Saving Seafood

Canada announces North Atlantic right whale protections for 2026

March 27, 2026 — Canada’s government has announced several measures to help protect highly endangered North Atlantic right whales in upcoming commercial fishing seasons, keeping some protections in place and adding a few new actions to help reduce entanglements and vessel strikes.

“The North Atlantic right whale is one of the most endangered animals on the planet, and we have a responsibility to act. Canada’s protocols are in place, and our whale-safe fishing gear pilots are showing real results. We can protect this whale and support our harvesters,” Canada Minister of Fisheries Joanne Thompson said in a release.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Upwelling saved the West Coast in 2025, NOAA reports

March 26, 2026 —  Despite a massive marine heatwave that gripped the eastern Pacific through much of 2025, the West Coast marine ecosystem held its own — thanks largely to strong wind-driven upwelling, according to NOAA Fisheries’ annual California Current Ecosystem Status Report.

“Warming continues to be an inescapable reality off the West Coast, but upwelling saved the day,” said Andrew Leising, a research oceanographer at NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center. The cold, nutrient-rich water pushed to the surface helped keep the ecosystem productive and held heatwave warmth offshore.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NOAA issues USD 222,902 in penalties over mislabeling tuna imports

March 26, 2026 — Following two years-long investigations, NOAA Fisheries has levied a total of USD 222,902 (EUR 193,328) in civil penalties against two seafood importers accused of mislabeling tuna cans as “dolphin safe.”

In conducting retail market spot check audits, NOAA Fisheries Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce’s Tuna Tracking and Verification Program identified two suspect seafood import firms that were importing yellowfin tuna from Mexican purse seiners that were improperly labeled as “dolphin safe.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Endangered Killer Whales Known for Isolation May Depend on Their Interaction with Other Populations

March 25, 2026 — Endangered Southern Resident killer whales are known for the tight-knit family structure that isolates them from other killer whale populations. In 2005, NOAA Fisheries listed the whales as a Distinct Population Segment under the Endangered Species Act due to their unique genetic legacy and endangered status. The 74 whales remain at risk from insufficient prey, environmental contaminants, disturbance and inbreeding.

In a recent study, scientists report that a fifth factor—interactions with other killer whale populations—may determine their future. They say such interactions may take three forms: competition for prey, sharing habitat, and interbreeding.

We asked lead author Michael Ford about the findings.

How can killer whales, known for their isolation from other killer whale populations, depend on interactions with them?

If you look back over multiple decades, we’ve known for a long time that there are genetic differences between the Southern Residents and other populations, reflecting  cultural differences, behavioral differences, and so forth. All those things showed they had become genetically distinct, and contributed to their listing under the Endangered Species Act.

On the other hand, I do think that over time, there’s been a tendency to treat them as more isolated than they really are. And some of the scientific results that have come about over the last several decades indicate that maybe they are not quite as isolated as we once thought they were.

One question is, are they becoming less isolated than they used to be? There is some evidence this might be occurring, particularly based on some of the observed range changes different killer whale populations have exhibited.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

Center for Biological Diversity to sue NOAA Fisheries over horseshoe crab decision

March 25, 2026 —  The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) has notified NOAA Fisheries of its intent to sue the agency after it denied a petition to list horseshoe crabs under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

“Horseshoe crabs watched the dinosaurs come and go, but now they face their greatest threat yet: us,” CBD Senior Attorney Danny Waltz said in a release. “Fortunately, we also have the power to save horseshoe crabs by protecting them under the Endangered Species Act.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NOAA Conducts First Comprehensive Aerial Survey of Ice Seals in the Arctic

March 24, 2026 — During spring 2025, scientists conducted the most extensive aerial survey of ice-associated seals to date. The survey took place between April 4 and June 10, 2025, off the coasts of western and northern Alaska. The goal was to determine the abundance and regional distribution of four species in U.S. waters: bearded, ringed, spotted, and ribbon seals.

This survey used multispectral camera systems enabled with artificial intelligence (AI) to detect and document seals hauled out on the spring sea ice. We will use data from these sightings to estimate species abundance and distribution—critical information used to monitor and manage wildlife populations.

Spring is the Best Season for Surveys

Bearded, ringed, spotted, and ribbon seals are known collectively as ice seals because they use seasonal sea ice as a platform to rest and raise their young. They also haul out on the ice while they undergo an annual molt cycle. Molting is an energy-intensive process of shedding the top layer of skin to reveal a new fur coat. All ages of ice seals undergo this process each spring. This provides a short window when many seals are out of the water and available to be counted from the air.

The research is part of the Alaska Ice Seal Research Plan, which outlines key research priorities for these animals. The plan is developed each year in collaboration with the Alaska Native Ice Seal Committee’s Co-management Working Group. Seals are vital resources for northern coastal Alaska Native communities and are key species in Arctic marine ecosystems. Abundance estimates and distribution maps are crucial for sound decision-making about:

  • Co-management of subsistence use of ice seals
  • Conservation
  • Permitting of activities in the Arctic that could affect these species or their habitat

Researchers included scientists from the NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center and the University of Washington’s Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

NOAA Fisheries’ Eugenio Piñeiro Soler: We need better fishery council members

March 18, 2026 — The head of NOAA Fisheries said the U.S. needs better commercial fishery representatives on regional fishery management councils, but he acknowledged nominations are a political process that limits his control of who takes those seats.

“We need to have better council members and better managers,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Eugenio Piñeiro Soler said. “You need council members who are more involved and knowledgeable of science and economics, the damage that they can do, international issues.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US Congress continues exploring possible solutions for North Atlantic right whale, lobster fishery challenges

March 18, 2026 — U.S. lawmakers in Congress are continuing to prioritize spending to address ongoing issues between the New England lobster industry and the endangered North Atlantic right whale, a species whose habitat overlaps with valuable fishing grounds.

The North Atlantic right whale population – which began experiencing an “unusual mortality event” in 2017 – hit a low in 2020, when researchers estimated their population at just 358 individuals. The declining population triggered regulatory efforts to save the species and help it recover, but those efforts have clashed with the commercial fishing industry in the region, which has come under fire for entanglements and vessel strikes.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

New Research Reveals Broad Spawning Distribution for Bluefin Tuna

March 13, 2026 — Atlantic bluefin tuna migrate over long distances and spend much of their lives in the open ocean, making them notoriously challenging to study. A question persisted for decades: Where exactly do they spawn in the western Atlantic? Now, new research provides more clarity.

Diving Deep into Seven Decades of Bluefin Tuna Data

Working with partners, NOAA Fisheries scientists did a deep dive into bluefin tuna spawning patterns. They compiled a large dataset from fisheries surveys, archive and museum specimens, and research cruise reports going back to the 1950s. Their analysis included more than 35,000 plankton tows, and they examined nearly 5,000 individual tuna larvae. The results, published in Progress in Oceanography, indicate that bluefin tuna have a much broader spawning distribution than previously recognized. In addition to the known spawning ground in the Gulf of America, bluefin spawn in:

  • Northwest Caribbean Sea
  • North of the Bahamas
  • Blake Plateau
  • Off of the Carolinas shoreward of the Florida Current
  • Western Slope Sea (an area off the Northeast U.S. continental shelf, between the shelf break and the Gulf Stream)

Of these areas, the northern Gulf in the late spring and the western Slope Sea in the early summer produce the most larvae. The results suggest that bluefin spawn in a continuous area during a prolonged spawning season. Spawning starts in April in the southernmost areas—the northwest Caribbean and southern Gulf of America—and ends in early August in the northernmost spawning area, the Slope Sea.

Research fish biologist Dave Richardson, the lead author of the study, explained, “Previous larval studies outside the Gulf of America were often based on a single year of sampling. When we compiled data from many surveys, the consistency was remarkable. When you sample the same area at the same time of year, you consistently find bluefin larvae. This confirmed the pattern we’ve seen in recent years has been going on for a long time. For example, bluefin larvae have been collected from the 1970s through the 2000s in both the Yucatan Channel in the south and the Slope Sea in the north.”

Historically, bluefin tuna have been managed as two stocks—one that spawns in the Mediterranean Sea (the eastern) and the other that spawns in the Gulf of America (the western). Recent larval and reproductive sampling added the Slope Sea to the list of known spawning grounds. Previous research suggests that the populations may mix in the Slope Sea. The scientists conducting this study wanted to know where else bluefin tuna spawn. Mapping all of their spawning grounds is critical to provide a more realistic picture of the population structure. It could also show the extent to which there are unique groups of fish that primarily interbreed with one another.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

U.S. Leads the Way to Strengthen Monitoring and Control of Fishing in the South Pacific

March 13, 2026 — At the 14th Meeting of the South Pacific Regional Fishery Management Organisation (SPRFMO), the United States took action to protect American consumers and the U.S. fishing industry. We advanced sustainable management and ensured compliance in fisheries that export fish to the United States, which is a priority for this Administration and NOAA.

Squid Management

The meeting was held February 24–March 6, 2026 in Panama City, Panama. The United States led the effort to control effort in the jumbo flying squid fishery through adoption of a conservation and management measure. It included a U.S.-proposed 15 percent reduction in the number and size of the vessels allowed to participate in the fishery. The high seas squid fishery in the SPRFMO Convention Area has been the subject of significant allegations of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and uncontrolled expansion. There are also concerns about labor abuses, particularly onboard Chinese-flagged vessels. The Chinese squid jigging fleet is the largest in the Convention Area, with more that 57 percent of the authorized squid jigging vessels flagged to China.

“The work of this Commission is critical to addressing the widespread concerns about illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in the squid fishery off the west coast of South America, and the United States has been leading the charge to advance these efforts,” noted Eugenio Piñiero-Soler, NOAA Assistant Administrator. From 2022–2024, the United States imported almost 40.5 billion kilograms of squid, valued at more than $215 billion, from China alone.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries