Saving Seafood

NOAA and partners to explore, map deep waters of American Samoa

August 18, 2026 — NOAA Ocean Exploration and its partners will conduct two expeditions in waters around American Samoa this summer and fall to map and characterize the deep seafloor in the nation’s highest-priority region for offshore critical mineral exploration. The expeditions will generate publicly available data and information to increase understanding of mineral potential, guide future exploration, and support federal and local decision-making.

These expeditions will take place aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer. The first will take place August through September 2026 using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The second expedition will run from late September through October 2026. Throughout both expeditions, the team will deploy advanced mapping technology and observational sensors.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

Feds to weigh possible new fishing rules and restrictions to protect Mid-Atlantic whales

August 17, 2026 — Federal fisheries officials are beginning a process that could eventually lead to new fishing restrictions along the East Coast designed to protect native whale species.

The National Marine Fisheries Service, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, announced Aug 14 that it intends to conduct an environmental review of potential changes to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan. The plan is intended to reduce deaths and serious injuries of North Atlantic right whales, humpback whales, and fin whales caused by entanglements in commercial trap/pot and gillnet fishing gear along the East Coast.

NMFS stresses that Friday’s publication merely begins a public comment process and is not a proposed federal rule.

Read the full article at WBOC

Aerial Surveys: Monitoring Right Whales from Above

August 14, 2026 — This story is part two of a three-part series. Read about how we are listening for North Atlantic right whales with passive acoustics, monitoring them with aerial surveys, and using boats, drones, uncrewed surface vehicles and satellites to learn as much as we can about them and their habitat. In the Northeast, we work with many partners to track right whales, including mothers and calves, using advanced technology to help inform actions that reduce risks to the species.

Many North Atlantic right whales migrate thousands of miles to the Southeast and the Mid-Atlantic from mid-November to mid-April. Female right whales give birth in the shallow coastal waters of the Southeast during the winter months. The whales spend the rest of the year feeding in the plankton-rich waters off of the Northeast and Canada.

We take to the skies to monitor this journey. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s aerial survey team conducts right whale surveys aboard a NOAA Twin Otter Aircraft. The team has flown 325 hours monitoring whales since January 2026. In the spring, they monitored whales off of New England and the Mid-Atlantic. In June, they joined Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) as part of a Joint Aerial Survey Team, flying out of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. There, they flew 50 hours monitoring aggregations of right whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

US court hears arguments against turtle excluder devices in inshore Louisiana waters

August 14, 2026 — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is considering a challenge to a 2019 NOAA Fisheries rule forcing Louisiana inshore shrimpers to install turtle excluder devices (TEDs).

A TED is a grid of metal bars placed in a trawl net that block larger animals – like turtles – while allowing smaller animals – like shrimp – to pass through. Louisiana shrimpers claim the requirement on inshore vessels is excessive, making their work more difficult and expensive despite little risk to turtles.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MASSACHUSETTS: Gloucester honors Lily Jean crew at Fisherman’s Memorial

August 13, 2026 — Six months after the F/V Lily Jean sank off Cape Ann, Mass., the Gloucester fishing community gathered Saturday, Aug. 8, to remember the seven people lost aboard the vessel and other mariners who died over the past year.

The annual remembrance at Gloucester’s Fisherman’s Memorial carried particular weight this year following the Jan. 30 sinking of the 72-foot Gloucester-based groundfish trawler Lily Jean about 25 miles off Cape Ann.

All seven people aboard were lost: Capt. Accursio “Gus” Sanfilippo, Paul Beal Sr., Paul Beal Jr., John Rousanidis, Freeman Short, Sean Therrien and NOAA fisheries observer Jada Samitt.

Family members, state officials and members of the community gathered Saturday at the memorial, where generations of Gloucester fishermen lost at sea are remembered.

“It feels like every time they do something like this, you relive it, that day in January,” Tiffany Leigh, girlfriend of Short, told WCVB.

State Sen. Bruce Tarr also spoke about how deeply the loss has affected a community accustomed to the dangers of working at sea.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

ALASKA: Feds take back management of Kuskokwim River salmon with emergency coho closure

August 13, 2026 — Federal fisheries managers have announced an emergency closure for the harvest of silver salmon on the Kuskokwim River and its tributaries within federal refuge boundaries.

The closure goes into effect at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12 and is a continuation of a state closure already in place.

Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge Manager Spencer Rearden said that this year’s run of silver salmon, also called coho, is tracking similar to 2022, when estimated returns were the lowest in more than two decades.

“Fifty percent of the run has already passed Bethel now, and could the numbers improve with some late runs? Absolutely. We want to open the river, but until the fish say we can, we’re closed at this moment,” Rearden said.

As of Aug. 10, an estimated 96,000 silvers had passed the Kuskokwim River sonar, just downriver from Kwethluk, Rearden said. On the same day in 2022, that number was around 86,000.

Read the full article at KYUK

NOAA Fisheries wants nationwide recommendations for aquaculture opportunity areas

August 13, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries is soliciting public recommendations on where it should establish aquaculture opportunity areas (AOA) in the country as it begins considering a wider swath of regions.

AOAs are a carry over priority from U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term, when he directed NOAA Fisheries to identify areas that would be a good fit for developing commercial aquaculture operations.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NOAA Scientists Discover Repeat Spawning in Pacific Capelin

August 12, 2026 — For certain fish species, like Pacific salmon, reproduction is a once-in-a-lifetime event, known as semelparity. Many other fish are iteroparous—meaning they can spawn repeatedly throughout their lives. New research by NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center reveals the first evidence that Pacific capelin can be repeat spawners.

Over the past decade, the North Pacific Ocean has faced extreme climate variability, including marine heatwaves that severely impacted capelin populations. Understanding capelin’s reproductive flexibility under these fluctuating conditions is crucial for predicting their annual reproductive potential and long-term resilience. Capelin abundance is also an important indicator of the marine ecosystem health.

Examining Reproductive Flexibility in Fluctuating Environments

Historically, the life history, ecology, behavior, and population dynamics of Pacific capelin have not been studied as well as their commercially important counterparts in the Atlantic. In North Pacific and Arctic ecosystems, Pacific capelin serve as a major forage fish and primary food source for Steller sea lions, humpback whales, and other marine mammals. They also are a key subsistence resource and an important food source for commercially important groundfish.

Capelin are short-lived—typically surviving only 1 to 4 years. Their abundance fluctuates wildly in changing environments, leading to multiyear population crashes during marine heatwaves. Recent research highlights that these heatwaves shrink capelin distribution and deplete their energy reserves. Ultimately, these combined stressors leave capelin highly vulnerable to mortality and put the predator populations that rely on them at risk of decline.

In this new experimental study of captive fish, NOAA scientists looked more closely at the spawning potential of Pacific capelin. They researched their life history and how they respond to shifting environments.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

State-managed recreational red snapper harvest proposals come in 10 times bigger than current limit

August 12, 2026 — Proposals for state management of the South Atlantic red snapper fishery in federal waters set a collective harvest limit of 215,391 fish, roughly 10 times higher than the previous recreational harvest limit of 22,797 fish.

The proposals were submitted by the state governments of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina and would set month-long recreational seasons in the fall.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

From Sound to Satellites: Reducing Risks to North Atlantic Right Whales with Advanced Technology

August 11, 2026 — This story is part 1 of a 3-part series. Read about how we are listening for North Atlantic right whales with passive acoustics, monitoring them with aerial surveys, and using boats, drones, uncrewed surface vehicles and satellites to learn as much as we can about them and their habitat. In the Northeast, we work with many partners to track right whales, including mothers and calves, using advanced technology to help inform actions that reduce risks to the species.

Endangered North Atlantic right whales had a busy winter! NOAA Fisheries and our partners saw 23 right whale mom and calf pairs during the right whale calving season in the Southeast. This is hopeful news for the species. With only 380 North Atlantic right whales remaining, including about 70 reproductively active females, each mother and calf is vital to the species’ recovery. Human impacts continue to threaten the survival of the species.

Reducing risk to these whales is a top priority as they spend the summer in their northern feeding grounds, and technology is helping us do it. With our partners, NOAA Fisheries is monitoring right whales using cutting-edge techniques like real-time passive acoustic monitoring and measuring calf growth rates with drones.

The data we collect inform management and conservation measures that reduce the risks whales face from human impacts, including vessel strikes and entanglements. Our continuous monitoring supports coexistence between marine industries and right whales.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries