Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Aleut community pivots from fishing to research, education as climate change threatens its economy

February 3, 2025 — As warming waters threaten traditional fishing economies in the Bering Sea, the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island (ACSPI) is building a new future focused on research and higher education.

Plummeting populations of snow crab and halibut in the Bering Sea have cost ACSPI roughly $2.7 million a year in lost harvest revenue, according to the tribe’s president, John Melovidov. The federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) say the losses will worsen, with a 2024 report projecting the conditions supporting snow crab are 200 times more likely to disappear compared to the pre-industrial era.

“Fishing isn’t always what it used to be,” Melovidov told Tribal Business News. “Outlooks aren’t so great, but we can’t sit here and hope that things come back. We have to do something different.”

The community has begun diversifying its fishing-based economy through partnerships. In July 2024, ACSPI signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Iḷisaġvik College, an Iñupiaq tribal college on Alaska’s North Slope, to establish a satellite campus and research station on the island. The agreement builds on a partnership that began with workforce training in 2018 and expanded to MOAs in 2022 and 2023 that focused on educational opportunities and dual-credit programs for high school students.

Read the full article at Tribalism Business News

Trump nominee vows to keep NOAA intact, stop “communist fish” from entering US

February 3, 2025 — U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Department of Commerce Howard Lutnick told U.S. senators at his confirmation hearing that he would not dismantle NOAA and would work to protect American fishers.

Under questioning from lawmakers, Lutnick said that he looked forward to working with the president in implementing tariffs to gain respect from foreign nations.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US bill would create new method for testing red snapper and tuna country of origin

January 31, 2025 — United States senators have introduced legislation that would task the federal government with developing a new methodology for identifying where tuna and red snapper sold in the U.S. originated from.

If passed, the Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act would direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and NOAA with creating a field test kit that uses a chemical agent to determine whether red snapper or certain species of tuna originated in foreign waters.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

CALIFORNIA: California Invests $15 Million On Salmon, Trout Habitat Resiliency

January 31, 2025 — California is investing $15 million to offset climate change threats to salmon and steelhead trout in river and stream habitats through projects that improve watersheds such as adding wood and plants.

In December, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries determined after a five-year review of recovery efforts that four salmon and steelhead species of fish in northern California and southern Oregon should continue to be designated as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

Read the full article at Forbes

ALASKA: Legislative seafood industry task force finalizes report to forward to fellow lawmakers

January 30, 2025 — A joint legislative task force centered on bolstering Alaska’s seafood industry has forwarded its in-depth report after voting to make its amended version official on Wednesday.

State lawmakers, who shared a draft version of the report earlier this month, are making multiple recommendations to try and alleviate what they called a crisis in our state, citing some 18 different fisheries disasters within the last decade or so.

A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report released this past fall showed the seafood industry suffered a $1.8 billion loss from 2022 to 2023 alone, with about $191 million in state and local tax revenues for Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California combined.

“This gives the public a very pointed direction of what we’re looking at,” said Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, of the task force report. “Now is the time that we have to roll up our sleeves, and develop good policy, and make sure that we are not creating loopholes and missing some things along the way.”

Read the full article at Alaska News Source

Council Recommends 2025 Rec Measures for Cod and Haddock; Participates in MRIP Listening Session; Receives Survey Update

January 30, 2025 — The following was released New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council voted on Western Gulf of Maine cod and Gulf of Maine haddock recreational fishing measures when it met January 28-30, 2025 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The measures are recommendations to NOAA Fisheries for the 2025 groundfish fishing year, which begins on May 1.

The Council also: (1) received an update on the Fishing Effort Survey conducted by NOAA Fisheries under the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP); and (2) participated in a public listening session about NOAA’s collaborative initiative to re-envision recreational fishing data collection partnership approaches.

The Council’s fishing year 2025 recommendations for Atlantic cod are based on the new understanding of cod stock structure. Cod is now being assessed as four stock units, which are color-coded in the map below.

The Council addressed Southern New England cod in December 2024 under Framework Adjustment 69. The framework also establishes a regulatory process for the GARFO regional administrator to set Eastern Gulf of Maine cod and Georges Bank cod measures. The Council’s intent is for the measures to be equivalent to Western Gulf of Maine cod. This authority is a temporary regulatory provision for 2025 only.

The Council took up Western Gulf of Maine cod and Gulf of Maine haddock in January. Here is the full package of recreational recommendations resulting from both the December and January Council meetings.

Analysis: What does the commerce secretary do?

January 29, 2025 — The U.S. secretary of commerce oversees the smallest but arguably most complex of all Cabinet-level departments.

Established as a distinct entity in 1913, it has evolved into a sprawling organization with 13 bureaus spanning a wide variety of critical areas that include weather forecasting, conducting the census, estimating gross domestic product, managing fisheries, promoting U.S. exports, setting standards for new technology and allocating radio frequency spectrum. It is even home to one of America’s eight uniformed military services, the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps with its own fleet of ships, aircraft and 321 commissioned officers. Its main mission is to monitor oceans, waterways and the atmosphere in support of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

As a result, there is no other Cabinet position that has to engage with lawmakers in Congress across so many disparate technical issues, committees and stakeholders. This medley reflects both the historical evolution of the U.S. economy and a degree of political happenstance.

I served at the Commerce Department in several roles, including as chief financial officer and assistant secretary for administration, management and budget, and have watched several administrations attempt to craft an overarching strategic narrative around this diverse set of missions.

Besides the difficult job of formulating a unifying strategy for the department’s many activities, I believe there are three specific challenges in particular that await the next secretary, a position that requires Senate confirmation.

Read the full article at PBS

MAINE: $2M in grants secures Maine’s fishing legacy

January 29, 2025 — Back in October, Maine’s fishing future received a significant boost when U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, alongside Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, announced over $2 million in grant funding for workforce development.

The funding, awarded through NOAA’s Young Fishermen’s Development Program (YFDP), is directed toward two local fishing organizations dedicated to training the next generation of Maine’s commercial fishermen and women.

The Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association (MCFA) will receive $1,771,092 to develop an online knowledge hub packed with educational content for young fishermen and women. The resources will focus on career development, industry training, and wellness, helping new entrants to the industry navigate the work and the challenges of physical and mental health on the water.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

US House passes SHARKED Act for the second time

January 29, 2025 — Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives have passed a bill directing NOAA Fisheries to establish a task force to tackle shark depredation – the partial or complete removal of a hooked fish from an angler’s line by a shark.

The Supporting the Health of Aquatic systems through Research, Knowledge, and Enhanced Dialogue (SHARKED) Act was first introduced in 2023 and initially passed the House in February 2024. However, the legislation was not considered in the U.S. Senate, and died with the end of the 118th Congress earlier in January.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Researchers assess damage done to marine life by California wildfires

January 27, 2025 — Heavy smoke, ash and debris from Southern California’s raging wildfires blowing and drifting far offshore are creating a toxic threat to marine life, scientists are warning.

Crew members aboard a NOAA research vessel reported conditions ranging from yellow-colored skies as far as 100 miles offshore to impenetrable smoke that required deck workers to don masks and goggles.

NOAA’s Noelle Bowlin, director of the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) program, who has been in daily contact with the vessel, said crew members reported “giant pieces of confetti everywhere” on the ocean surface and white-colored plankton nets used for research turning “completely black and coated in tons of soot and ash and burned material.”

Read the full article at E&E News