Saving Seafood

Future of the Catch: the Modernization of Recreational Red Snapper Data Collection

May 4, 2026 — Red snapper is a cultural and economic cornerstone for coastal communities in the Gulf of America. The species is a massive driver for tourism and local commerce. For many in the Southeast, red snapper fishing is a multi-generational tradition, making it a flagship species for the world’s largest recreational fishery. Effectively managing and preserving this vibrant species requires more than just accuracy, it demands a swift, responsive flow of data.

Technological advancements are shortening data collection timelines. This means scientists are able to collect larger pools of data, faster than ever, and can quickly analyze results to better inform management decisions. NOAA Fisheries deploys AI-driven video and acoustic monitoring devices to count fish in their natural habitat. We also rely on other key components of the data modernization revolution to improve our data.

In 2025, NOAA Fisheries and the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission announced seven new red snapper data improvement projects. On January 1, 2026, these projects began, marking the beginning of a collaborative, state-federal initiative to improve recreational fishing effort and discard data collection in the Gulf. To see this transformation in action, meet three of the partners redefining how we understand and protect the fishery.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

Trump, DeSantis herald extended Atlantic red snapper season

May 4, 2026 — President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday that federal regulators had approved a permit for Florida to temporarily take over management of recreational red snapper fishing off the Atlantic coast.

Under Florida’s earlier proposed plan, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission would be allowed to manage Atlantic red snapper through 2028. The state’s plan would give Atlantic recreational anglers a 39-day red snapper fishing season this year, a massive spike compared to last year’s two-day season. Exempted fishing permits were also given to Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

As of Friday evening, NOAA Fisheries had not officially published its approval. Multiple agency spokespeople did not respond to requests for information on the permit approvals.

Read the full article at E&E News

NOAA Fisheries Announces Availability of $99 Million for Pacific Salmon

May 1, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries announced up to $99 million in funding through the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund for conservation and recovery projects that support Pacific salmon.

The funding supports Administration priorities by improving habitat and other actions to increase the production of salmon and steelhead that contribute to U.S. fisheries. Stronger fisheries make the U.S. seafood sector more competitive, as described in the Executive Order on Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness. Competitive fisheries create jobs and put more domestic seafood on American dinner plates.

“The Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund has a strong track record of supporting states and tribes in completing projects that support the economy,” said Eugenio Piñeiro Soler, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “The projects help increase Pacific salmon populations, which sustain federal ocean fisheries and benefit tribes.”

Fishing guide Butch Smith said healthy fisheries need healthy habitat. “Habitat is our savings account—it’s our bank account that supports the salmon we rely on,” said Smith, who is also vice chair of the Pacific Fishery Management Council. “When we take care of it, we see a huge return on that investment, not just to the Northwest, but to the nation and everyone who values this great salmon resource.”

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries 

NOAA Fisheries Certifies Two State Recreational Fishing Surveys to Improve Catch Estimates

April 30, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries has certified Alabama’s and Mississippi’s creel surveys as part of a move to advance federal-state partnerships for recreational fisheries management strategies. These surveys aim to produce more timely and precise estimates of state-specific recreational fishing catch and trip activity. This certification marks a significant milestone in the initiatives NOAA is undertaking to improve recreational fishing data.

Certification means AL Creel and MS Creel were found to be statistically valid approaches to provide key recreational fishing statistics. Both surveys are now eligible to receive NOAA Fisheries’ funding as it becomes available.

“This certification is a testament to the hard work of our data collection partners in Alabama and Mississippi and the close coordination of our teams throughout the process,” said Dr. Katherine Papacostas, director, NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology, Recreational Fisheries Statistics – Program Management Branch. “Certification is a core component of meeting NOAA Fisheries’ national recreational fishing survey and data standards, and we were pleased to provide technical support to help our partners achieve this rigorous benchmark.”

We worked closely with both states to coordinate the independent peer review of these surveys. Both surveys—modeled after Louisiana’s LA Creel Survey, which is also NOAA certified—received favorable reviews for certification with recommendations for continued improvement. Both designs use shore-based in-person surveys to estimate recreational catch and off-site telephone surveys of licensed anglers to estimate fishing effort.

“The certification of the Mississippi Creel and Alabama Creel surveys represents a collaborative achievement between the state agencies, Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, and federal partners to produce timely, statistically rigorous, and multi-species recreational catch estimates that enhance regional consistency across the Gulf and provide data necessary for more accurate stock assessments and sound fisheries management,” said Trevor Moncrief, director of marine fisheries, Mississippi Department of Marine Resources. “We at the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources are incredibly grateful for the partnership of our neighboring states, especially the guidance received by Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries staff, and the efficiency at which this effort was able to be completed by our colleagues at NOAA Fisheries.”

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

Putting the Fishing Industry First at the Cooperative Research Summit

April 27, 2026 — On April 1 and 2, we held our fourth annual Northeast Cooperative Research Summit in Riverhead, Long Island, New York. We had more than 150 participants, including more than 30 commercial and recreational fishermen—the largest gathering to date.

The Summit is an annual event focused on building partnerships between the fishing and science communities to address science and management needs. It prioritizes active participation of commercial and recreational fishing industry members and includes:

  • Learning about ongoing cooperative research initiatives
  • Small group activities to practice active collaboration
  • Large group discussions of shared research priorities

This year, the Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Program joined the effort, organizing the Shinnecock port tours, opening and closing receptions, and lending other support. “Cornell Cooperative Extension was very happy to jointly organize the 2026 Summit. Our staff has attended each Summit since it started in 2023. It’s informative, engaging, and fun,” said Scott Curatolo-Wagemann, senior educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension. “We‘re extremely honored and proud to be a bigger part of the Summit this year. Each year, the extension staff and I come away from the Summit with a feeling of optimism and renewed dedication to cooperative research.”

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

Western Atlantic acts as refuge for recovering bluefin tuna

April 27, 2026 — A sweeping three-decade study has confirmed that conservation measures in the western Atlantic have turned U.S. and Canadian waters into a critical refuge for Atlantic bluefin tuna — including fish that originate in the heavily fished eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.

The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, are based on electronic tagging data from 1,720 bluefin tuna tagged between 1996 and 2025, combined with catch records going back to 1950. The international research team was led by Dr. Barbara Block of Stanford University and included scientists from NOAA Fisheries, Acadia University, the University of Hawaiʻi, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, the Institute of Marine Research in Norway, the Marine Institute in Ireland, and the Barcelona Zoo Foundation in Spain.

A TALE OF TWO FISHERIES

The catch data paint a stark picture of unequal fishing pressure across the Atlantic. Of total bluefin landings since 1950, the Mediterranean Sea alone accounted for 55 percent, while the entire western Atlantic—all waters west of the 45°W management line—accounted for just 11 percent. That disparity has widened in recent decades: the Mediterranean now represents 72 percent of Atlantic-wide bluefin catches.

Fishing pressure in the Mediterranean intensified sharply through the 1990s and 2000s, driven in part by the rise of capture-based aquaculture targeting more mature fish. Catches peaked at 60,000 metric tons in 2007—nearly double the scientific recommendations at the time. Historically, Mediterranean purse seine fisheries targeted juvenile fish aged one and two, removing them before they could grow large enough to migrate into the open Atlantic. In 2010, following widespread concern about the stock’s status, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) implemented significant quota cuts and binding conservation measures.

The western Atlantic has operated under a very different management regime. For more than 45 years, western catches have adhered to binding total allowable catch limits — typically a tenth of the eastern quota — and have included strong conservation measures such as prohibitions on targeted fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, renamed by the Trump administration as the Gulf of America.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NOAA Fisheries determines some tope sharks should be listed under the ESA

April 24, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries has determined that some tope shark populations should be protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) but others are at no risk of extinction.

“After reviewing the best scientific and commercial data available, we have determined that this species is comprised of six distinct population segments (DPSs) and that two, the Southern Africa and Southwest Atlantic DPSs, are likely to become in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of their ranges in the foreseeable future,” the agency said in announcing the decision on the federal register. “We have also determined that the remaining four DPSs – the Northeast Atlantic, [Northeast] Pacific, [Southwest] Pacific, and Southeast Pacific DPSs – do not meet the definition of a threatened or endangered species under Section 4(a) of the ESA and therefore do not warrant listing under the ESA.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US secretary of commerce testifies before Senate on Maine lobster, fishery disaster requests, surveys

April 24, 2026 — U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick commented on a handful of fisheries issues under questioning by lawmakers on the Senate Appropriations Committee during an 22 April hearing.

Senators demanded answers from the Trump administration official on regulations surrounding Maine lobster, the backlog of fishery disaster determination requests, and NOAA Fisheries’ capacity to conduct surveys in the face of budget and staffing cuts during a hearing ostensibly about the Department of Commerce’s fiscal year 2027 budget.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

 

Study links low profits, high costs to fishermen’s distrust of fisheries managers

April 23, 2026 — A new peer-reviewed study has found that financial strain in commercial fishing is a significant driver of distrust toward fisheries managers, and NOAA Fisheries says it’s actively working to reverse that trend through expanded industry partnerships.

Scientists at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center analyzed open-ended survey comments collected from commercial fishing vessel owners between 2006 and 2022 and published their findings in Fisheries Management and Ecology. The data came from NOAA’s commercial fishing business cost survey, an instrument the agency uses to gather this type of economic information from federally permitted vessel owners fishing waters from Maine to North Carolina.

Researchers found that harvesters consistently reported feeling squeezed by high operating costs and insufficient quota or days-at-sea allocations, and that those financial frustrations translated into broader dissatisfaction with NOAA and its management of fish stocks.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Western Atlantic Provides Refuge for Bluefin Tuna

April 22, 2026 — An international team of scientists deployed electronic tags on bluefin tunas across three decades to investigate stock movement between the eastern and western Atlantic. They also examined catch data dating back to 1950 to better understand the proportion of removals among regions.

The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

Dr. Barbara Block, lead author from Stanford University summarized, “Our research demonstrates that lower fishing mortality in the West and North Atlantic has provided a refuge for eastern-origin Atlantic bluefin tuna, and highlights the importance of Atlantic waters to bolster the bluefin tuna population as a whole.” 

Atlantic bluefin tuna is a highly coveted species, managed as two stocks by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. The western stock is harvested by the United States, Mexico, Japan, and Canada. The eastern stock is targeted by many countries across the Mediterranean basin and eastern Atlantic. ICCAT divides management of these two stocks at the 45oW meridian, setting separate catch limits and management measures for each stock.

Eugenio Piñeiro Soler, NOAA’s Assistant Administrator of Fisheries stated, “Management of this internationally shared resource requires high quality scientific information—and this work provides one example of that. This research addresses one of the primary sources of uncertainty surrounding the amount of mixing and movement occurring between these two stocks. This is a critical piece of information needed to inform sustainable yield advice.”

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries