Saving Seafood

Fishermen cast federal limits as untenable before First Circuit

March 3, 2026 — The federal government had no right to impose severe limits on how much haddock New England fishermen can catch, a fishermen’s group told the First Circuit Monday, but the judges seemed uncertain, peppering both sides with sharp questions over constitutional authority.

The New England Fishery Management Council, created by Congress in the 1970s to oversee commercial fishing operations, infuriated local fishermen in 2023 by slashing haddock catch limits by more than 80% while placing additional restrictions on hake and cod.

A fishermen’s group sued, claiming the council was unconstitutional because it wasn’t subject to executive branch control as required by the appointments clause. Although council members exercise federal authority, they’re selected by state officials, not federal officials, and most can be removed only by a two-thirds vote of fellow members.

A federal judge in Maine agreed the council was unconstitutional, but he tried to remedy the problem by rewriting the law to limit the members’ powers, which would make them employees rather than federal officers. And he left the catch limits in place — finding that while the limits harmed fishermen’s livelihoods, they didn’t amount to “significant” federal action.

At oral argument, the judges struggled to determine whether the council members were officers who exercised significant federal authority and whether that meant the haddock rule must be struck down.

Read the full article at Courthouse News Service

MAINE: Great Northern Salmon announces multiple strategic partnerships for Maine-based salmon RAS

March 3, 2026 — Great Northern Salmon announced multiple strategic partnerships with companies as it continues to work on its Millinocket, Maine, U.S.A-based salmon recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility.

Great Northern Salmon (GNS), formerly known as Katahdin Salmon, had already announced a strategic partnership with Eyvi, a provider of aquaculture systems. Now, the company said it has established partnerships with other aquaculture technology providers, engineering and construction companies, and potential buyers for its product once it gets its facility online.’

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MAINE: A seasonal check-in for Maine’s lobster industry

March 2, 2026 — In this edition of Marketplace’s Economic Pulse, we take a look at Maine’s lobster industry, where fisheries play a central role in the state’s economy. In 2024, Maine’s commercial fisheries brought in roughly $700 million in value, with lobster making up the largest share of that total.

Marketplace’s David Brancaccio spoke with Sonny Beal, a lobsterman and member of the board of directors at the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, about the state of the industry. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

David Brancaccio: I guess it’s like actors who never say the name of the Scottish Shakespeare play, because bad things will then happen. What is it that lobster folks stay away from the precise number of how their catch was?

Sonny Beal: We’re usually pretty secretive on what we catch, because if somebody finds out that you’re doing good, they might move in on your territory and stuff. So we try to keep it kind of hush-hush.

Brancaccio: Yeah. And as it refers to your business, what’s the vibe?

Beal: The catch was down a little bit this season. It was down about 30% statewide. We can’t have record years every year, so, you know, we kind of just take it for what it is. The price is down a little bit from last year, but last year was a record price. So we’re still chugging along. And we have good years and bad years, and we take it as it goes.

Read the full article at the Marketplace

Northeast Aquaculture Conference Celebrates Innovation, Growth, and Community

February 26, 2026 — The snow and cold temperatures in Portland, Maine, were no match for the energy of nearly 700 people who gathered this year for the joint 26th Northeast Aquaculture Conference and Expo and 45th Milford Aquaculture Seminar. With its record-breaking turnout, the conference highlighted the Northeast’s growing aquaculture sector. In Maine alone, aquaculture has nearly tripled in economic impact since 2007. The meeting was co-hosted by the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center and NOAA Fisheries Milford Lab from January 7–9, 2026.

Attendees learned from more than 100 presenters during 45 sessions over 3 days. Science presentations covered the latest research on shellfish, seaweed, sea urchin, and finfish aquaculture. A record 38 aquaculture vendors demonstrated the latest innovations in aquaculture gear technology during the largest-ever trade show. In addition, 78 students received support to attend and present their work. The meeting brought industry leaders, scientific researchers, resource managers, extension specialists and students into the same room to discuss the future of sustainable farmed seafood production in the Northeast.

The conference kicked off with a welcome address by Danielle Blacklock, director of the NOAA Office of Aquaculture. She highlighted the growing tailwinds toward expanding U.S. aquaculture production. This was followed by updates from U.S. states and Canadian provinces from Prince Edward Island, Canada, to Virginia. The Maine Aquaculture Association then presented Dr. Chris Davis, Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center’s Innovator-in-Residence and co-founder of the meeting, with its inaugural lifetime achievement award.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

Gulf of Maine haddock quota stalled as boats near tying up

February 23, 2026 — For commercial fishermen in the Gulf of Maine, spring typically means fresh haddock.

It’s the time of year when the fish show up thick, boats can finally make steady trips, and crews start to see paychecks that carry them through the lean months. But this year, instead of chasing the fish, Gulf of Maine (GOM) groundfishermen are waiting and watching their quota meters hit zero.

Framework 69, the regulatory vehicle that would increase the GOM haddock quota by 50 percent due to assessments of the stock, is stuck in federal review at NOAA’s level, despite being approved by the New England Fishery Management Council and signed on Dec. 4, 2024.

In the meantime, boats are nearing the limit of haddock they’re legally allowed to land.

“We were, for instance, four weeks ago, on track at the current quota level to be out of Gulf of Maine haddock quota right around the end of this year,” said Hank Soule, manager of the Sustainable Harvest Sector. New England sectors are self-managed groups of commercial fishing vessels holding limited access permits for Northeast multispecies (groundfish), including haddock.

“Right now, we’re on track to run out of Gulf of Maine haddock quota by late March,” said Soule. For groundfishing, that means a year reset on May 1, which is beyond devastating to fishermen.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

MAINE: Maine’s aquaculture industry highlighted in new campaign for public education

February 20, 2026 — The Maine Farmed Seafood Coalition (MFSC), a Maine-based community program for sustainability, recently launched a campaign called “Maine Farmers Are Why,” intended to educate the public about Maine aquaculture in light of recent sea farming disputes across the state’s coastal regions.

“The campaign puts sea farmers at the front of the conversation and tells the stories of innovators who make a diversified living on the coast of Maine,” MFSC said in a release.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MAINE: What warming waters could mean for Maine’s fishing economy

February 10, 2026 — Fishing is a major part of Maine’s economy, with commercial fisheries generating about $709 million in 2024, according to state data. But what happens when a warming climate begins to collide with business?

Scientists consider the Gulf of Maine to be one of the fastest-warming ocean regions in the world — and changing conditions have already reshaped parts of the industry.

In Maine, warming waters have contributed to long-term declines in northern shrimp populations. Shrimp fisheries in the Gulf of Maine have been closed for more than a decade, after regulators imposed a moratorium on shrimping — a ban that has now been extended until 2028.

And it’s not just shrimp.

Graham Sherwood, a senior scientist at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, says warming waters could begin to affect Maine’s billion-dollar lobster industry, even as the fishery remains strong today.

Marketplace’s Sabri Ben-Achour spoke with Sherwood. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Read the full article at Marketplace

What zooplankton can teach us about a changing Gulf of Maine

February 10, 2026 — Karen Stamieszkin, a senior research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, was out on the Gulf of Maine three years ago when she saw red pooling in different directions beneath the waves: a large spring bloom of plankton.

“You could see these plumes of this fat, rich copepod population right at the surface,” said Stamieszkin, referring to a type of tiny crustacean. “That is what drives the Gulf of Maine’s iconic fisheries.”

She was examining the masses of an organism that plays a central role in the Gulf of Maine’s ecosystem, feeding on plant-like plankton and then transferring that energy up the food chain, thereby fueling the region’s cod, herring, and tuna populations.

Read the full article at Seacoastonline 

Trump vows to ‘unleash’ commercial fishing off New England, reversing Obama-era Atlantic restrictions

February 9, 2026 — President Donald Trump said he issued a presidential proclamation reopening thousands of square miles of protected Atlantic Ocean waters off New England to commercial fishing, saying the move would reestablish fishing access and reduce what he called burdensome restrictions on fishermen.

Trump made the announcement on Truth Social late Friday, writing that the move was “another BIG WIN for Maine, and all of New England.”

The proclamation would reestablish fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off the New England coast, a nearly 5,000-square-mile preserve east of Cape Cod that was created by former President Barack Obama. Trump rolled back protections in the area during his first term, and President Joe Biden later restored them.

Read the full article at Fox News

MAINE: Maine opens lottery for elver licenses

January 28, 2026 — Maine officials opened a lottery Monday giving 20 residents a chance to enter the state’s elver fishery before the 2026 season begins.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources began accepting lottery entries at noon Jan. 26. The process will run through 4:30 p.m. Feb. 20. Winners will then have the opportunity to apply for one of the available elver harvesting licenses ahead of the season, which is set to run from March 22 through June 7, or until the statewide quota is reached.

The U.S. elver fishery, which targets juvenile American eels, has existed since the 1970s but expanded significantly in the late 1990s, with Maine at the forefront. Until 2023, nearly all harvested elvers were sold to buyers in Asia, where they were raised to market size and then exported back to the U.S. and other countries. Recently, a small domestic market has been growing.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman