Saving Seafood

Right whale plane surveys in Gulf of Maine suspended with $200K budget cut

September 4, 2025 — Fall airplane surveys tracking North Atlantic right whales north of Cape Cod in the Gulf of Maine, run by the Provincetown-based Center for Coastal Studies, are off the table after federal funding was cut.

While the fall flights are grounded, the center’s leadership stressed that the winter and spring surveys over Cape Cod Bay remain unaffected and on schedule.

The center expanded its whale research program beyond the bay last year. The newer program was supported with funds from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency that oversees ocean and wildlife programs.

North Atlantic right whales are among the world’s most endangered large whales species, and Cape Cod Bay is a key seasonal habitat, where a significant portion of the population gathers, especially in the spring.

Read the full article at Cape Cod Times

Northeast fisheries center surveys wind energy areas

August 25, 2025 — Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration used its 25-foot DriX autonomous research vehicle for a 20-day spring mission in southern New England waters, collecting data on fish and plankton within five offshore wind energy areas.

Those wind power projects, like Ørsted’s Revolution Wind 65 turbines south of Rhode Island, are now under severe pressure from the Trump administration’s opposition to all forms of wind and solar generation.

But the amid the turmoil, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researchers are still learning how the new generation of autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles can fill in the margins of ecosystem and fisheries surveys, in areas where it’s more difficult to operate NOAA’s big science ships.

The April 16-May 5 expedition by ocean researchers with the Northeast Fisheries Science Center was the second DriX survey out of Narragansett Bay, R.I., with the probe operating nearly around the clock for nearly three weeks.

“Uncrewed systems have the ability to support various stock and ecosystem assessments through data acquisition, particularly in areas that have traditionally been or are increasingly becoming challenging to sample,” Conor McManus, the Advanced Technology Program lead for the science center, said in a statement. “We are learning more about how marine ecosystems are changing while improving the technology and operations to be able to use it more expansively in the future.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NOAA Fisheries embracing eDNA tool for rockfish management

August 26, 2025 — NOAA Fisheries has developed an improved environmental DNA (eDNA) tool that will enable scientists to better understand rockfish species and could inform management of the U.S. commercial fishery.

Environmental DNA tools test for genetic material in collected water samples, allowing scientists to detect the presence of various animals. NOAA Fisheries has worked to adopt eDNA tools to help improve its species management, especially with fish that are difficult or cost prohibitive to track otherwise. Rockfish, for instance, live in rocky areas that are not conducive to trawling and are not distributed evenly. By using eDNA, scientists can get a better picture of where rockfish are present in a body of water.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: New rule could clear path to harm Cook Inlet’s endangered whales

August 19, 2025 — A new rule proposed to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) would allow companies working on the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in the Cook Inlet to “take” marine mammals.

The rule was proposed on July 29 by 8 Star Alaska, LLC, a subsidiary of Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC).

The proposed rule falls under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMAP) and would allow the company, over the next 5 years, to harass, hunt, capture or kill mammals by carving out acceptable ways of taking.

Currently, the taking of mammals is prohibited, unless a rule is proposed and directed in a specified area while engaged in a specific activity.

Read the full article at Alaska News Source

Hawaii false killer whales could go extinct by midcentury

August 18, 2025 — A unique species of endangered Pacific dolphin off Hawaii are declining at a faster rate than once thought, with the largest distinct population segment expected to drop below 100 individuals by the mid-2030s, according to new NOAA research.

Scientists from NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center and other institutions found that between 1999 and 2022, the population of protected dolphins — known as “false killer whales” — shrunk by 3.5 percent annually. That trajectory places the species on a likely path to extinction by midcentury.

Roughly 132 individuals are believed to have lived in the population segment closest to Hawaii’s main islands in 2022, compared to as many as 190 in 2015.

Read the full article at E&E News

Expanded commercial fishing eyed in Pacific marine monuments

August 15, 2025 — Opening marine monuments to commercial fishing may prove more challenging than President Donald Trump thought when he proclaimed in April he was “unleashing American commercial fishing” in the Pacific Ocean.

A federal court in Hawaii ruled last week that the president cannot reinstate fishing by executive fiat but must use the standard regulatory review and public comment process before allowing about 160 fishermen licensed to harvest tuna, mahi-mahi and wahoo access to roughly 256 million surface acres of ocean in the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.

The ruling effectively stayed NOAA’s action to implement Trump’s April 27 proclamation rolling back the commercial fishing ban across roughly 400,000 square miles of the Pacific Islands monument about 900 miles southwest of Hawaii.

Read the full article at E&E News

Feds Fund ‘Abandoned Boats’ Program Nationwide

August 14, 2025 — More than 300 abandoned and derelict boats across six states and two unincorporated terrorities are earmarked for removal from local waterways under funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Debris Program.

The program will be administered through the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water, according to a statement from the foundation last month. NOAA awarded $7.4 million to fund 10 projects in July.

“The ADV (abandoned and derelict vessels) grants will fund removal and education efforts in communities heavily impacted by ADVS and the navigation, safety and pollution hazards they pose,” the July 31 statement said.

A panel of independent salvage experts, state boating advocates and nonprofit research groups and planning states selected the projects.

Projects include the Metlakatla Indian Community in Alaska; city and borough of Yakutat, Ala.; Sitka Conservation Society, Ala.; Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government, La.; Makah Indian Tribe of the Makah Indian Reservation, Washington state; state of Maine; U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources; North Carolina Coastal Federation; Oregon Department of State Lands; and the Port Authority of Guam.

Read the full article at The Sand Paper

US shrimp imports rise nearly 20 percent in H1 2025

August 14, 2025 — According to NOAA, shrimp imports to the U.S. were up 18 percent year over year in the first half of 2025, with 413,718 metric tons (MT) of foreign shrimp entering the nation’s borders.

India was again the top exporter to the U.S. during the period, shipping 161,835 MT. That marked an increase of 24 percent over the previous year.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Bluefin tuna off limits for recreational and charter anglers due to federal shutdown

August 13, 2025 –If you were hoping to catch and keep a bluefin tuna off the coast of Long Island this summer, you’re out of luck. A new federal shutdown of the bluefin tuna fishery for recreational and charter anglers is now in effect — and it’s already having a ripple effect across the local fishing industry.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ordered the closure, citing the need to stay within international conservation limits.

“This inseason action is needed to ensure the United States Atlantic bluefin tuna quota is not exceeded and is consistent with the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) requirements,” a NOAA spokesperson said in a statement.

While commercial bluefin fishing can continue, the shutdown applies to all recreational and charter boat fishing. That means charter captains like Greg Gargiulo, of Patty Ann Charters based at the Captree Boat Basin, will have to drastically shift their business model by targeting yellowfin tuna instead, which are farther off shore.

Read the full article at News 12

US judge blocks commercial fishing in Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument

August 12, 2025 –A judge has blocked U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to reopen large swaths of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument to commercial fishing, ruling that the NOAA Fisheries letter authorizing fishing in the monument is unlawful.

“We applaud the court for rejecting the Fisheries Service’s attempt to gut fishing protections in the monument without going through the formal rulemaking process, which ensures a voice for all those concerned about protecting the monument’s vital species and ecosystems for today and for future generations,” Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi Executive Director Jonee Peters said in a statement.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource