Saving Seafood

Recreational Anglers Help Boost Bluefin Tuna Research

March 2, 2026 — Imagine standing at the stern of a 50-foot fishing vessel. Your legs are pressed up against the gunwale for balance as you rock in the waves and face the churning waters of the boat’s wake. All of a sudden, the reel next to you starts screaming as the mate yells, “Fish on!” Heart racing, you grab the rod and start cranking. It could be a quick 20-minute fight or an intense 5-hour battle to reveal a sleek fish built with more than 80 pounds of muscle. This is what it’s like to be on a trip with the Bacon brothers.

For Brian and Peter Bacon, brothers and seasoned charter captains, the thrill of reeling in bluefin tuna off the Atlantic coast isn’t just about the catch. It’s also about contributing to vital scientific research. Through NOAA’s Cooperative Tagging Center, recreational anglers like the Bacons are providing important data that helps scientists understand the health and movements of bluefin tuna populations. Even when seasons are closed, tagging provides a rewarding mechanism for charter businesses to continue providing a positive experience for paying customers.

What Tuna Tagging Reveals

NOAA’s Cooperative Tagging Center collects crucial information about highly migratory species including bluefin tuna. We work with recreational anglers, charter captains, and commercial fishers along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts—and across the Atlantic Ocean. We tag various species of fish that are difficult to study with other methods. We also provide free tagging kits for anglers to tag fish on their own. When anglers tag a fish, we collect information on fish size, location of capture, and release condition. When a tagged fish is recaptured—days, months, or years later—scientists gain insights into migration patterns, growth rates, and how long these fish live. For instance, some tagged bluefin have been recaptured over a decade after their initial tagging. One of legendary angler Al Anderson‘s fish was caught an astounding 16 years later! These long-term data are critical for assessing geographic range shifts and migratory trends of these important species.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

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

Conference Program revealed for 2026 Seafood Expo North America

February 26, 2026 —  Diversified, the producer of Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, has revealed the conference program for the 2026 edition of the event.

The conference program, running from 15 to 17 March, will feature more than 40 sessions and more than 125 industry speakers from major companies and organizations like Whole Foods Market, Ahold Delhaize USA, NOAA Fisheries, Circana, and more. During the three-day event, the conference program will cover a range of topics including consumer insights and trends, traceability, sustainability, and business strategies.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Leveraging Advanced Technologies to Transform our Data Enterprise

February 25, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries monitors and manages more than 460 fish stocks across U.S. ocean waters—that’s more than 4 million square miles of ocean! We work to ensure our fisheries are sustainable, which requires striking a healthy balance between positive economic impacts and long-term population health.

To ensure stocks are sustainably harvested, we make management decisions using the latest data. Fisheries managers may make decisions, such as closing or opening seasons, adjusting total catch limits, introducing quotas, or other measures. These decisions affect fishing communities, coastal economies, and the seafood available on our tables.

Accurate, reliable, and up-to-date data is essential for effective management decisions. Ocean data are a U.S. strategic asset. We are currently modernizing how we collect, manage, and use data with new technologies.

This modernization effort focuses on two main areas:

  • Improving how we gather information in the ocean
  • Enhancing how we analyze, store, and share that information

By strengthening both, we are building a faster, more efficient system that helps scientists and managers more effectively manage marine resources.

A more efficient data enterprise will help fisheries managers—like regional fishery management councils, marine fisheries commissions, international organizations, and other management bodies—make better, more informed decisions. Leveraging advanced technologies helps address challenges across regions related to data needs, infrastructure, and management.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

ALASKA: NOAA Fisheries identifies 77 potential aquaculture opportunity areas in Gulf of Alaska

February 24, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries has identified 77 locations in the Gulf of Alaska that could be suitable for aquaculture operations, following up on an order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump in 2020.

“Alaska has more coastline than the rest of the nation combined, and we should be using that resource to its full potential,” Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy said in a release. “This atlas helps identify where aquaculture makes sense in our state waters. It will support creating new job opportunities, strengthen food security for Alaskans, and add to Alaska’s already tremendous seafood industry.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Feds deny ESA protections for crabs with blood used by humans

February 20, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries has denied Endangered Species Act protections for the Atlantic horseshoe crab, a lumbering species whose unique blood is highly valued by the biomedical industry.

Faced with two petitions that urged designating the species as either threatened or endangered, the federal agency instead concluded no ESA listing was warranted.

“There has been improvement in the population status and trends of regional populations from New Hampshire to Florida-Atlantic, with the exception of New York,” NOAA Fisheries announced this week, adding that “the petitions rely on obsolete and incorrect information to infer the current status and trends of the species.”

Read the full article at E&E News

WASHINGTON: NOAA Fisheries denies ESA petition for Washington coast spring-run Chinook salmon

February 20, 2026 — More than two and a half years after a petition was filed, NOAA Fisheries has determined that spring-run Chinook salmon on the Washington coast are not a distinct group from their fall-run counterparts and don’t warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

“NMFS has independently reviewed the best available scientific and commercial information,” NOAA Fisheries stated in a post on the Federal Register. “NMFS concludes that Chinook salmon spring-run populations on the Washington coast do not meet the definition of a species.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Final Report Available: Scallop Enhancement Project

February 21, 2026 — The following was released by the Coonamessett Farm Foundation:

The Coonamessett Farm Foundation has released the final report for its
Evaluating the Key Factors that Influence the Efficacy of Transplanting to Supplement
Recruitment project. This report was submitted to NOAA Fisheries earlier this month and was
prepared under the 2022 Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside Program continuing more than a
decade of collaborative, industry-based research. The report summarizes scallop transplanting
efforts and the results from an industry-funded project conducted under an Exempted Fishing
Permit in 2020 and 2021 to evaluate dispersal, growth, and mortality of transplanted sea scallops
while comparing transplanted individuals with scallops in natural beds. This research indicates
that transplanting sea scallops from high-density, growth-limited areas to more favorable
environments can produce meaningful biological and economic gains.

More information about the project and the full report is available here

Menhaden Research Gets Federal Boost

February 20, 2026 — President Donald Trump signed a federal spending package in January that includes two-point-five million dollars for menhaden research, ending a two-year wait for state funding. Businesses, scientists, and anglers support the study, saying solid data is needed before imposing limits. Some environmental advocates however, argue reductions should happen now, but regulators are holding off pending the research. We reached out to Omega Protein for comment, and they told us that “Ocean Harvesters, headquartered locally in Reedville, has a long track record of supporting rigorous, independent science to better understand Atlantic menhaden and the broader Bay ecosystem. The Company believes that any funding for menhaden projects at NOAA-Fisheries is in good hands.”

Read the full article at Middle Neck News

NOAA claims steady progress was made on US aquaculture in 2025

February 18, 2026 — Following directives from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, NOAA’s Aquaculture Program said it made steady progress in 2025 on exploring new aquaculture projects in the U.S., inching closer to helping the country close its farmed seafood import gap.

“Currently, the U.S. imports USD 15 billion [EUR 12.7 billion] worth of farmed seafood. That’s billion with a ‘b.’ It is by far more than we produce here at home, which is less than USD 2 billion [EUR 1.7 billion], and that has the eyes of a lot of people across the government, not just people who focus on aquaculture,” NOAA Office of Aquaculture Director Danielle Blacklock said on 17 February during the 2026 Aquaculture America conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource