October 4, 2024 — NOAA investigators have for the first time confirmed a link between the death of a critically endangered North Atlantic right whale and the Maine lobster industry.
The whale, right whale #5120, was found dead off the coast of Massachusetts in January 2024, and a necropsy in February found it was entangled in gear with markings that NOAA said were consistent with rope used in Maine state water trap/pot buoy lines used for lobster fishing.
October 4, 2024 — A U.S. appeals court has ruled that regional fishery management councils can no longer exercise pocket vetoes, meaning that they cannot selectively enforce decisions made by NOAA Fisheries or the office of U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.
The ruling is a partial victory for commercial fishers Raymond Lofstad and Gus Lovgren, who sued the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council for how it divvied up catch allocations of summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass between commercial and recreational fishermen in 2022.
October 3, 2024 — Artificial Intelligence and machine learning help researchers take a giant step toward more accurate stock assessments.
Since the early 2000s, New England and Mid-Atlantic scallop fisheries have been managed sustainably through temporary area closures and periodic harvests by vessels limited to seven-person crews. This sound management depends on accurate numbers, and the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) relies on data drawn from different sources for its Atlantic sea scallop stock assessments. “We get data from Coonamessett Farm Foundation (CFF), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation, and others says Teri Frady, communications chief at NOAA Fisheries. But Frady is particularly interested in new AI-augmented data coming from the work of Dvora Hart at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center—NEFSC—in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. “I’m always interested in what Dvora is doing,” says Frady.
October 3, 2024 — Heavy equipment removed the final obstacle separating the Klamath River from the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday. The reconnected river was turbid but remained safe for fish after crews took steps to avoid erosion and impacts to water quality.
“These final dam removal steps set the stage for salmon to return to reclaimed habitat and expand their population recovery,” said Jim Simondet, NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region Klamath Branch Supervisor.
NOAA Fisheries analyzed the impacts of dam removal on Endangered Species Act-listed species in a biological opinion. That analysis found that the short-term impacts, such as the potential effects of sediment in the water on salmon, would be outweighed by the much greater long-term benefits as river ecosystem processes return at a landscape scale. The project will reopen more than 400 miles of habitat to salmon, steelhead, and lamprey.
October 3, 2024 — Federal investigators said Maine fishing gear is to blame for the death of an endangered right whale.
Maine lobstermen said they’re sad to hear about the whale’s death, but they also fear new regulations will endanger their livelihoods. The female right whale was found dead near Martha’s Vineyard in January.
This death and investigation come as new lobster fishing regulations are up for debate.
One lobsterman said fishing without using a rope isn’t that simple and it would cost significantly more.
“It’s been an ongoing battle for a number of years. We have taken and modified our gear over the years to reduce the amount of rope that we use in the water, so the industry has done a lot that it’s been asked of,” John Drouin, a lobsterman, said.
October 1, 2024 — On Thursday, August 29, 2024, NOAA Fisheries hosted a webinar looking at the future of ropeless, or pop-up, gear for the New England lobster fishery. NOAA’s Jennifer S. Goebel pointed out that the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team had recommended that large swaths of the Gulf of Maine and waters south of Cape Cod be subject to emergency closures and open to fishing with ropeless gear only.
Goebel noted, however, that the lobster and Jonah crab fisheries are currently in compliance with the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act; “the recommendations from the team were put on hold.” Goebel cited other legislation that calls for innovation in the adoption of gear technology as justification for efforts aimed at developing ropeless gear. “That seems to support the development of ropeless gear,” Goebel said, before outlining a 4-year plan to develop the technology and have final rules in place.
October 1, 2024 — NOAA Fisheries released its National Seafood Strategy Implementation Plan (PDF, 14 pages). Our National Seafood Strategy, released in 2023, outlines our direction for supporting the U.S. seafood economy and enhancing the resilience of the seafood sector, including wild-capture and aquaculture, in the face of many challenges. This plan outlines actions we are currently implementing as well as those we can take to support the strategy.
“The Implementation Plan is where the rubber meets the road,” said NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Janet Coit. “It outlines the specific actions to achieve the goals we laid out in the strategy to support our nation’s seafood sector and the benefits it provides.”
The plan focuses on NOAA Fisheries’ industry services, such as the Seafood Inspection Program, Fishery Finance Program and Saltonstall-Kennedy grant program. It also underscores our socio-economic activities—such as seafood market and supply chain analyses—and communications efforts around the sustainability of U.S. seafood. The plan identifies ongoing, new, and aspirational activities, with a focus on those currently within our capacity. Critical to achieving the goals is coordinating with other federal agencies, as well as states, tribes, harvesters and seafood farmers, nongovernmental organizations, and other groups.
September 30, 2024 — In 2024, the NOAA Alaska Regional Office and the Alaska Fisheries Science Center continued supporting Alaska’s aquaculture industry.
Aquaculture, the process of growing organisms in the ocean, is a relatively young commercial industry that is poised for rapid growth in Alaska. Alaska’s aquaculture industry consists of seaweed and invertebrate farming, with oysters, mussels, sugar, ribbon, and bull kelp being the primary species grown in the state. The NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region Aquaculture Program engaged in projects to support the sustainable development of Alaska’s aquaculture industry. They are outlined in NOAA’s 2024 Aquaculture Accomplishments Report.
September 30, 2024 – NOAA Fisheries has announced it will be providing USD 277 million (EUR 248 million) in financial relief in response to several fishery disasters.
“I’m glad to see this significant batch of federal relief dollars finally being distributed to our hardworking fishermen and coastal communities,” U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said. “These Alaskans should never have had to wait this long to see this relief processed – a frustration I raised with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and NOAA Fisheries Director Janet Coit on numerous occasions in recent months.”
September 28, 2024 — NOAA scientists have upgraded a crucial tool for Chinook salmon conservation. This genetic reference tool allows researchers to pinpoint the river system individual fish come from, enabling more precise management and protection of threatened and endangered populations.
“It’s like giving every fish a unique genetic fingerprint,” says Donald Van Doornik, a NOAA Fisheries fish biologist and lead author of a new paper describing the work in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management. “We can use this fingerprint to figure out where that fish came from by comparing it to other fish’s DNA.”