April 20, 2026 — A new University of Maine study found a possible new threat to lobsters.
They’re working to find out if lobsters are being eaten by a predator species called the cunner fish.
Council Discontinues Skate Wing and Monkfish IFQ Scoping; Approves Schedule for Listening Sessions
April 16, 2026 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management:
Portland ME: The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) responded to industry feedback opposing further exploration of a potential individual fishing quota (IFQ) program for the monkfish and/or skate wing fisheries. The Council also voted to refocus the five existing scoping meetings into five listening sessions, giving New England and Mid-Atlantic fishermen an opportunity to share ideas for improvements to the management of the monkfish and skate fisheries, informing future Council work priorities.
IFQ SCOPING DISCONTINUED
At the April 2026 meeting, the Council voted to discontinue IFQ scoping work during the Monkfish and Skate report. This decision aligns with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s (MAFMC) April decision for the jointly managed monkfish fishery. The NEFMC added IFQ scoping as a 2026 Monkfish and Skate Priority at the December 2025 meeting.
LISTENING SESSIONS SCHEDULED ACROSS THE REGION
The Council voted to hold five Listening Sessions across New England and the Mid-Atlantic to give monkfish and skate fishermen an opportunity to help guide future Council priorities. These sessions will:
Discuss how to utilize existing information: Participants will review previous monkfish and skate priority ideas, recent monkfish catch per unit effort project review information, and the Monkfish and Skate 2025 Joint Management Summary report on governance
Target specific dynamics: The Council is seeking feedback on gear-type dynamics, skate fishery components, and the differences between northern and southern monkfish components
Inform 2027+ Council Priorities: This is an opportunity for fishery participants to help the Council articulate and prioritize monkfish and skate management objectives in 2027 and beyond.
Input from the five listening sessions along with written comments will be compiled and presented to the Council at the June 2026 meeting and shared with the Monkfish and Skate Advisory Panels and Committees to inform the 2027 Council work priorities discussion at the December 2026 meeting. The MAFMC will also receive a summary of the monkfish input during its August 2026 meeting, as monkfish is a jointly managed fishery.
New England oysters are dying over the winter. N.H. scientists are trying to figure out why.
April 15, 2026 — Around New England, oysters are dying at alarming rates during the winter months.
Now, scientists in New Hampshire are trying to figure out why, as the future of the region’s youngest and smallest oyster industry hangs in the balance.
The oyster industry has grown tremendously in New Hampshire in recent years.
But as oyster farmer Joe Rankin discovered, there can be a devastating downside: mass die-offs during the cold winter that can derail the business.
That’s what he experienced in 2022, when he returned to his New Hampshire farm on the western side of Little Bay in the spring and found that about 80 percent of his oysters had died over the winter.
If he hadn’t known other oyster farmers who had overcome similar losses, he said, “I would have probably been discouraged enough to leave.”
He wants to see the industry keep growing, but even in better years, he’s seen anywhere from 25 percent to 50 percent of his oysters die during the winter.
NGOM scallop season wraps up at derby pace
April 15, 2026 — The 2026 Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) scallop season came to a close just 12 days after opening, as NOAA Fisheries shut down the high-value spring fishery effective April 13 at 12:01 a.m.
The quick turnaround comes as little surprise to fishermen who entered the season expecting a fast burn under a significantly reduced quota. For 2026, total allowable landings were set for 484,753 pounds, with a usable set-aside of 437,867 pounds after research and observer deductions– down sharply from 675,563 pounds in 2025.
Fishing safety trainings offered
April 15, 2026 — This spring, the Fishing Partnership Support Services team has teamed up with local partners Maine Lobstermen’s Association, Green and White Hope, New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association, Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association and Sunrise Economic Council to bring its free safety programming to Maine fishermen. The team will be holding Safety and Drill Conductor training in May at the following locations:
May 18-19, Eastport Port Authority, 141 Water Street, Eastport
May 21-22, USCG Station Southwest Harbor, 184 Clarke Point Road, Southwest Harbor
Trainings are designed specifically for commercial fishermen and lobstermen, including captains and crewmen, and are also helpful for family members, including children, who may join trips. Each day of training provides hands-on opportunities to learn or hone fundamental skills to fish more safely.
MAINE: Charting a course for electric boats on Maine’s coast
April 14, 2026 — Getting vessels to convert to electric or hybrid power is kind of a chicken or the egg problem, according to Lia Morris, leader of the Marine Decarbonization program at the Island Institute in Rockland, Maine.
“Boats aren’t going to convert unless there’s infrastructure,” says Morris. “We wanted to see what that would look like, so we commissioned a study with Homarus Strategies and Haley Ward Inc. There are so many parts to the puzzle. We wanted to see what type of vessels and which ports along the Maine coast would be best for going electric.”
Noah Oppenheim, the principal at Homarus Strategies, has been at the interface of fisheries and fisheries policy for the past decade. He compiled a detailed report outlining the requirements for creating the charging infrastructure needed to support an increasing number of electric and hybrid boats in various use scenarios, including ferries, aquaculture, and commercial fishing.
Oppenheim and the research team looked at things like distance from the grid, number of boats that could be served, the likelihood that the boats in a harbor would want to use electric power, and whether the harbor lent itself to hosting the necessary infrastructure. “We scored the ports along the coast and created a map of the most viable locations,” he says, noting that the map of those towns is in the report.
RHODE ISLAND: These fish look like Jabba the Hutt. Now, RI kids are eating monkfish at school.
April 14, 2025 — There’s nothing about a monkfish’s appearance that makes you want to eat it.
With a bulbous head, bulging eyes, oversized mouth and sluglike body that can grow more than four feet long, it’s basically the Jabba the Hutt of the ocean.
But this slimy, bottom-dwelling monstrosity sometimes called goosefish, devilfish or fishing frog is known to seafood afficionados for firm, sweet tail meat that makes for a tasty meal.
$1.6M to aquaculture and fisheries research
April 13, 2026 — Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Sea Grant has awarded $1.6 million to four new research projects targeting pressing challenges facing Massachusetts’ aquaculture and fisheries industries, including soft-shell clams, oysters, and black sea bass.
“Each of these projects addresses a question we’re hearing directly from those working on the water: how to keep shellfish beds open, how to manage emerging fisheries, how to improve aquaculture practices, and how to restore oyster reefs more effectively,” said WHOI Sea Grant Director Matt Charette. “This is science driven by real needs, with outcomes that will directly benefit coastal communities.”
Vineyard Wind Sues Turbine Manufacturer To Stop It From Backing Out Of Wind Farm; $4.5 Billion Project In Jeopardy
April 13, 2026 — Vineyard Wind has completed construction of the 62-turbine wind farm southwest of Nantucket, but the future of the project appears to be very much in jeopardy.
Vineyard Wind is suing GE Renewables, the manufacturer of its turbines, to block the company from backing out of the project. Without its partner, Vineyard Wind stated in its lawsuit that the entire $4.5 billion offshore wind project is imperiled.
“GER (GE Renewables) walking away threatens the project’s very survival,” Vineyard Wind’s attorneys wrote in a filing submitted this week to the Suffolk Superior Court. The project’s failure would “leave behind a dormant wind farm graveyard. There is no viable replacement.”
The lawsuit was prompted by GE Renewables (GER) sending a termination notice to Vineyard Wind on February 27, claiming the offshore wind developer had failed to cover more than $300 million in unpaid bills. Terminating those agreements would leave Vineyard Wind unable to operate and maintain its turbines, which run on GE Renewables’ proprietary designs, technology, and software, according to the legal filing.
“Only GER is able to perform the remaining work necessary to bring the performance of the GER turbines up to the capacity and reliability standards required for Vineyard Wind to supply power to Massachusetts consumers,” the offshore wind developer stated in the lawsuit. “Even if it were doable, however, it will be virtually impossible to find a turbine supplier that would be willing to take GER’s place.”
NOAA closing Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area on Monday morning
April 13, 2026 — Just a dozen days after it opened, NOAA Fisheries is closing the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area to all federally permitted limited access general category scallop vessels effective Monday at 12:01 a.m.
As of Monday, no scallop vessel fishing under federal scallop regulations may fish for, possess, or land scallops in or from the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area, NOAA said.
NOAA set the total allowable landing limit at 484,753 pounds for the season, down from 675,563 pounds in 2025. Scallop regulations require closure of the management area once NOAA projects that 100% of the 2026 Northern Gulf of Maine Set-Aside — 437,867 pounds in 2026 — will be taken. The closure will be in effect until the end of the fishing year on March 31, 2027.
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