Saving Seafood

ALASKA: State denies Ketchikan tribe’s request to open green crab fishery

August 4, 2026 —  The Ketchikan Indian Community submitted an emergency petition to the state’s Board of Fisheries in March, asking to reclassify European green crabs from a Class A to a Class B banned invasive species.

This change would allow anybody to transport dead European green crabs for harvest or consumption. Currently, the invasive can only be possessed or transported for scientific or educational purposes by those with an Aquatic Resource Permit.

“This isn’t an issue that’s going anywhere, and it seems to be largely ignored throughout much of the state,” said Emily Halsell, a fisheries and wildlife biologist with the Ketchikan Indian Community.

Halsell is leading a green crab monitoring and removal program, which officially kicked off last fall. The tribe has removed about 1,500 green crabs from Ketchikan beaches so far this year.

In its petition to the state, the tribe cites the species’ damaging impacts to the local ecosystem and economy. The adaptive critter can burrow and destroy eelgrass beds, which are nurseries for native species like Dungeness crabs and juvenile salmon. They can also compete with native crab species for the same resources.

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media

Conservation group asks New Jersey to take action over biomedical bleeding of horseshoe crabs

August 3, 2026 — More than a dozen conservation groups have petitioned the U.S. state of New Jersey to take action on the bleeding of horseshoe crabs by a biomedical company, claiming the practice injures the shellfish in violation of state law.

“On paper, New Jersey is one of the best state protectors of horseshoe crabs, but look under the hood and you’ll find it’s actually allowing a company to kill and injure horseshoe crabs in huge numbers,” Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) Senior Attorney Danny Waltz said in a release. “New Jersey must act quickly to fulfill the promise of its own laws and protect these highly imperiled animals and the endangered birds that depend on healthy crab populations.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MAINE: Scientists have begun to re-deploy ocean monitoring equipment yanked from Pacific Northwest waters by the Trump administration in September.

August 3, 2026 — Every lobsterman expects to lose gear.

Strong tides, boat traffic, and tangled lines make losing lobster traps an unavoidable part of fishing Maine’s rugged coastline. But when those traps settle on the seafloor, they can impact marine life for years, creating problems for both the environment and the state’s most valuable fishery.

That’s why Buzz Scott has made it his mission to bring them back.

Scott has spent nearly two decades as a commercial fisherman off the Maine coast. While he still operates a lobster boat, much of his time is now dedicated to recovering abandoned traps as executive director of the nonprofit OceansWide.

Read the full article at News Center Maine

MASSACHUSETTS: Horseshoe crab populations hit record highs in Cape Cod waters after decades of protection

July 31, 2026 — Horseshoe crab populations in Massachusetts waters are reaching record highs, a sustained rebound that marine biologists attribute to decades of strict harvesting limits and expansive spawning protections.

According to July report from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), data from three distinct surveying methods show significant increases in the species’ abundance, reversing a downward trend that persisted until roughly 2010.

The decline that preceded the recovery alarmed wildlife managers because horseshoe crabs play a critical role in both the coastal ecosystem and modern medicine. According to Cape Cod National Seashore, the animals are harvested for bait in eel and whelk fisheries, while their blue blood is used to produce Limulus amebocyte lysate, a substance used to detect bacterial contamination in injectable drugs, vaccines and implantable medical devices.

Read the full article at MassLive