September 8, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries quietly issued several fishery disaster determinations in July, opening the door for federal funding to be allocated for those fisheries.
U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (D-California) welcomed the determinations for fisheries in his state, which include California’s red sea urchin fishery and the Hoopa Valley Tribe’s Klamath River fall Chinook salmon fishery.
September 8, 2026 — The following opinion was published by Samuel Blatchley:
Three years ago the D.C. Circuit told the National Marine Fisheries Service it could not build a biological opinion on worst-case assumptions. Last week the agency wrote that principle into its own priorities.
In Maine Lobstermen’s Ass’n v. National Marine Fisheries Service, 70 F.4th 582 (D.C. Cir. 2023), the court held that the Service may not, when faced with uncertainty, give the benefit of the doubt to an endangered species by relying on worst-case scenarios or pessimistic assumptions. The ESA calls for an empirical judgment about what is likely. The effects of an action are those reasonably certain to occur, found on clear and substantial information. Projections the agency itself concedes are very likely wrong do not meet that standard. The court reversed, directed judgment for the lobstermen, and ordered the biological opinion vacated as applied to the lobster and Jonah crab fisheries. I was on the case for the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, alongside the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, the State of Maine, and Lodge 207. Our clients were facing regulations that would have taken jobs and boats out of the water.
Two things happened last week that build on it.
On September 1 the House passed H.R. 9436, the Northeast Lobsterman Protection Act, 219 to 196, extending the current regulatory pause for the lobster and Jonah crab fisheries from 2028 to 2035. The Administration issued a statement strongly supporting passage. It now goes to the Senate.
On September 2 NOAA Fisheries issued its agency-level priorities. On the Northeast lobster fishery, the agency states it will not mandate ropeless gear, that any decision support tools or models used by the Take Reduction Team must be independently and empirically reviewed, and that any future Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan will rest on best available data rather than worst-case scenario modeling.
That last clause applies the principle the court enforced in 2023, and returns the agency to the position it had taken itself in 2019 before the biological opinion abandoned it.
Worth keeping the distinction clear. The bill would change a statute. The priorities document is a policy statement that amends nothing and can be withdrawn. What lasts is the record. The Take Reduction Team is building the file the next rule will stand on, and how its models get vetted will matter long after the announcement does.
Common sense science is not a slogan. It is what the statute already required, and what it took a court to enforce. The Senate should pass H.R. 9436, and the agency should be held to the standard it has now stated, so the next rule protects both the whale and the communities that fish alongside it.
#FisheriesLaw #Lobster #EndangeredSpeciesAct #RightWhale #AdministrativeLaw
Samuel P. Blatchley is a maritime, fisheries, and insurance attorney and Proctor in Admiralty at Eckland & Blando LLP, where he represents vessel owners, commercial fishermen, marine businesses, insurers, and industry organizations in complex litigation, regulatory matters, marine casualties, coverage disputes, and commercial disputes throughout the United States. His practice includes federal admiralty litigation, fisheries and environmental regulation, marine insurance, limitation of liability, vessel arrests and maritime liens, and matters involving NOAA Fisheries and other federal and state agencies. He has represented fishing-industry interests in significant state and federal litigation, including the D.C. Circuit challenge to NOAA Fisheries’ North Atlantic right whale regulations on behalf of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association. Blatchley is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, and New York and is a graduate of Tulane University Law School, where he earned a Maritime Law Certificate and served on the Tulane Maritime Law Journal.
September 5, 2026 — Has El Niño reached the West Coast?
You might think it has. After all, the ocean off Southern and Central California is unusually warm. But that is from a recent marine heatwave predates the current El Niño. Much of the Pacific Coast is experiencing relatively normal conditions while still awaiting the impacts of what could be a very strong El Niño.
In June, NOAA’s National Weather Service declared that El Niño had developed. That finding, however, is based on ocean temperatures from the tropical Pacific Ocean, near the Equator, which warm ahead of El Niño’s impact on the Americas.
While eastern tropical Pacific temperatures have already risen more than 2°C (about 3.6°F) above normal, El Niño-related warming along the West Coast typically lags that increase by a few months. NOAA Fisheries scientists are tracking West Coast conditions as part of our Integrated Ecosystem Assessment. Here are some of the changes in ocean conditions and marine life that typically signal the arrival of El Niño’s influence along the West Coast.
September 3, 2026 — From Gulf Coast shrimpers’ lips to the Trump administration’s ear, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced an extensive set of priorities for reforming the nation’s fisheries on Wednesday, a so-called “operational roadmap” to unshackle what the administration views as a lucrative and essential but unnecessarily burdened industry.
An overture to the executive branch’s nascent America First Seafood Strategy, Wednesday’s announcement continues NOAA’s work under Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness, an April 2025 White House executive order that called seafood “one of the most heavily regulated sectors in the United States.” Since then, according to a news release, NOAA Fisheries has received input from more than 700 entities, including regional fishery councils, commercial producers, and members of the public.
September 3, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries has announced an “operational roadmap” of priorities it will pursue under U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order, Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.
“Through these priorities, the agency is taking actionable steps to fulfill the president’s vision of making the United States the world’s dominant seafood leader,” NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs said in a release. “NOAA is proud to deliver real-world results to the American public through innovative solutions that streamline regulations.”
September 2, 2026 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Today, NOAA announced priorities for advancing reforms within NOAA Fisheries to move towards regulations grounded in science that support American seafood dominance. These agency-level actions follow the Regional Priorities guidance that was released on July 2, 2026 to apply the same standard of accountability to NOAA’s own operations, regulatory frameworks, and scientific pipelines. This priority list serves as an operational roadmap of NOAA Fisheries’ direct support of the President’s Executive order on Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness and will lead to the broader interagency America First Seafood Strategy that will be released in the coming months.
“Through these priorities, the agency is taking actionable steps to fulfill the President’s vision of making the United States the world’s dominant seafood leader,” said Neil Jacobs, Ph.D., NOAA administrator. “NOAA is proud to deliver real-world results to the American public through innovative solutions that streamline regulations.”
“These priorities represent NOAA Fisheries’ commitment to ensuring that federal fisheries management boosts domestic harvesters,” said Eugenio Piñeiro Soler, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “We are proud to empower hard-working American fishermen to produce more seafood for American plates.”
After considering input from more than 700 individuals and organizations, including from councils, the fishing industry, and the public, NOAA Fisheries is advancing a science-based approach to fisheries management that supports sustainable fishing opportunities while ensuring responsible conservation practices and improving regulatory efficiency. These efforts touch on all aspects of the agency’s mission from protected resources and science to national policies and improving fishing opportunities.
The complete list of priority actions is available on the NOAA Fisheries website.
While this announcement outlines the immediate internal priorities for the agency, it also serves as a bridge towards a broader, interagency transformation of federal seafood policy. In the coming months, the agency will unveil future actions towards this goal to strengthen national seafood markets, rebuild U.S. fisheries infrastructure and processing capacity, and tackle IUU fishing issues to ensure American seafood dominance.
September 2, 2026 — Over the past year, I have met with fishermen, processors, coastal community leaders, and regional fishery management council members and staff across the country. In every harbor and at every meeting, the message has been consistent: American fishermen just want to fish, and they need their government to clear the bureaucratic barriers standing in their way.
On July 2, 2026, NOAA Fisheries sent Regional Priorities guidance, providing the regional fishery management councils a clear roadmap of actions to reduce regulatory burdens and better support the health of our industry, while maintaining our public trust duty to maintain stock and ocean ecosystem health. But our democratic council process is only part of the equation. To complement that guidance, NOAA Fisheries is applying the same standard of accountability and results to its own operations, regulatory frameworks, and scientific pipelines.
Today, I am announcing NOAA Fisheries’ priorities for agency-level actions in support of the Seafood Executive Order. It will serve as our operational roadmap for regulatory, scientific, and administrative reform. Informed by the 787 public comments submitted under the 2025 “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness” Executive Order (EO 14276), these priorities focus strictly on the policy levers directly within the agency’s authority.
This announcement outlines our immediate priorities for the agency and serves as a bridge toward a broader, interagency transformation of federal seafood policy. In the coming months, the administration will release the America First Seafood Strategy, a comprehensive, multi-agency initiative developed in close coordination with our federal partners and informed by extensive feedback from stakeholders. The strategy will firmly outline how efforts under EO 14276 have begun—and will continue—to elevate domestic seafood production to a priority in matters of national food security and strategic independence.
NOAA Fisheries will pursue the actions outlined below immediately as we look forward to that broader strategy. We are moving away from regulations that treat domestic harvesters like a problem to be managed, and toward a science-based, common-sense system that recognizes the importance of those who feed our citizens and the communities they support.
September 2, 2026 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:
Today’s announcement illustrates a commitment by NOAA Fisheries to reduce regulatory burdens on the industry and better support the whole seafood community. Whether it’s the men and women who work the water or the producers, processors and distributors who supply seafood to American families, there are more than a million jobs at stake.
Calls for modernization and a return to a true risk-based regulatory structure, rather than the inertia of persistent bureaucratic expansion, could go a long way to mitigating the operational and administrative burdens the agency has committed to reduce.
We congratulate NOAA Fisheries and the Trump Administration for these new efforts and stand as a resource as the agency begins implementation.
September 1, 2026 — The federal waters surrounding Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are known for their vibrant fishing heritage, stunning scenery, and biodiverse coral reef ecosystems. Each island community’s unique connection to the sea is shaped by distinct cultural traditions.
Sustainable fisheries management requires carefully balancing conservation goals and local needs. In recent years, the U.S. Caribbean region has made significant strides in advancing fishery sustainability by prioritizing vital local collaborations.
The 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Act established the Caribbean Fishery Management Council as one of eight regional fishery management councils. It manages the federal waters that surround the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which abut multiple international boundaries. The Caribbean Council has the distinction of managing more species than any other council in the nation.
At first, the Caribbean Council followed the strategy of other regions by developing management measures that applied uniformly throughout the region. In 1985, that process culminated in the region’s first two fishery management plans: One for Caribbean spiny lobster, and another for the 64 most commonly landed shallow-water reef fish species. In the 1990s, the Council added plans for queen conch and aquarium species, and amended the reef fish plan to include deep-water reef fish.
Both single-species stock assessments and region-wide management plans were hampered by data limitations. Fishery-dependent data—which is based on fishermen reporting landings or port agents conducting surveys—was spotty. Most of the fish and shellfish harvest in the region came from small-scale commercial, recreational, and subsistence fishermen, making detailed data difficult to obtain. Fishery-independent data—based on scientific surveys—was also sparse due to limited resources to study a daunting number of species. In addition, the data that were available were more likely to be from Puerto Rico than the U.S. Virgin Islands, obscuring key differences across communities.
These data limitations resulted in uncertainty about how fish populations were faring and created a challenging position for managers tasked with understanding and classifying the status of stocks.
August 31, 2026 — For the past 3 years, our Habitat Camera (HabCam) Survey has had self-propelled underwater helpers. From June 30 to July 6 of this year, two Tethys-class long-range autonomous underwater vehicles, or LRAUVs, surveyed more than 200 nautical miles of pre-programmed track lines in the Mid-Atlantic. Together, they captured more than 68,000 images of the seafloor, collecting critical data used in fisheries stock assessments.
LRAUVs provide an alternative way to survey areas of the ocean where traditional research vessels cannot go because of offshore development. The data they collect complements our vessel-based HabCam Survey, which collects millions of seafloor images each year to understand Atlantic sea scallop populations.
Our scientists identified sea scallops, fish, crabs, snake eels, squid, skates, and more in the seafloor images taken by LRAUVs this year. They will present these data, along with HabCam Survey data, to the New England Fishery Management Council at the end of August. The Council’s Scallop Plan Development Team will incorporate the data into the Atlantic sea scallop assessment. Ultimately, the data help generate more accurate estimates of sea scallop abundance and distribution to inform management decisions.
Advanced Technology Specialist Cameron Fairclough notes that this technology expands where and when we can collect data. “This autonomous underwater vehicle can image the seafloor and you can control it from your phone while it’s out in the middle of the ocean,” he explained.