisheries law, the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA).

Senior Judge William Smith said the court must exercise its independent judgment on whether an agency acted within its authority.

Read the full article at E&E News

New England council tries again on Northeast groundfish plan

July 8, 2025 — The New England Fishery Management Council will resubmit Amendment 25 to  its Northeast groundfish plan, after U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnik disapproved the regional council’s original December 2024 proposal.

The National Marine Fisheries said May 28 “that Amendment 25 and its supporting analyses do not adequately demonstrate how the proposed action is consistent with National Standard 1 or other required provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.”

After a lengthy deliberation at the council’s Junemeeting, its members voted to resubmit Amendment 25, “which would replace the current Atlantic cod stocks in the Gulf of Maine and on Georges Bank with the newly identified cod stocks in Eastern Gulf of Maine, Western Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and Southern New England,” council officials announced July 3.

The plan was protested by New England fishermen after the council’s initial approval last December. Despite Lutnik’s disapproval, NMFS still assessed that a new four-stock Atlantic cod structure “and the resulting management track stock assessments have been determined to be the best scientific information available.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

US district court judge dismisses lawsuit brought against NMFS by Alaska set-net fishers

July 7, 2025 –A judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the United Cook Inlet Drift Association and the Cook Inlet Fishermen’s Fund against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) over what the organizations claimed was violations of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA).

The two organizations, which represent fishers in the Cook Inlet in the U.S. state of Alaska, have spent over a decade launching lawsuits against NMFS, with the latest complaint saying the action was intended to “get Federal Defendants to stop shirking their duty” on the Cook Inlet salmon fishery. Plaintiffs claimed the NMFS ignored statutory duties intended for the federal government and, instead, deferred to the state of Alaska.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

New bill seeks to strengthen U.S. fisheries with MSA updates

June 5, 2025 — Once again, the U.S. House of Representatives lawmakers have introduced legislation to reauthorize and update the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA).

The MSA was last revised in 2006, and being the primary legislation governing U.S. fisheries, it is critical to ensure that federal law reflects today’s fisheries challenges across the country.

Representatives Jared Huffman (D-CA), James Moylan (R-Guam), and Ed Case (D-HI) reintroduced the Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act. The bill will implement the necessary changes to the MSA. To include as many viewpoints as possible, Huffman and Case held eight listening sessions across seven management regions during their fisheries listening tour. They heard from 80 different experts and stakeholders, in addition to public comments from dozens of individuals.

Similar efforts have been made in 2022 and 2020 to reauthorize the MSA, but they fell short.

“The Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act makes significant advancements to our U.S. fisheries management system and will contribute to the economic betterment, cultural enrichment, and health benefit of people and communities nationwide. This bipartisan bill will improve catch data and stock assessments, which are the bedrock of our successful science-based fisheries management, while also giving working waterfronts and fishing communities the infrastructure improvements and funding support they need to meet the challenges of the future,” stated Robert C. Vandermark, executive director of the Maine Fish Conservation Network. “The Marine Fish Conservation Network thanks Representatives Huffman, Moylan, and Case for their work to further the health and productivity of our oceans and fisheries that sustain our economy, nutritional wellbeing, and way of life.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

New England For-Hire Groundfish Fleet Partners with NOAA Fisheries to Improve Cod Data

June 3, 2025 — Atlantic cod is a classic New England fish, found everywhere from roadside fish-and-chip stands to the Massachusetts State House. Under the Magnuson–Stevens Act, NOAA Fisheries fosters the long-term biological and economic sustainability of marine fisheries, including rebuilding overfished stocks. Currently Atlantic cod is considered overfished and rebuilding plans are in place to promote population growth. We recently teamed up with recreational fishermen and other partners to learn more about this iconic species.

Advancements in Understanding Cod Populations

The latest model of cod stock structure based on scientific advances in genetics, tagging, and biological characterization shows there are five biologically distinct cod populations from New Jersey to Canada, and four stock units. This new model allows managers to better tailor management to the specific needs of each stock to help populations recover.

Recreational Biological Sampling Fills Data Gaps

In light of these advancements, stock assessment scientists needed more biological data from the recreational fishing fleet. NOAA Fisheries teamed up with members of New England’s recreational for-hire fleet, the New England Aquarium, Pelagic Strategies, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to fill those data gaps. The pilot study is called the Recreational Biological Sampling Program, or RecBio.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries 

Commerce rejects New England council’s cod amendment

May 29, 2025 — U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik disapproved the New England Fishery Management Council’s proposed Amendment 25 to the Northeast groundfish plan, sending it back to the council for revisions – or developing a new amendment.

The council proposed dividing the present two cod stocks into four geographic units, with new, separate annual catch limits (ACLs) for each units. The plan was protested by New England fishermen after the council’s approval in December 2024.

“These restrictions are going to be the end of the trawlers and anyone else buying fish,” New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) CEO Jerry Leeman said then. “Everyone in the fisheries expects Addendum 25 to torpedo their businesses.”

The National Marine Fisheries Service announced Lutnik’s decision in a May 28 statement. The amendment is disapproved “on the basis that Amendment 25 and its supporting analyses do not adequately demonstrate how the proposed action is consistent with National Standard 1 or other required provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act,” according to the agency.

Read the full article at National Fisherman