August 18, 2026 — The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission approved new rules for Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab fisheries during a meeting Friday, Aug. 14, with changes aimed in part at reducing whale entanglements.
The new rules include updates involving experimental gear, such as pop-up crab gear designed to reduce the amount of line in the water, as well as surface gear, including buoys and lines at the water’s surface.
August 18, 2026 — During an 14 August board meeting, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) unanimously voted to pass electronic vessel monitoring requirements for the state’s Dungeness crab operations, aiming to reduce the risk of whale entanglement.
ODFW said in a release that each commercial crab vessel in the state’s Dungeness fishery must now install an electronic vessel monitoring system by 1 February 2027. Original legislation required the installation two months earlier, but upon listening to public feedback, the commission pushed back the deadline to next year.
August 17, 2026 — Federal fisheries officials are beginning a process that could eventually lead to new fishing restrictions along the East Coast designed to protect native whale species.
The National Marine Fisheries Service, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, announced Aug 14 that it intends to conduct an environmental review of potential changes to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan. The plan is intended to reduce deaths and serious injuries of North Atlantic right whales, humpback whales, and fin whales caused by entanglements in commercial trap/pot and gillnet fishing gear along the East Coast.
NMFS stresses that Friday’s publication merely begins a public comment process and is not a proposed federal rule.
August 17, 2026 — On Friday, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission revised rules to strengthen the department’s efforts to reducing whale entanglements in Oregon’s Dungeness crab fishery.
The revised rules include electronic vessel monitoring, including the installation of devices that provide a vessel’s location and other data. This requirement will take effect in February 2027.
The Commission also established additional criteria and guidelines for approving experimental fishing gear permits, allowing the exploration of alternative gear for the crab fishery that needs to be tested off the Oregon coast.
August 14, 2026 — This story is part two of a three-part series. Read about how we are listening for North Atlantic right whales with passive acoustics, monitoring them with aerial surveys, and using boats, drones, uncrewed surface vehicles and satellites to learn as much as we can about them and their habitat. In the Northeast, we work with many partners to track right whales, including mothers and calves, using advanced technology to help inform actions that reduce risks to the species.
Many North Atlantic right whales migrate thousands of miles to the Southeast and the Mid-Atlantic from mid-November to mid-April. Female right whales give birth in the shallow coastal waters of the Southeast during the winter months. The whales spend the rest of the year feeding in the plankton-rich waters off of the Northeast and Canada.
We take to the skies to monitor this journey. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s aerial survey team conducts right whale surveys aboard a NOAA Twin Otter Aircraft. The team has flown 325 hours monitoring whales since January 2026. In the spring, they monitored whales off of New England and the Mid-Atlantic. In June, they joined Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) as part of a Joint Aerial Survey Team, flying out of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. There, they flew 50 hours monitoring aggregations of right whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
August 12, 2026 — A new study from the Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa has found that the population of spinner dolphins off the Kona Coast is in decline. And disruption caused by people is likely to blame.
The study used 3D digital models created using drone photography taken in 2021 and 2022 to determine the ages of the dolphins that live along the coast. It found that the number of calves was just 9% of the total — a notable drop from 17%, the number that scientists expect to see under stable conditions.
“This study is really eye-opening,” said Lars Bejder, director of HIMB’s Marine Mammal Research Program. “Over the last 25 to 30 years there’s been a lot of concern from NOAA, from the general community, from Hawaiian practitioners and from some commercial operators that the pressure on these animals is pretty severe.”
Spinner dolphins live for 20 to 25 years and reproduce slowly; getting a clear population count has long been a challenge. But this study adds a new form of evidence to the existing science. Fewer calves will most likely lead to fewer mature dolphins over time, and that “raises concerns about the long-term viability” of the dolphins off the Big Island, the scientists said.
The researchers added that the evidence is a clear call for further protection for the dolphins at a time when the existing protection may be lacking enforcement.
August 11, 2026 — This story is part 1 of a 3-part series. Read about how we are listening for North Atlantic right whales with passive acoustics, monitoring them with aerial surveys, and using boats, drones, uncrewed surface vehicles and satellites to learn as much as we can about them and their habitat. In the Northeast, we work with many partners to track right whales, including mothers and calves, using advanced technology to help inform actions that reduce risks to the species.
Endangered North Atlantic right whales had a busy winter! NOAA Fisheries and our partners saw 23 right whale mom and calf pairs during the right whale calving season in the Southeast. This is hopeful news for the species. With only 380 North Atlantic right whales remaining, including about 70 reproductively active females, each mother and calf is vital to the species’ recovery. Human impacts continue to threaten the survival of the species.
Reducing risk to these whales is a top priority as they spend the summer in their northern feeding grounds, and technology is helping us do it. With our partners, NOAA Fisheries is monitoring right whales using cutting-edge techniques like real-time passive acoustic monitoring and measuring calf growth rates with drones.
The data we collect inform management and conservation measures that reduce the risks whales face from human impacts, including vessel strikes and entanglements. Our continuous monitoring supports coexistence between marine industries and right whales.
July 30, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries recently said a law requiring it to ban imports from foreign fisheries that don’t align with U.S. marine mammal protections has been a useful tool in reducing bycatch but admitted it is very difficult to execute.
The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) has long required U.S. commercial fishers to take steps to reduce marine mammal bycatch, but a similar requirement to ban imports from foreign fisheries that do not take action to reduce marine mammal bycatch has not been consistently enforced. Amid growing pressure from conservation groups, in 2016, NOAA Fisheries finalized a rule laying out how it would assess those foreign fisheries. Under the rule, NOAA Fisheries would conduct a comparability finding for every single foreign fishery to ensure it met U.S. standards for protecting marine mammals and reducing bycatch. Those denied a comparability finding would be banned from exporting their products to U.S. markets.
July 23, 2026 — A marine wildlife hospital based in the Pacific Northwest is worried about an alarming trend: seals coming to them alive, but gravely injured.
Earlier this month, the organization treated its third seal in less than a year with a gunshot wound. That seal pup, named Waffles, was found over Fourth of July weekend. It had to be euthanized once it was determined its injuries were too severe.
“It’s not uncommon for us to see animals that have been shot,” said Casey Mclean, executive director and veterinary nurse at SR3 SeaLife Response + Rehab + Research. “Historically, we often found those animals dead. Now we’re starting to see more of them alive and suffering from gunshot injuries.”This trend, Mclean believes, is being fueled by misinformation about the role marine mammals play in Washington’s continually struggling salmon populations.
Her concern is amplified by a congressional bipartisan bill from two Washington lawmakers, U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner, a Republican, and U.S. Rep. Emily Randall, a Democrat. The Northwest Endangered Salmon Predation Prevention Act (H.R. 9621) would expand the ability of federal, state, and tribal authorities to remove seals and sea lions, known collectively as pinnipeds, from Washington waters in an effort to boost salmon recovery.
In statements to KING 5, both sponsors of the bill lambasted the shooting of the seal pup as illegal, but insisted it should not be confused with what they’re proposing.
“Joe Schmo or any person off the streets shouldn’t be shooting seals or sea lions,” Randall said. “What we have proposed is a robust process to figure out how we can have responsible management of a population that’s decimating our salmon.”
“No one should be illegally poaching sea lions,” Baumgartner said. “I hope the perpetrator is identified and brought to justice. This does not have anything to do with my bipartisan bill to try to save and restore our endangered salmon populations.”
Supporters of the proposal, like the representatives, argue reducing pinnipeds could help struggling salmon populations. However, critics like Mclean say the bill ignores more significant threats to salmon and risks repeating decades-old mistakes in wildlife management.
July 21, 2026 — A new study published by NOAA’s Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center found that population numbers of gray whales along the U.S. West Coast have increased since 2025.
How and why populations of Eastern North Pacific gray whales are seeing an uptick is still under research, but in a release, NOAA confirmed that the increase “likely exceeds the reproductive capacity of the population.” Last year, the most recent estimate for gray whale calves was the lowest on record at 85. Now, researchers estimate the population of Eastern North Pacific gray whales is between 15,930 and 20,530, which is much higher than last year’s estimate of between 11,690 and 12,890.