Saving Seafood

News for the New England Region

Decline in baby Maine lobsters is warning to the fishery, study finds

October 19, 2026 — A sharp decline in baby lobsters offered an early warning of substantial losses in Maine’s Midcoast lobster population, according to a new University of Maine study that connects falling numbers across successive stages of the crustaceans’ lives.

Researchers found that an 80% decline in baby lobsters sampled between 2010 and 2022 preceded declines farther along in the population: a 70% decrease in young lobsters since 2015 and a 50% decrease in adults large enough for fishermen to catch.
The findings show how a shortage of the smallest lobsters can work its way through the population, eventually reducing the number reaching harvestable size. They also underscore the importance of monitoring lobsters years before they enter the commercial fishery.
The study’s midcoast region, extending from Brunswick to the Schoodic Peninsula, recorded the steepest declines in the Gulf of Maine. That broad study area encompasses the waters off Waldo County and much of Maine’s central coast.
The losses followed a substantial boom. From the 2000s to the 2010s, the number of lobsters sampled in the region doubled before the trend reversed.
The research adds to evidence that the Gulf of Maine’s lobster population has declined since the mid-2010s, raising questions about the future of a fishery that generated more than $461 million in Maine landings in 2025.

Vessel tracking fight ‘ain’t over yet’ after Supreme Court denial

October 19, 2026 — Vinalhaven lobsterman Frank Thompson says his fight against Maine’s vessel-tracking requirement is not over, despite the U.S. Supreme Court declining earlier this month to hear his Fourth Amendment challenge.

Thompson, a fifth-generation lobsterman who fishes from the island community of Vinalhaven, told Fox News that he intends to continue challenging a requirement that electronically tracks federally permitted lobster vessels, including when they are underway for personal use.

“I just told myself, I said, ‘Well, it ain’t over yet,’” Thompson told Fox after learning the Supreme Court had declined his petition.

As National Fisherman previously reported, the Supreme Court declined on Oct. 5 to review Thompson’s case, leaving intact a First Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding the vessel-tracking requirement. Thompson had argued that requiring a GPS device aboard his privately owned vessel amounted to an unreasonable search in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

The case centered in part on the fact that tracking continues when a vessel is underway but is not being used for commercial fishing. That distinction is particularly important in Maine island communities, where fishing vessels can also serve as transportation to the mainland for errands, appointments, and other personal trips.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Connecting the next generation of fishermen

October 19, 2026 — Breaking into the commercial fishing industry can be tough for those not from a fishing town or family. To address this, the National Future Fishermen Coalition is working to bring the next generation of deckhands and captains to the fleets from Alaska to the Gulf Coast and up to New England. The coalition is comprised of regional fishing organizations from around the United States, most of whom had already initiated deckhand training programs, but saw the necessity of joining forces, sharing knowledge, and collaborating for a unified national effort.

“The idea came together in an email chain in 2023 where people from around the U.S. realized they were all working independently to address the same problem — the greying of the fleet,” says Maité Duquela Sánchez, coordinator of the National Future Fishermen Coalition. “We officially launched in 2025 as a platform for fishermen of the next generation.”

These efforts will be presented at the first National Future Fishermen Summit on Nov. 20 at Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle. The daylong event will feature a variety of panel discussions, talks, and a chance for young fishermen from around the country to network with each other and build connections for the future.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Supreme Court declines to hear case of a lobster fisherman who opposes boat tracking

October 15, 2026 — The Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of a lobster fisherman who alleged the government requiring commercial fishing boats to use electronic tracking devices amounts to unreasonable search and seizure.

Maine lobster fisherman Frank Thompson sued after his state began requiring all federally permitted lobstermen to install GPS trackers on their boats to collect data that will help manage the industry. Thompson appealed to the high court after losing at the appeals court level.

The Supreme Court formally denied Thompson’s petition on Oct. 5. The decision allows the state to collect “critically important” data, said Carl Wilson, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

Read the full article at ABC News

2026 Spring Habitat Camera Survey Completed in Northeast

October 15, 2026 — Our Habitat Camera (HabCam) Survey uses a towed camera sled system to collect images of the seafloor. We analyze the images to estimate the abundance and size composition of Atlantic sea scallops. The sea scallop abundance, size composition, and distribution data are used annually as part of the sea scallop stock assessment and management processes. The survey is one of the primary fishery-independent surveys used in the sea scallop stock assessment model.

We also annotate the images for other seafloor features and animals such as crabs and finfish. We conduct the survey in the Mid-Atlantic Bight and Georges Bank. Because the camera sled is towed behind the vessel, the survey can sample more seafloor than traditional sea scallop survey methods.

Dates and Legs

The 2026 HabCam Survey began on May 11, 2026 and completed operations on May 29, 2026. We conducted the Spring survey aboard the NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow and it occurred in two legs:

  • Leg 1: May 11–19 in Mid-Atlantic Bight
  • Leg 2: May 20–29 in Georges Bank

Survey Location

This survey monitored the Mid-Atlantic and Georges Bank Atlantic Sea Scallop management areas:

In the Mid-Atlantic, the survey monitored:

  • Delmarva
  • Elephant Trunk
  • Hudson Canyon South
  • A mid-line through New York Bight and Long Island
  • Mid-Atlantic Bight Nearshore areas

In Georges Bank, the survey monitored:

  • Nantucket Lightship-West
  • CL1 (Groundfish Closed Area 1)
  • Northern Flank
  • CL2-North (Groundfish Closed Area 2)
  • Great South Channel

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

Scallop program puts $25 million toward research

October 14, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries has awarded 14 new projects through its 2026 Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside Program, supporting research ranging from expanded Georges Bank surveys to artificial intelligence, scallop recruitment, and mortality.

Rather than providing federal funding directly, the Research Set-Aside Program allocates a portion of the scallop harvest to researchers, who work with commercial fishermen to harvest the scallops and generate funding for their projects.

This year, researchers were awarded more than 1.5 million pounds of Atlantic sea scallops. At an estimated value of $16 per pound, NOAA Fisheries expects the allocation to generate more than $25 million, with approximately $6 million supporting research and the remaining $19 million going to participating harvesters.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

Haunting clues emerge in 7-year fishing boat mystery after wreckage found off island

October 14, 2026 — An organization believes it has found the wreckage of a fishing boat that sank over seven years ago — potentially solving a mystery surrounding the deaths of two fishermen.

Green Oceans, a Rhode Island-based environmental organization, announced the discovery of what it believes is the F/V Mistress in the waters off Block Island in September.

The vessel sank Jan. 1, 2019, according to the organization.

Two fishermen died in the incident, and the U.S. Coast Guard searched for the vessel following the sinking but never located the wreckage.

The F/V Mistress was discovered approximately 92 feet underwater, just 50 feet from the base of a wind turbine at the Block Island Wind Farm, according to Green Oceans.

Read the full article at Fox News

Trump Administration Asks Court to Let It Re-Evaluate Revolution Wind’s COP

October 14, 2026 — The Trump administration is renewing its challenges to Ørsted’s offshore wind farm, Revolution Wind, located off the coast of Rhode Island. The Department of Justice is asking a District Court in the District of Columbia to remand its prior approval of the construction and operations plan (“COP”) for further review on a project that has completed construction and is in the final stages of commissioning.

It marks the third time the Trump administration has challenged the 704 MW wind farm project, which is contracted to supply power to Connecticut and Rhode Island. In August 2025, it sought to stop construction while the project was approximately 80 percent complete, but it was rejected by the courts. In December 2025, the administration included Revolution Wind in its stop-work orders, this time contending the operations posed a risk to national security due to the potential for radar interference. The courts again rejected the stop-work order and let the project resume construction in January 2026.

The Department of Justice made its new filing in a case being pursued by an environmental group that has been challenging the project in the courts for years. Green Ocean has been suing the Department of the Interior and Revolution Wind, contending the project would cause harm to the environment.

The new filing made on October 9 asked the court to grant Green Ocean a summary judgment on its claims against the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, related to the approval of the project. Further, it says the Department of the Interior agrees that remand of its prior approval of the construction and operations plan (COP) for the Revolution Wind Project is warranted so that the agency can reevaluate its compliance with the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

MAINE: “Massive shellfish die-offs continue” along Maine coast due to red tide

October 13, 2026 — The massive algae bloom along the Maine coast is starting to dissipate, at least in some areas, but the severe impacts continue to grow.

The Friends of Casco Bay says it, along with several other groups and the state, has been monitoring the Karenia mikimotoi bloom, commonly known as red tide, in Casco Bay for over a month.

The dense blooms that were present throughout September discolored the water, lowered dissolved oxygen levels, and caused die-offs of marine organisms, particularly soft-shell clams and marine worms.

In late September, testing found high-density blooms near Harpswell. High-density blooms are generally considered those having a density of more than one million cells per liter. Testing in Maine at the time found a density of 20 million cells per liter. Video shared by Harpswell Marine Resources & Harbor Management showed very brown and murky water.

Read the full article at WMTW