Saving Seafood

NOAA awards over $26.4 M for marine debris removal

December 9, 2025 — Thirteen new projects have been funded for over $26.4 million under the NOAA Marine Debris Program, with a focus on abandoned and derelict vessels and fishing gear, and the use of proven debris interception technologies.

Recipients of the funding announced on Dec. 4 by the NOAA Marine Debris Program for fiscal year 2025 included nine for large-scale marine debris cleanup and four using debris technologies.

Pacific Coastal Research & Planning, a small non-profit in the Northern Mariana Islands, was allocated $4.9 million to remove 23 abandoned boats and an estimated 40,000 pounds of derelict fishing gear from the coastal environments of the U.S. Territory of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, and the Freely Associated States of the Republic of Palau and Federated States of Micronesia.

Washington’s Department of Natural Resources received $3.5 million for removal of four large, run-down, and abandoned boats from the coastal and marine waters of Washington State and tidally influenced areas of the Columbia River. These former military vessels were abandoned by their new owners and now pose serious risks to Washington’s waterways, according to NOAA.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Chinook Salmon denied consideration to be labeled endangered species

December 9, 2025 –For the second time in seven years the National Marine Fisheries Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have determined that Chinook Salmon do not meet the requirements to warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act.

A petition set forth by the Center for Biological Diversity claims that the spring-run Chinook Salmon is threatened, and endangered.

“It’s bad news for anyone who loves salmon, or depends on salmon including the orcas, including tribes, salmon fishers both recreational and commercial, and the public interest suffers,” said Jeff Miller, a Senior Conservation Advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity.

Read the full article at KVAL

MASSACHUSETTS: NOAA Fisheries implements slow zone after right whale detection in Cape Cod Bay

December 8, 2025 — NOAA Fisheries has announced two new slow zones for right whales, including Cape Cod Bay. The restrictions are in place through December 20th after the whales were discovered last Friday. The other slow zone is east of Ocean City, Maryland, using a buoy that was operated partly by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. […] The post NOAA Fisheries implements slow zone after right whale detection in Cape Cod Bay appeared first on CapeCod.com.

Read the full article at Cape Cod Daily News

Wild Fish Conservancy and The Conservation Angler sue over Columbia River hatcheries

December 3, 2025 — Two conservation groups are suing the federal government over Mitchell Act hatchery operations below the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, which they claim are contributing to the decline of wild salmon populations.

“If we want more wild fish returning to their home rivers, we need a broader, ongoing conversation about how hatchery production drives harvest in the ocean,” Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC) Executive Director Emma Helverson said in a release. “Flooding the ocean with hatchery salmon creates the illusion of abundance that increases harvest pressure on our most imperiled salmon populations – the fish we can least afford to lose. Meanwhile, under today’s ocean-harvest frameworks like the Pacific Salmon Treaty, more fish in the ocean simply results in more fish being harvested. We cannot recover these species without breaking this cycle.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NOAA Reopens Comment Period on Suggestions for Improving Fishery and Seafood Regulations

December 2, 2025 — The following was released by the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy:

What: On December 1, 2025, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published a notice in the Federal Register reopening a docket requesting comments on how to improve regulations for the fishery and seafood industries. NOAA also announced that a virtual public listening session will be held on December 8, 2025, from 4:00 – 5:00 PM ET.

Why: NOAA’s request, originally published on August 27, 2025, builds upon President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) 14276, “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” The EO directs the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to “immediately consider suspending, revising, or rescinding regulations that overly burden America’s commercial fishing, aquaculture, and fish processing industries at the fishery-specific level.”

NOAA is seeking comments on the following areas:

  • Regulations that govern fishing activities that may be suspended, revised, or rescinded.
  • Ways to improve fisheries management and science.
  • Less expensive and more reliable technologies and cooperative research which can be used to support fisheries assessments.
  • Ways to modernize data collection and analytical practices to improve the responsiveness of fisheries management to real-time ocean conditions.
  • Types of data, forecasting tools, or information products that are most needed by U.S. fishing businesses to adapt their operations effectively to changing economic and/or environmental conditions and maintain access to fishery resources.
  • Ways to expand exempted fishing permit programs to promote fishing opportunities nationwide.

The Office of Advocacy submitted a comment letter with more than 20 different recommendations to NOAA on October 14, 2025.

Action: Comments are now due December 15, 2025. Comments should be submitted via email to nmfs.seafoodstrategy@noaa.gov with “E.O. 14276 Notice Response” in the subject.

Keeping an eye on the ‘Blob’

December 1, 2025 — The marine heat wave in the Pacific Ocean, familiarly known as “the Blob,” caused major issues for Pacific fisheries and seabirds in 2014-2016, and some news agencies are reporting that the blob may be on its way north again. 

Few fishermen are alarmed, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Blobtracker, last updated on Sept. 2 indicates that the blob will behave much as it has the last few years.  

But a slew of news stories on the Blob hit the internet in October. According to salmon fisherman Nick Zuanich, posting on Facebook, the articles are based on August temperatures, and nothing to get alarmed about.

“The blob is what happens when the typical fall/spring southerly storms don’t show up. Southerly storms get the Pacific current running to the north, hitting the continental shelf, bringing cooler, nutrient-rich waters to the surface, thereby cooling the North Pacific. This has happened once again, thankfully,” says Zuanich. 

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

U.S. Moves To Start Offshore Fish Farming In Federal Waters

December 1, 2025 — The U.S. government has identified 13 locations in federal waters off California and Texas as potential sites to farm seafood and other aquaculture products.

The agency leading this effort is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration through its National Marine Fisheries Service. The latter manages over 4 million square miles of ocean in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and has jurisdiction over 163 endangered and threatened marine species.

Among the core functions of the National Fisheries is to oversee sustainable fisheries, while promoting healthy ecosystems and safe seafood.

“Americans eat roughly $15 billion in seafood farmed and imported from foreign countries, where labor and environmental standards often fall short of America’s rigorous standards. By expanding domestic aquaculture to complement wild-harvest fisheries, NOAA is driving an America-first approach that creates jobs, supports coastal communities and ensures high-quality, homegrown seafood for American families,” NOAA noted in a September statement.

Read the full article at Forbes

MASSACHUSETTS: It’s Time to Release Massachusetts Fishermen from Red Tape

November 26, 2025 — The following was released by the U.S. Small Business Administration:

Faced with burdensome red tape brought on by bad trade deals, foreign-owned wind farms, and unfair cost-sharing programs, the American fishing industry finds itself struggling to put food on the table for fishermen and for Americans across the country.

In October, Chief Counsel for Advocacy Casey B. Mulligan had the opportunity to visit with independent fishermen from New Bedford and Gloucester, Massachusetts. He raised their concerns with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is a part of the executive branch that has especially burdened the fishing industry with unnecessary restrictions and excessive compliance costs.

Chief Counsel Mulligan also testified before the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship last week to highlight needed reforms. Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts, ranking member on the committee, was unable to attend. Chief Counsel Mulligan regrets the missed opportunity to discuss the important regulatory reform needed to unburden small fishing businesses.

“In my confirmation hearing, I pledged to visit small businesses where they are,” said Mulligan. “Today, I am committing to do just that in New Bedford, MA, because the input of small fishing businesses is too urgent to put off for another day. We have extended an invitation to Senator Markey to join us, and I hope that together we can find adequate regulatory relief.”

NOAA proposing new rules on commercial fishing in the expanded areas of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument

November 25, 2025 — The 205th meeting of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council will convene by web conference on December 16-17, 2025.

Host sites for Webex include 1164 Bishop St., Ste. 1400, Honolulu, HI; Tedi of Samoa Bldg., Ste. 208B, Fagatogo Village, AS; BRI Bldg., Ste. 205, Kopa Di Oru St., Garapan, Saipan, CNMI; Cliff Pointe, 304 W. O’Brien Dr., Hagatfia, Guam.

The Webex link is https://tinyurl.com/205Counci1Mtg (if prompted, enter event number: 2864 005 8179; password: CM205mtg).

Specific information on joining the meeting, instructions for connecting to the Webex and providing oral public comments during the meeting will be posted on the Council website at: www.wpcouncil.org/event/205th-council-meeting-virtual-2.

The Council will consider and may take action on the issues summarized below, including any public comments on them. Written public comments on final action items should be received by the Council’s executive director by 5 p.m. (HST), Thursday, December 11, 2025, via postal mail, fax or email as indicated at end of the end of the article.

Read the full article at Samoa News

ALASKA: Federal actions spark new optimism for Alaska’s fishing industry

November 24, 2025 — Fisheries in Alaska are responsible for about 60% of the seafood in the United States, but they have faced significant challenges in recent years, including declining revenues, prices, and margins, according to speakers on “The Future of North Pacific Fisheries” panel at the 2025 Maritime Industry Economic Forecast Breakfast, held Friday during the Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle.

“My agency produced a snapshot report last year, looking at economic impacts across Alaska fisheries and confirming declining revenue and prices and increasing costs with declining margins,” said John Kurland, Regional Administrator for NOAA’s Alaska Regional Office. “Revenues dropped by about $1.8 billion in 2022 and ’23. It hasn’t gotten a whole lot better since.”

All is not doom and gloom, however. The panelists struck a more upbeat tone when speaking about the future. For many across the sector, President Trump’s Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness executive order — issued in April — has given reason for optimism.

NOAA is working with other parts of the federal government and non-government groups to meet the goals of the executive order: “Things like considering regulatory changes to simplify and streamline regulations where we can increase flexibility where possible, looking at advanced technologies to improve data collection, to try to introduce cost efficiencies and hopefully make it more timely to get data into the management process, and updating national seafood trade strategy to try to address global trade dynamics and level of playing field,” Kurland said.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman