Saving Seafood

ALASKA: UAF/ADF&G collaborate on king salmon smolt project

October 23, 2025 — A new study of king salmon smolt aims to track their trail from fresh water to the ocean to better understand the troubles facing this prized Alaska fishery.

The project, which began this past summer, is a collaboration between the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (CFOS) and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). It is funded by a $4 million federal earmark through NOAA to research juvenile king salmon.

Resources for studying king salmon have been largely focused on adult fish. This one will concentrate on those in the smolt stage, a relatively understudied period of development.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

MARYLAND: Maryland lawmaker pushes for final decision on offshore wind project

October 22, 2025 — Maryland State Senator Mary Beth Carozza is urging federal officials to reject offshore wind energy development off the coast of Ocean City.

In a letter to Eugenio Piñeiro-Soler, Assistant Secretary at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Carozza expressed support for his recent visit to Ocean City and a September 24 meeting at Sunset Marina. She said attendees were encouraged by his remarks and hope for a final rejection of US Wind’s project, as well as any future offshore wind proposals.

Carozza outlined concerns about the size and number of turbines, potential impacts on marine life, commercial fishing, tourism, and Maryland ratepayers. She also cited testimony from a January Congressional field hearing in Ocean City, where industry representatives highlighted flaws in offshore wind planning and warned of risks to commercial fisheries and food security.

Read the full article at CoastTV

Advancement of Young Fishermen’s Development Act reauthorization

October 21, 2025 — The Fishing Communities Coalition (FCC) commends the Senate Commerce, Science, and Technology Committee for marking up S.2357, the Young Fishermen’s Development Extension Act, which reauthorizes the Young Fishermen’s Development Act (YFDA) program for a second five-year period. By advancing this legislation, Congress is recommitting to America’s fishing industry, supporting workforce development, and promoting the safety, prosperity, and ingenuity of our nation’s early-career commercial fishermen.

“The YFDA is a true example of policy responding to and supporting community needs,” said Michelle Stratton, Executive Director of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council. “Workforce development programs like the Young Fishermen’s Development Grant are more than symbolic investments. They are lifelines to sustaining working waterfronts, nurturing the next generation of stewards, and maintaining resilient local economies. In the first five years of the program, we’ve seen how targeted training, mentorship, and technical assistance help bridge the gap for early-career harvesters struggling with volatile markets and ever-increasing barriers to success. By reauthorizing this program, Congress sends a clear signal that the United States values its fishing heritage and is committed to securing seafood supply chains, thriving coastal communities, and opportunities for young, dedicated fishermen. We thank Senators Sullivan and Murkowski and the bill’s cosponsors for their leadership and urge swift advancement of this legislation.”

Five years ago Congress passed and President Trump signed the original YFDA and launched the program. The success of the YFDA hinges upon a strong alliance between elected officials, our National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) partners, and organizations like commercial fishing associations and universities to fund, develop, and advance these innovative workforce development and retention efforts. We are deeply grateful that Senator Sullivan and the bill’s co-sponsors, Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) are committed to reauthorizing the YFDA.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Rare North Atlantic right whale grows population to 384

October 21, 2025 — One of the rarest whales on the planet has continued an encouraging trend of population growth in the wake of new efforts to protect the giant animals, according to scientists who study them.

The North Atlantic right whale now numbers an estimated 384 animals, up eight whales from the previous year, according to a report by the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium released Tuesday. The whales have shown a trend of slow population growth over the past four years and have gained more than 7% of their 2020 population, the consortium said.

It’s a welcome development in the wake of a troubling decline in the previous decade. The population of the whales, which are vulnerable to collisions with ships and entanglement in fishing gear, fell about 25% from 2010 to 2020.

The whale’s trend toward recovery is a testament to the importance of conservation measures, said Philip Hamilton, a senior scientist with the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life. The center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration collaborate to calculate the population estimate.

New management measures in Canada that attempt to keep the whales safe amid their increased presence in the Gulf of St. Lawrence have been especially important, Hamilton said.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

Lawmakers to question NOAA, energy nominees

October 21 2025 — Senate committees will question nominees to NOAA and the Tennessee Valley Authority this week as the administration looks to reform operations there.

As assistant secretary of Commerce for oceans and atmosphere, Timothy Petty would oversee NOAA Fisheries, whose role in regulating commercial and recreational fisheries has become a major policy focus for the administration.

In April, President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for the Commerce Department to restore America’s seafood competitiveness, including by rolling back environmental restrictions on commercial fishing fleets and stepping up enforcement of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing that has harmed the U.S. seafood industry.

Read the full article at E&E News

MASSACHUSETTS: Mayor of New Bedford urges NOAA to approve proposal allowing scallop permit stacking

October 20, 2025 — The mayor of the city of New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A., is calling on NOAA Fisheries to allow full-time scallop vessels to stack two permits on one vessel.

Mayor Jon Mitchell, in a letter sent to NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Eugenio Piñeiro Soler, called on the agency to allow for permit stacking in order to help protect the industry. Mitchell’s letter said he has reconsidered his position on the matter, as the scallop fishery continues to face limited days at sea.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Gay Head Lighthouse joins right whale protection network

October 20, 2025 —  The Gay Head Lighthouse in Aquinnah has joined a marine safety network meant to reduce the number of vessel strikes for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.

StationKeeper tracks vessel activity and sends messages directly from shore to vessels. Equipment installed at participating lighthouses makes it possible to warn mariners to slow down when they’re traveling through right whale habitat.

Race Point Lighthouse in Provincetown is a StationKeeper site, and more recently, the Gay Head Lighthouse in Aquinnah has joined the network, Gay Head Lighthouse principal keeper Chris Manning said.

“[StationKeeper] communicates and integrates with NOAA [the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] to receive whale location data, and in turn it sends that information and the speed restriction zones to ships passing nearby,” he said. “As far as our role at the lighthouse, we host the system, but the system really operates and runs all on its own.”

Read the full article at CAI

New Bedford Mayor Urges NOAA to Advance Targeted Scallop Permit-Stacking to Keep Fleet Working

October 17, 2025 — Mayor Jon Mitchell today wrote to Eugenio Piñeiro Soler, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries, setting forth his position on a proposed rule that would allow full-time, limited-access scallop permit holders to “stack” two permits on a single vessel. New Bedford has been the nation’s highest-value fishing port for 23 consecutive years, since 2001. As the Mayor writes, “the Atlantic sea scallop fishery is one of America’s highest grossing commercial fisheries and is concentrated in New Bedford,” giving the city “a singular interest in policies that govern the allocation of scallop permits.”

Background and changing circumstances

Three years ago, the mayor opposed a proposal that would have authorized leasing of limited-access scallop permits. In his view then, it went further than necessary to address over-capitalization and risked inexorable industry consolidation, costing shoreside jobs and diminishing returns to single-boat owners and their crews, while failing to sufficiently engage the small businesses most exposed. He now notes that changing circumstances have prompted him to revisit his position, given the continued tightening of effort controls and their knock-on effects throughout the fleet and waterfront.

Why the industry needs relief

“The continued decline in available days-at-sea and closed area trips for limited-access permit holders has forced a broad reckoning in the industry that the traditional assignment of one permit per boat is antiquated. It has resulted in scallopers remaining in port for nearly eleven months a year on average – hardly an efficient use of a multi-million-dollar business asset,” the mayor writes. Building on that point, the mayor cites the practical consequences in port: prolonged vessel idling has increased congestion on municipal piers, reducing safety for fishermen; and by cutting average-boat revenues, it has constrained reinvestment in vessels, raising additional safety concerns.

What’s different now

“The new proposal is being advanced by a different group of proponents, who went back to the proverbial drawing board to fashion a more measured approach. In its broadest terms, the proposal would not allow the leasing of permits, but it instead would allow the transfer of permits between two vessels of similar size and common ownership. In practice, this would enable one boat to fish for approximately twice as long in any given year,” the mayor wrote.

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

Shutdown cancels NOAA meeting with regional fishery councils

October 15, 2025 — A planned meeting between NOAA Fisheries’ senior political leaders and representatives of the eight regional fishery advisory councils has been canceled due to the government shutdown.

The Council Coordination Committee, which includes the chairs, vice chairs, and executive directors from each regional fishery management council, was scheduled to meet Wednesday and Thursday to share information and talk about the nation’s fisheries priorities, including compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive order to boost American seafood competitiveness.

The notice for the meeting on the committee’s website noted the cancellation and that it was due to the shutdown.

Read the full article at E&E News

Seafood coalition requests Court of International Trade to step in on NOAA’s MMPA findings

October 15, 2025 — The group of seafood companies and industry groups that sued NOAA over its determinations on Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) requirements has also filed over the same issue with the Court of International Trade.

The group – which includes the National Fisheries Institute (NFI), several seafood companies, and the Restaurant Law Center – is asking the court for a preliminary injunction halting any import prohibitions resulting from NOAA’s MMPA decisions. NOAA found 240 foreign fisheries do not have equivalent regulations to U.S. fisheries regarding marine mammal protections, necessitating a ban on all seafood imports.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource