Saving Seafood

Western Pacific Council Flags Economic Burdens of Electronic Monitoring, Backs Relief Efforts

April 1, 2025 — While more fleets across the country move to electronic monitoring, the costs continue to be a concern. The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council is the latest Council to document the burden on fishermen and seek help.  

Last week’s Council meeting discussions focused on electronic monitoring in longline fisheries in Hawaii and American Samoa regarding cost allocation, funding strategies and economic viability. 

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) confirmed it will cover $4 million in upfront EM program costs, separate from the estimated $2.4 million in annual expenses and in contrast to the $7 million spent annually on the human observer program. While NMFS said it will fund server replacements and data storage, the fishing industry could be responsible for replacing EM systems at $10,000 per vessel every three years. 

Council members and staff were not satisfied. 

American Samoa Vice Chair Archie Soliai questioned whether NMFS would commit to cost-sharing beyond three years, while Council Executive Director Kitty Simonds urged NMFS to seek funding from NOAA Headquarters, arguing that federally mandated monitoring costs should not fall on the industry.  

“If the federal government requires monitoring under the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, it needs to pay for it, regardless of whether the Council initiates its implementation,” Simonds said in a statement. “We have been suggesting EM since 2002.” 

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

Tracking Dungeness crabs amid changing waters

March 31, 2025 — In the Pacific Northwest, Dungeness crab is a crucial fishery that supports so many fishermen. As ocean conditions shift, researchers in Washington are working to understand how these changes impact one of the region’s most valuable catches.

According to a recent report by King 5 News, a team of scientists from NOAA and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is closely monitoring Dungeness crab populations in Puget Sound. Using a combination of tracking technology and environmental analysis, the researchers aim to gather critical data on how factors like ocean acidification and warming waters affect the species.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

HAWAII: Hawaiʻi longline fishers experience ‘all-time low’ in profits

March 28, 2025 — Hawaiʻi’s longline fishers are facing record lows in profits, according to a recent report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

For years, NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center has collected data on fishing trip costs and earnings for Hawaiʻi’s commercial longline fishery, and surveyed 60 fishers to get data for 2022.

PIFSC found that the average fishing vessel made around $808,000 in gross revenue that year. Of that, 54% went to trip costs like fuel, ice and bait, and 22% went to labor. After other costs, boat owners took home an average of 5%.

Adjusted for inflation, that’s an average of about $44,000 in profit.

“If we look at profitability over time for the Hawaiʻi longline fishery using our past efforts, we find that, adjusted for inflation, average profit per vessel in 2022 was unfortunately at an all-time low,” said Justin Hospital, supervisory economist at PIFSC.

Read the full article at Hawaii Public Radio

NOAA Issues Ropeless Gear Advisory to Mariners as Testing Begins

March 29, 2025 — NOAA Fisheries is testing ropeless fishing gear for lobster and crab around the Gulf of Maine and around Cape Cod.

The testing is being carried out in areas that are otherwise restricted to fishing for certain portions of the year.

The gear does not have a marking buoy on the surface to avoid entanglements with sea life, instead only utilizing ropes when it’s time to be collected.

Read the full article at CapeCod.com

Judge Rejects Need for New EIS in Alaska Trawl Fishing Case

March 27, 2025 — The National Marine Fisheries Service did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act when setting seasons and conditions for pollock trawl fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, even though the fishery harms Native American tribes in western Alaska, a federal judge ruled March 11.

The case, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska by two consortiums representing 98 Alaskan tribes, claimed that the climate crisis is causing rapid and unprecedented change in the ocean (Clearing Up No. 2136). Plaintiffs claimed that NMFS failed to take those changes into account when setting conditions for the last two groundfish seasons.

Joined by several environmental groups, the tribes asked the court to require NMFS to prepare a new environmental impact statement (EIS) for the trawl fishery, taking climate change into account.

Although District Judge Sharon Gleason agreed with plaintiffs on several of their points, she ultimately ruled against them.

Read the full article at News Data

NOAA slowdowns and new science delay the usual ‘scramble’ to set fishing catch limits

March 26, 2025 — The start of this year’s commercial fishing season could be a bust for fishermen who catch groundfish species like cod, haddock and flounder.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has yet to approve new catch limits for the season slated to open May 1. People in the fishing industry said the annual process has been delayed by changes to the science used to measure cod populations, and the Trump administration’s cuts to the agency.

Scallop fishery regulations also won’t be finalized by the season’s start on April 1. But since there aren’t new regulatory strategies under consideration like with cod, there are default catch limits in place for scallops. Scallopers are facing just 10 fewer fishing days at the start of the season.

Drew Minkiewicz, an attorney representing the Sustainable Scalloping Fund, said this “doesn’t have much of an impact” on the fishery. He’s expecting new limits to be approved within a week of the start of the season.

Scalloper Eric Hansen of New Bedford said he’s cautiously optimistic about an approval coming soon. He remembers a similar slowdown when the Biden administration took over four years ago.

“ If history repeats itself, it won’t be catastrophic,” he said. “And that’s a big if.”

Read the full article at wbur

Conservation groups aim to defend NOAA vessel speed limit in court

March 25, 2025 — Conservation groups are attempting to step in to defend a 2008 vessel speed rule designed to protect North Atlantic right whales from vessel strikes, arguing that the speed limits are vital to saving the endangered species.

“This speed rule is the only one that protects the few remaining right whales from deadly vessel strikes,” Conservation Law Foundation Senior Counsel Erica Fuller said in a statement. “Undermining the rule will set a dangerous precedent that risks the survival of endangered right whales and countless other marine mammals and vulnerable species. Our responsibility to protect these creatures extends beyond policy; it’s a commitment to preserving the health of our oceans for generations to come.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: Bill would change the makeup of the Alaska Board of Fisheries

March 24, 2025 — Membership on the Alaska Board of Fisheries would be restructured to guarantee representation for the state’s different fishing sectors under a bill pending in the Alaska Legislature.

The measure, House Bill 125, would require that the board have designated seats to represent commercial, sport, and subsistence harvesters.

Two members would represent each of those sectors, and another member would represent the scientific community under the bill’s provisions. The subsistence representatives would be nominated by the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN), according to the bill. The science representative would be nominated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to the bill.

The Alaska Board of Fisheries, with members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Alaska Legislature, makes allocation and regulatory decisions that are carried out by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

The bill would help the board pay more attention to subsistence and protect the resources upon which rural residents depend, said the sponsor, Rep. Nellie Jimmie, D-Toksook Bay.

“What this bill (does) I see as bringing an equal voice to the table for subsistence users, not only in my district, but in rural Alaska and all of Alaska. I see this as a positive step forward to bringing sustainability to the fisheries for subsistence users as well,” Jimmie said at a hearing of the House Fisheries Committee on March 18.

Read the full article at the KYUK

New Dam Removal Project Reinvigorates Effort to Open the Raritan River for Migratory Fish

March 24, 2025 — If NOAA Marine Habitat Restoration Specialist Carl Alderson had his way, the story of dam removals on New Jersey’s Raritan River would be an epic film—Shad: The Movie.

Opening shot: Silvery fish throw themselves against a dam, unable to reach the other side. Battered and bloody, they try again, only to be swept downstream.

Voiceover: “In a world of uncertainty, scientists race against time to free the 1,110-square-mile Raritan River watershed from the bondage of obsolete dams to save a species. Will science and restoration be the heroes fish need to reach their ancient spawning grounds?”

Alderson’s film may be just an idea for now, but the story of the restoration of the Raritan River and its native migratory fish species is worth telling. The Raritan River Fish Passage Initiative, the brainchild of Alderson and other NOAA partners, has led to the removal of six dams. There are plans to remove dams or improve fish passage at nine other sites throughout the watershed.

This past fall, NOAA’s Office of Habitat Conservation awarded the Raritan Headwaters Association $2.3 million through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to remove the Rockafellows Mill Dam on the South Branch of the Raritan. This represents NOAA’s most significant investment in the watershed so far. Matching funds from the Cornell Dubilier Superfund settlement will also support this important project.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries