Saving Seafood

NCCOS Expands HAB Monitoring to New Coastal Northeast and Great Lakes Regions

June 2, 2026 — The new Coastal Northeast U.S. satellite imagery supports bloom tracking in the Gulf of Maine and coastal waters off New York and New Jersey. These products provide satellite-based information to help partners better understand potential bloom conditions across a broad coastal region.

NCCOS is also adding a separate demonstration high-resolution Great Lakes satellite imagery to include Maumee Bay, OH, Apostle Islands, WI, and Saint Louis River, MN. These products use Sentinel-2 MultiSpectral Instrument imagery, which provides higher spatial resolution (20m) than existing Sentinel-3 Ocean and Land Colour Instrument products (300m). The higher-resolution imagery can support monitoring in smaller or more complex water bodies where finer-scale satellite observations may be useful.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

NOAA Fisheries Announces $2.3 Million to Study Atlantic Mackerel with the Northeast Fishing Industry

May 28, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries is beginning a cooperative research initiative, partnering with the Northeast fishing industry to learn more about Atlantic mackerel population dynamics. The initiative will receive $2.3 million in the current fiscal year.

The project will engage more than 50 fishing vessels to collect and analyze data to improve our understanding of the Atlantic mackerel stock. Fishing vessels will be involved in:

  • Developing acoustic technologies to detect and quantify mackerel, including active acoustics
  • Collecting mackerel samples for biological analysis
  • Tagging mackerel to understand movement between US and Canadian waters
  • Participating in mackerel egg surveys to better understand spawning
  • Developing and testing hypotheses about the ecosystem drivers of mackerel

This research initiative builds upon the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s 20-year model of success with cooperative research. This research includes working with the fishing industry to identify research needs, collect data, and support sustainable management of resource species.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

NOAA surveys East Coast fishing crews amid industry pressures

May 28, 2026 — Federal fisheries officials are once again heading to commercial fishing ports from Maine to North Carolina as part of NOAA Fisheries’ ongoing effort to better understand the economic and social realities facing working fishermen and crew members across the East Coast.

The 2026 Commercial Fishing Crew Survey, conducted through the NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center, launched this spring and will continue through the fall at ports throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic.

The voluntary and anonymous survey focuses on commercial fishing vessel crew members and hired captains, gathering information on demographics, working conditions, fishing practices, job satisfaction, economic concerns and views on fisheries management. According to NOAA, the survey can be completed in person, online, by phone or through the mail and typically takes about 10 minutes.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Major gaps remain in monitoring of seafood imports

May 26, 2026 — A new policy brief released by a coalition of human rights and environmental civil society organizations concludes that most seafood imported into the United States lacks basic catch documentation and traceability.

The brief draws on a technical report by Simeone Consulting LLC in Littleton, N.H., which outlines critical reforms needed to keep seafood connected with illegal, unreported, and unregulated from entering U.S. markets.

Only a small percentage of all seafood imported into the U.S. is covered under current import regulations, and even for those 13 species groups, there are many loopholes, said John Simeone, author of the report, in an interview on May 19.

Most people think that a report released by NOAA Fisheries in November 2024 to improve the U.S. Seafood Import Monitoring Program is very good, but this plan is missing how those goals would be achieved, he said.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

US conservation groups challenge MMPA comparability findings for several foreign fisheries

May 26, 2026 — Three U.S. conservation groups have challenged NOAA Fisheries’ approval of seafood imports from eight nations, arguing that they have not implemented protections for marine mammals that are comparable to those in force in the U.S.

“The United States can save the lives of countless whales and dolphins getting caught in fishing gear around the world, but only if it enforces the law,” Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) International Program Director Sarah Uhlemann said in a release. “This litigation should result in a seafood import ban for the eight nations, and the governments will have to crack down on deadly bycatch to get back into the lucrative U.S. seafood market.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NOAA predicts below-normal 2026 Atlantic hurricane season

May 22, 2026 — Forecasters with NOAA’s National Weather Service are predicting a below-normal hurricane season for the Atlantic basin this year. NOAA’s outlook for the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs June 1 to November 30, predicts a 35% chance of a near-normal season, a 10% chance of an above-normal season, and a 55% chance of a below-normal season.

The agency is forecasting a total of 8-14 named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher). Of those, 3-6 are forecast to become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including 1-3 major hurricanes (category 3, 4 or 5 with winds of 111 mph or higher). NOAA has a 70% confidence in these ranges. An average season has 14 named storms with seven hurricanes, including three major hurricanes.

“With the most advanced forecast modeling and hurricane tracking technologies, NOAA and the National Weather Service are prepared to deliver real-time storm forecasts and warnings,” said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. “Our experts are integrating cutting-edge tools to ensure communities in the path of storms receive the earliest, most accurate information possible.”

“NOAA’s rapid integration of advanced technology, including AI-based weather models, drones, and next-generation satellite data will deliver actionable science to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of the American people,” said NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs, Ph.D. “These new capabilities, combined with the unmatched expertise of our National Weather Service forecasters, will produce the most accurate forecasts possible to protect communities in harm’s way.”

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

Highly endangered right whales see a baby boom, but threats still loom

May 22, 2026 — A jump from 11 North Atlantic right whale births in 2024-25 season to 23 for this season might sound like a nice little bump.

But when the entire population of the North Atlantic right whale can fit in the main stage at Wilmington’s Thalian Hall, you know overall numbers are still incredibly low.

Still, researchers and environmentalists say this season’s calving numbers for the highly endangered marine mammal are a positive sign − especially after some subpar years since the start of the 2010s.

The 2025-26 season represented the highest number of births since 2009, and the fourth highest on record.

Read the full article at Star News Online

Bering Sea survey to track temperature shifts

May 22, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries is preparing to launch its annual eastern Bering Sea bottom trawl survey, with scientists set to begin collecting near real-time temperature data in June as part of one of the longest-running fishery datasets in the region.

Conducted each year by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, the survey is mandated under the Magnuson-Stevens Act to track the distribution and abundance of fish, crab and other bottom-dwelling species. The data is used to inform stock assessments and ecosystem status reports for the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Water temperature remains a key focus of the survey. According to NOAA, “temperature is one of many factors that influences species’ ranges and population sizes,” with warming conditions already linked to shifts in where species are found. Scientists record both bottom and surface temperatures at each station, allowing them to compare environmental conditions with the presence, or absence, of fish and crab.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

ASMFC Seeks Contractor for RAPID Project Management and Facilitation Services for Marine Recreational Fisheries Data Partnership Proposals Due June 10, 2026

May 21, 2026 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission), in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries (NOAA Fisheries), is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the planning, facilitation, and execution of workshops on Recreational Angler Partnership Improvement Directive (RAPID). Workshops will be held regionally throughout the US and are targeted for the Summer/Fall of 2026.

 
NOAA Fisheries’ Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) has historically operated as a state-regional-federal program to develop and implement recreational fishing surveys. While this federal data collection program tracks long-term trends at the annual and regional level, partners and anglers have raised concerns regarding data uncertainty particularly when used to inform management at the state and local level and at the monthly, weekly, and daily level. To address these challenges and modernize data collection, NOAA Fisheries is transforming its recreational data enterprise through RAPID.
 
This initiative will lead the transition from MRIP to a new, shared-governance data system co-designed with anglers, state agencies, interstate commissions, and management councils. The goal is to establish a state-federal data collection and delivery system that is regionally flexible, nationally consistent, and enhances scientific credibility and stakeholder confidence in recreational fishing statistics used for management.
 
Proposals must be submitted by email no later than 11:59 PM on June 10, 2026 to Alex DiJohnson, ACCSP Deputy Director of Recreational Data, at alex.dijohnson@accsp.org. The RFP is available athttps://asmfc.org/resources/rapid-project-management-meeting-facilitation-for-a-shared-state-federal-recreational-data-partnership-rfp/.
 
For more information, please contact Alex DiJohnson.                                                 

Near Real-time Temperatures from the 2026 Bering Sea Bottom Trawl Survey

May 20, 2026 — Survey Progress and Bottom Temperatures

Every year, NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center conducts the eastern Bering Sea bottom trawl survey. We are mandated by the Magnuson-Stevens Act to collect distribution and abundance data for fish, crab, and other bottom-dwelling species in the Bering Sea. These data inform stock assessments and ecosystem status reports for the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council.

Temperature is one of many factors that influences species’ ranges and population sizes. For instance, we see many species moving farther north as ocean temperatures warm. To understand what’s going on in the Bering Sea, we record ocean bottom and surface temperatures at each sample station on the survey. These data will help us understand how variations in bottom temperature over time relate to the fish and crab we find—or don’t find—at the same station.

We will update this page with the most recent bottom temperatures recorded on most weekdays during the survey. For now, check out our completed 2025 bottom temperature map from the Bering Sea. This will be updated once the 2026 survey begins, and you’ll be able to see the updated temperature maps in near real-time. Note that in 2025 the survey included both the eastern and northern Bering Sea survey areas. In 2026, we will only survey the eastern Bering Sea area.

We have conducted the eastern Bering Sea survey annually since 1982 (except in 2020) making this the longest running, standardized time series of fish and invertebrate data in the region—43 years! Learn more about this survey, view temperature maps from previous years, and see examples of how these data are collected and used in this story from 2023.

All data collected on these surveys are and will be publicly accessible from:

Documenting the Bering Sea Cold Pool

Survey data are crucial for understanding the extent of the cold pool, which is an important oceanographic feature of the Bering Sea.

Each spring, the previous winter’s sea ice melts to create dense, cold, ocean water, which sinks to the bottom of the Bering Sea. This creates the cold pool, which is defined as the total area where bottom temperatures are less than or equal to 2°C. The location of this cold pool changes from year to year and affects the movement and ranges of fish, crab, and other bottom-dwelling species. And it can act as a boundary separating Arctic species from subarctic species.

Commercially important fish like walleye pollock, Pacific cod, and snow crab are dependent on the location of the cold pool. Due to warming ocean temperatures in the Bering Sea, we track and closely monitor the location of the cold pool by collecting ocean bottom temperatures at each station.

Learn more about temperature anomalies, the cold pool, and how bottom temperatures in the Bering Sea have changed over time.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries