Saving Seafood

NOAA identifies 21,000 acres suitable for commercial aquaculture development

September 25, 2025 — NOAA Fisheries has identified 21,000 acres of ocean off the coast of California and in the Gulf of Mexico, now called the Gulf of America by the Trump Administration, that it claims would be suitable for offshore aquaculture development.

The announcement follows up on an executive order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump during his first term, which charged NOAA Fisheries with establishing 10 Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOA) by 2025. According to the order, AOAs would be sites predetermined by the government to be suitable for commercial aquaculture.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Conservation groups to sue over hatchery salmon in Columbia River

September 24, 2025 — The Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC) and The Conservation Angler (TCA) have announced plans to sue the federal government over the damage they claim hatchery fish are doing to wild salmon, steelhead, and orca populations.

“Mitchell Act hatcheries are causing harm that we know how to prevent. We’re taking this action today as part of our long-standing commitment to hold the federal government accountable and prevent further violations that imperil these species and the ecosystems they depend on,” WFC Executive Director Emma Helverson said in a release. “It’s time for NOAA to stop prioritizing maintaining harmful hatchery practices over their responsibility to protect wild fish for current and future generations.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Red snapper commercial season closes as NOAA catch limits met for 2025

September 24, 2025 — The commercial harvest of red snapper closed Wednesday morning, officially ending the 2025 fishing season of the animal now for both commercial and recreational fishermen.

According to the NOAA, the commercial catch limit of 102,951 pounds whole weight was met for the year, prompting the season closure.

This comes after NOAA fisheries published a final rule in June, reducing the catch limit from 124,815 pounds whole weigh to 102,951 pounds whole weight. The recreational catch limit of red snapper also dropped from 29,656 fish to 22,797 fish.

Read the full article at WPDE

Amid economic volatility, financial challenges, U.S. seafood producers are calling for change

September 23, 2025 — Every year, more than US$100 million in federal financing programs are allocated to support U.S. aquaculture businesses. But some producers are finding that availability and meaningful access can be two different things – and they are beginning to speak out. 

It’s a seeming disconnect between government pronouncements to support the growth of U.S. aquaculture through these funding programs and the difficulties and hurdles business owners say they face when trying to access them. 

“ One of the things that’s really making it a lot more difficult is the position of NOAA,” says Robin Pearl, co-founder and president of Florida-based shrimp genetics producer American Penaeid. “And it shouldn’t be this hard and it shouldn’t be this way.” 

Pearl, who also co-founded American Mariculture (AMI), the company behind Sun Shrimp, maintains the current system governing NOAA-managed financing programs has not been responsive to the needs of seafood farmers, especially after their businesses have had to endure a global pandemic and other natural disasters.

Read the full article at Aquaculture North America

NOAA proposes allowing offshore fish farms in Gulf, Pacific

September 23, 2025 — The Trump administration plans to offer up to 21,000 acres of federal waters off Southern California and Texas for large-scale commercial aquaculture, according to a NOAA proposal for 13 “aquaculture opportunity areas” in the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.

The initiative — which could provide a boon to U.S. seafood production while carrying risks for traditional fishing economies and ocean environments — shifts into high gear a Trump administration policy priority embodied in two executive orders, one signed by President Donald Trump during his first term and another this spring.

The Biden administration continued the work of studying possible aquaculture projects, including releasing two draft environmental impact statements. The NOAA documents released Friday are the final environmental reviews.

Read the full article at E&E News

Western Pacific Council Pushes for Tougher Standards on Seafood Imports

September 23, 2025 — Western Pacific fishery managers are pressing federal regulators to crack down on seafood imports that don’t meet US standards for protecting marine mammals. 

At its meeting last week, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council urged NOAA to strengthen newly finalized Marine Mammal Protection Act Import Provisions, which were published earlier this month in the Federal Register. The Council called for stricter benchmarks when reviewing foreign fisheries and requested a transparent process that allows for public and stakeholder input. 

The import rules, first authorized in 1972 but only now being fully enforced, are meant to block seafood products from countries that fail to meet US requirements for reducing marine mammal bycatch, according to the Council. For the first time, NOAA has issued Comparability Findings that will ban imports from certain nations and fisheries starting Jan. 1, 2026 — affecting roughly 15% of U.S. seafood imports. 

Read the full article at SeafoodNews.com

NOAA advisory council endorses Pacific monument fishing

September 22, 2025 — President Donald Trump’s push to roll back commercial fishing restrictions in marine national monuments advanced this week when a NOAA advisory council recommended permitting fishing in four Pacific ocean monuments.

The decision by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council to move toward scraping the prohibitions on commercial fishing would align policy with Trump’s April 17 executive order requiring the Commerce and Interior departments to “review all existing marine monuments and provide recommendations to the President of any that should be opened to commercial fishing.”

The council directed its staff to “prepare an analysis of management options to implement” the executive order to be presented at the council’s next meeting in December.

Read the full article at E&E News

Conservation groups plan lawsuit over hatcheries

September 18, 2025 — Two Seattle area conservation groups say they intend to sue the federal government for failure to protect salmon, steelhead and orcas from hatchery programs.

The announcement from Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC) and The Conservation Angler (TCA) contends that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is funding and authorizing hatcheries in the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam under the Mitchell Act, relying on a flawed 2024 Biological Opinion that contains scientifically indefensible conclusions and violates the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The Mitchell Act, passed by Congress in 1938, is intended to advance the conservation of salmon and steelhead fisheries in the Columbia River Basin. Mitchell Act funding has supported the establishment, operation and maintenance of hatchery facilities in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, as well as monitoring and evaluation of hatchery programs, screening irrigation intakes, and improving fish passage.  NOAA Fisheries has administered the Mitchell Act since 1970, distributing funds to tribes and Oregon, Washington and Idaho to produce hatchery salmon and steelhead to support fisheries.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NOAA Fisheries claims success at eastern Pacific tuna conference

September 11, 2025 — The 2025 Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission meeting closed Sept. 5 without changes to Pacific bluefin and bigeye tuna management sought by environmental groups. The returned U.S. delegation took credit for “prioritized American interests by enhancing conservation efforts, strengthening monitoring programs, and expanding opportunities for American fishermen.”

Meeting in Panama City, Panama, the 21-nation tuna commission dealt with tropical tuna management, the recovery of derelict fish aggregating devices (FADs) and regulatory simplification, according to a summary this week from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries division.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

NOAA gathering input on restoring U.S. seafood competitiveness

September 4, 2025 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) is gathering input from the public on the White House executive order entitled “Restoring America’s Seafood Competitiveness.”

The association is inviting feedback from fishing industry members, technology experts, marine scientists, other relevant parties, and members of the public on priority needs such as fishery-related barriers, fisheries management, and science, NOAA said in a public statement.

The executive order, which was published in April 2025, said, “Seafood is one of the most heavily regulated sectors in the United States. Federal overregulation has restricted fishermen from productively harvesting [U.S.] seafood, including through restrictive catch limits, selling our fishing grounds to foreign offshore wind companies, inaccurate and outdated fisheries data, and delayed adoption of modern technology.”

Read the full article at Aquaculture North America