Saving Seafood

Critically endangered right whale found dead off NC coast

February 2, 2026 — A critically endangered North Atlantic right whale that a team of responders attempted to disentangle from fishing gear nearly two months ago was found dead earlier this week off the North Carolina coast.

The 4-year-old male, identified as “Division,” died from injuries caused by being entangled.

An aerial survey team on Tuesday spotted what was left of Division’s carcass floating about 25 miles offshore of Avon, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

On Dec. 4, 2025, responders from NOAA Fisheries, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission took to the sea to join forces with a Georgia-based aerial survey team from Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute in an effort to document Division’s entanglement and monitor his behavior.

Read the full article at the CoastalReview.org

Critically endangered right whale found dead off NC coast

January 30, 2026 — A critically endangered North Atlantic right whale that a team of responders attempted to disentangle from fishing gear nearly two months ago was found dead earlier this week off the North Carolina coast.

The 4-year-old male, identified as “Division,” died from injuries caused by being entangled.

An aerial survey team on Tuesday spotted what was left of Division’s carcass floating about 25 miles offshore of Avon, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

On Dec. 4, 2025, responders from NOAA Fisheries, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission took to the sea to join forces with a Georgia-based aerial survey team from Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute in an effort to document Division’s entanglement and monitor his behavior.

At that time, Division was off Georgia’s coast near St. Simons Island.

Read the full article at CoastalReview.org

ALASKA: Study supports shore-based observers in Alaska pollock

January 28, 2026 — A recent study by NOAA Fisheries found that shore-based observers can effectively strengthen catch accounting in Alaska’s pollock fishery, offering a viable complement to electronic monitoring systems used at sea.

The Alaska pollock fishery is the largest U.S. fishery by volume and one of the largest in the world, and it sets the standard for accurate accounting and supports sustainable management and regulatory compliance. In addition to tracking pollock landings, managers must closely monitor prohibited species catch, including salmon and halibut.

Traditionally, this work has been carried out by at-sea observers collecting catch data and biological samples aboard vessels. But deploying observers at sea can be expensive and logistically challenging. In response, hybrid monitoring programs-combining electronic monitoring at sea with human observers on shore- are increasingly being explored, especially in low-discard fisheries where most catch is landed.

Researchers from the Alaska Fisheries Science Center evaluated the effectiveness of shore-based observers in the Alaska pollock trawl fishery under a voluntary exempted fishing permit. The study examined whether observers stationed at fish processing plants could meet core monitoring responsibilities, fulfill expanded sampling duties, and verify the accuracy of industry-reported catch data.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Shore-Based Observers Strengthen Catch Accounting in Alaska’s Pollock Fishery

January 26, 2026 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is required by law to monitor fishery catches to ensure sustainable management of U.S. fisheries. The Alaska pollock fishery is the largest U.S. fishery by volume, and one of the largest in the world. Accurate accounting of pollock and other landed species—along with the catch of prohibited species such as salmon and halibut—is critical for science-based management and compliance with regulations. Traditionally, fisheries observers working on-board Alaska pollock vessels filled this role by collecting catch information and biological samples. These data contribute to stock assessments and catch accounting.

However, deploying at-sea observers can be both logistically challenging and expensive in some fisheries. As a result, hybrid monitoring programs, which combine electronic monitoring at sea with human shore-based observers, are becoming more common. They are well suited for low-discard fisheries which land all, or most of, the catch.

Researchers at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center evaluated the implementation of shore-based observers in the Alaska walleye pollock trawl fishery. The study, conducted under a voluntary exempted fishing permit, examined whether shore-based observers stationed at fish processing plants could:

  • Meet core monitoring responsibilities
  • Fulfill expanded sampling duties
  • Verify the accuracy of industry-reported catch data

New Jersey fishermen challenge monitoring rule again

January 23, 2026 — Following their victory before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2024, commercial fishers from New Jersey are asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to vacate a NOAA Fisheries rule requiring them to pay out of pocket for at-sea monitors.

“Forcing fishermen to pay the salaries of government regulators watching them conduct their work is backward,” New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) Senior Litigation Counsel Kara Rollins said in a statement. “The regulation unlawfully places the government’s financial responsibilities onto the governed and without congressional authorization.”

The lawsuit centers on the Industry-Funded Monitoring (IFM) rule introduced by NOAA Fisheries in 2020. The rule requires commercial fishers in multiple fisheries – Atlantic herring, squid, butterfish, and Atlantic mackerel – to pay out of pocket for at-sea monitors to be present on their vessels and observe their operations.

The fishers claimed the requirement would be devastating to their business, with monitors reportedly costing more than $700 per day. According to the NCLA, that cost can eat up any profit the fishers made in a day, and over a multi-day trip, costs could become exorbitant.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Now Soliciting Proposals for 2026/2027 Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside Program

January 23, 2026 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries, in coordination with the New England Fishery Management Council, is soliciting proposals for the Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program under a Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Due to the timing of this announcement, prospective applicants should anticipate that NOAA Fisheries may not issue a 2027 Scallop RSA Notice of Funding Opportunity, and that most, if not all,  of the 2026 and 2027 research set aside scallops may be awarded under this competition. Further, because applicants may not have sufficient time to prepare for field work this year, NOAA Fisheries acknowledges that field work may need to start in 2027.

For more information, visit our application solicitation webpage.

MASSACHUSETTS: Study Says Offshore Wind Could Impact New Bedford Scallop Industry

January 22, 2026 — Scallops are an important contributor to the success of the New Bedford fishing Industry. Without scallops, the industry as we know it would cease to exist.

“The impact of the species in New Bedford is massive,” NPR reported. “About 80 percent of the seafood, by value, that arrives on the docks here comes from scallops, according to a 2020 report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries.”

NPR reported about two-thirds of the 500 or so fishing vessels that fish out of New Bedford “are going out for scallops.”

Read the full article at WBSM

The Future of Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management: A Conversation with Senior Scientist Dr. Jason Link

January 21, 2026 — Jason Link has been a scientist with NOAA Fisheries for more than 25 years. In 2025, he was honored with the American Fisheries Society’s Award of Excellence, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the aquatic sciences. You can read the first installment here.

In your own words, what is ecosystem-based fisheries management? How does it differ from more traditional single species management?

Ecosystem-based fisheries management, in one word, is about trade-offs. When folks I encounter in my everyday life ask me what I do, I tell them I’m a scientist who studies fish. They say “What do you do with that?” And I tell them about ecosystem-based fisheries management, and how it’s sort of like managing the restaurant supply chain. We model all the people that eat at Burger King, and that has impacts on what people that eat at McDonald’s do, and it has impacts on what people that eat at Taco Bell do. It has impacts all throughout the restaurant chain.

It’s the same in natural resource management: The trade-offs of any one choice we make have trickle-through effects on everything else. And we’ve always kind of known that and had a sense of that, but we’ve never really formally evaluated what those trade-offs would be. And that’s a lot of what I’ve been trying to do.

Why should people–especially those who aren’t fisheries scientists–care about ecosystem-based fisheries management?

I have a lot of family in the Midwest, and they’re familiar with what I do. I’ll say to them, “Hey, you guys are impacting us. Did you know that?” And they don’t know. But the Mississippi River drains into the Gulf. That hypoxic zone in the Gulf comes from farmland. The Midwest is influencing what we’re able to catch. And what we’re able to catch has huge ramifications on regional and local economies.

It also has huge ramifications on what the national seafood market is—what you’re able to get at a supermarket in Iowa or Illinois or Indiana is impacted. And the challenges that you have in the Midwest or the Great Plains, for example, can influence even the Mountain West and Pacific Northwest and some of the salmon there. There’s probably fewer direct impacts, but it’s all still interconnected. The other thing I emphasize is the market economy and how connected fisheries commodities are with the commodities of other foodstuffs we eat. I don’t think people realize that. I didn’t realize it before I started looking into it.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

US senators demand NOAA Fisheries improve enforcement against illegal red snapper harvesting

January 16, 2026 — A group of 10 U.S. senators have penned a joint letter to NOAA Fisheries demanding the agency do more to prevent illegal red snapper from reaching U.S. markets.

“The continued ability to sell illegally harvested red snapper into the U.S. market is a powerful financing source for the [Mexican] cartel and undermines both U.S. fisheries management and national security,” the senators stated in their letter. “We would appreciate NOAA Fisheries’ action in more aggressively applying its existing authorities to ensure that illegally harvested red snapper is not sold in the United States.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource