Saving Seafood

Revitalizing the Gulf: Highlights from 15 Years of Restoration

April 16, 2025 — The Deepwater Horizon oil spill began on April 20, 2010, and resulted in impacts to habitats, natural resources, and communities across the Gulf of America (formerly Gulf of Mexico). Since then, NOAA has taken the lead on more than 60 large-scale projects to restore natural resources. We work with state and local partners, coastal communities, user groups, and other constituents. Below, we’ll highlight key projects that demonstrate the ways we have made progress towards recovery.

Early Restoration

Restoration work across the Gulf began even as damage assessment was ongoing with a large-scale project to restore part of a barrier chain in an area most severely impacted by the spill.

We worked alongside the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority to design and construct the Chenier Ronquille Barrier Island Restoration Project. It improved shoreline stability, restored critical dune features, and created a strong backbarrier marsh platform to support island longevity. The project placed 1.3 million cubic yards of beach and marsh fill designed to prevent island breaching over the 20-year project life. Ongoing monitoring shows that despite severe storm events, the island’s shoreline is intact without new tidal passes. It contributes to coastal protection and restoration in the region.

NOAA also partnered with state Trustees to implement other projects to restore marine resources during the early restoration phase and some of this work continues today. We are:

We work with state and local partners, coastal communities, user groups and other constituents

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries 

International Coordination Busts Red Snapper Trafficking Scheme

April 7, 2025 — In November 2024, NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement, in cooperation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, seized more than 12 tons of illegal red snapper in Newark, New Jersey. The shipment of illegal red snapper was returned to Brazil and seized upon arrival last month by our partner, the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources. They also seized more than 40 tons of illegal red snapper destined for the United States at Brazilian ports. Our joint efforts ensure the sustainability of the fishery and compliance with international law.

Red snapper is an important commercial and recreational fishery in the southeastern United States. When illegally fished Brazilian red snapper enters into U.S. markets, it unfairly competes with U.S. fishermen and their legally caught product. Stopping the import of illegal fish and preventing illegally fished products from entering U.S. commerce protects America’s fishing industry and livelihoods.

Brazilian red snapper is also known as Caribbean red snapper and referred to as “pargo” in Brazil. It is listed as threatened under Brazil’s endangered species law and subject to a strictly regulated commercial fishery in Brazil. Despite these protections, Brazilian red snapper is often the target of illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing and trafficking due to its high market value and consumer demand in the United States.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

Four-Month Survey Tracking West Coast Marine Mammals Finds Some Shifting North

January 17, 2025 — NOAA Fisheries scientists have completed a 4-month, roughly 4,500-nautical-mile, survey of marine mammals and seabirds off the U.S. West Coast. They collected a trove of some of the most thorough data and biological samples ever on West Coast whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals.

Researchers also saw immense schools of dolphins, an unusual number of sei whales, and rare seabirds. Scientists said several marine mammal species appear to have shifted north along the coast compared to earlier surveys. That change may reflect their response to marine heatwaves and other ecosystem changes that have become common off the West Coast in the last decade.

“We’re definitely seeing things farther north,” said Jeff Moore, chief scientist of the marine mammal survey led by NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center. He said the survey spotted striped dolphins off the Oregon and Washington coasts, beyond their more typical range in California’s warmer waters. The species may be following their preferred water temperatures and prey.

Details from the survey help inform marine mammal stock assessments required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act and decisions on fishing seasons and areas. We also use the data collected by surveys to help assess the risk fisheries and other activities may pose to the protected species. Expanding the number and types of platforms these observations are taken from will ultimately lead to greater efficiencies in how we conduct these surveys.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries 

More Than $1 Million Recommended for Ruth D. Gates Coral Restoration Innovation Grants Projects

January 16, 2025 — To  restore resilient coral ecosystems, NOAA has recommended more than $1 million in funding for three new projects and one ongoing, multi-year project. These efforts are supported under the Ruth D. Gates Coral Restoration Innovation Grants. The funding will support projects that enhance coral resilience and improve the long-term success and efficiency of shallow-water coral reef restoration in the face of climate change, including continued heat stress.

Globally, coral reefs are rapidly declining in health. We have learned much about how to scale up coral restoration efforts in the past several years. We must continue to develop innovative interventions to restore resilient, genetically diverse, and reproductively viable coral populations at a larger scale.

Read the full article at NOAA

Federal judge rules ‘pocket-veto’ provisions of MSA violate US Constitution in partial victory for NEFSA

January 6, 2025 — U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock determined some of the authority granted to those council members was violating the U.S. Constitution, specifically a portion of the MSA which meant the NFMS was unable to repeal certain fisheries management procedures without council approval. By refusing to assent to decisions made by the NFMS, the council could effectively “pocket veto” decisions made by federal authorities.

“In severing these limited provisions, the Court addresses both the Appointments Clause and constitutional removal claims, as, without these provisions, the Council Members do not exercise any significant authority, and thus, do not constitute officers of the United States,” Woodcock wrote. “This resolves the constitutional issues presented without invalidating an entire statutory scheme that has effectively governed the United States for decades or a regulation that did not involve either of the constitutional provisions identified in the case at bar.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Genetic Diversity in Alaska Red King Crab May Provide Resilience to Climate Change

January 3, 2024 — Maintaining genetic diversity within and among populations is vital to ensure species are resilient to challenging conditions. Without it, a single disease or set of conditions—such as a prolonged change in ocean acidification—could drive a species to extinction. Fortunately, new research has revealed more genetic diversity across Alaska’s red king crab populations than originally documented. This suggests that the species will be more resilient in the face of changing conditions like ocean warming. However, any efforts to enhance red king crab populations need to be careful not to affect this genetic diversity.

King Crab in Alaska

Historically, the red king crab fishery was Alaska’s top shellfish fishery. It’s embedded in the culture of Alaska’s working waterfronts and king crabs have been the centerpiece of holiday feasts around the world. However, the red king crab fishery collapsed in the 1980s. Since 1983, most populations have been depressed statewide and the Gulf of Alaska fishery remains closed.

Wes Larson is co-author of the new research and the genetics program manager at the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center. He reflects, “When it comes to understanding crab biomass declines and how to recover populations, we need to better understand population structure and local adaptation. There are a lot of concerned and invested fishermen, processors, and community members getting more engaged in these issues and it’s propelling new and innovative research.”

To dig into this need, Larson and a team of collaborators embarked on a study to generate whole genome sequencing data on red king crab in different locations across Alaska. The benefit of whole genome sequencing over previous methods is that it’s akin to reading the full story of an organism’s makeup instead of just a chapter or two. This holistic approach offers more robust analysis in order to tease apart similarities and differences between locations. Collaborators on the research included:

  • Cornell University
  • University of Alaska Fairbanks
  • Alaska Department of Fish and Game
  • NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries 

New England scallopers face a tough 2025

December 18, 2024 — New England scallopers are looking at another tough year in 2025, as they prepare for a set of federal regulations to protect both their livelihoods and the Atlantic Ocean’s scallop populations.

If approved by NOAA Fisheries, the new rules, called Scallop Framework 39, will reduce the number of times that full-time vessels can go drag in some federally-managed scalloping grounds — called “access areas” — in the 2025 fishing year. But they will allow these vessels more time to scallop in the open ocean. The start of the access-area scalloping season will also be pushed back from April 1 to May 15, 2025. It will end on March 31, 2026.

These proposed regulations are meant to conserve the fishery resource as it goes through a period of low productivity, regional fisheries managers say. They were developed by the New England Fishery Management Council.

Surveys showed the overall weight of harvestable scallops in New England waters dropped from 2023 to 2024.

Local scallopers and industry representatives say the contents of Framework 39 are not a surprise. Landings have been shrinking over the past four years.

“We’re just tightening the belt, and taking a deep breath, and riding the storm out,” said New Bedford scallop vessel manager and owner Tony Alvernaz.

Read the full story at The New Bedford Light

NOAA closes US Atlantic mackerel fishery for the rest of 2024

December 10, 2024 — NOAA Fisheries has closed the U.S. Atlantic mackerel fishery for the rest of 2024 after determining that 100 percent of the allowable annual harvest has already been caught.

The closure comes amid concern over the sustainability of the Atlantic mackerel stock, which is listed as overfished by NOAA Fisheries and has been managed under a rebuilding program since November 2019.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Global Extinction Risk for Sharks and Rays Is High, United States may Provide Haven

December 9, 2024 — Overfishing of sharks and rays has depleted many populations, causing widespread erosion of ecological function and exceptionally high extinction risk. NOAA Fisheries coauthored a study in the journal Science that quantifies the extinction risk for the world’s 1,199 sharks and ray species over 50 years. They found that while sharks and rays are at high risk of extinction and biodiversity loss globally, this risk differs by habitat and region. There are some “bright spots” that could help species survive.

Sharks Are In Rough Shape Globally

We found that sharks and rays globally are in a worse conservation state than all other vertebrate groups, apart from amphibians. We also demonstrated the “fishing down” of shark and ray biodiversity and ecosystem function. This shows that the largest species declined first and most rapidly.

Most sharks and rays have slow population growth rates, which makes them highly vulnerable to overfishing and subsequently takes populations longer to rebuild. Around the world, sharks and rays are targeted for their fins, meat, gill plates, and liver oil. They are also caught incidentally—as bycatch—in other fisheries.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

NOAA Fisheries agrees to make decision on tope shark protections by August 2025

December 9, 2024 — NOAA Fisheries has agreed to determine whether tope sharks deserve protections under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by August 2025 following a lawsuit from conservation legal groups Defend Them All and the Center for Biological Diversity.

“We’re optimistic that long-overdue protections for the tope shark are finally on the horizon,” Defend Them All attorney Lindsey Zehel said in a statement. “As compounding threats to the species continue to intensify, immediate action is necessary to halt the tope shark’s decline and preserve the integrity of our coastal ecosystems.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source