Saving Seafood

NOAA proposes allowing offshore fish farms in Gulf, Pacific

September 23, 2025 — The Trump administration plans to offer up to 21,000 acres of federal waters off Southern California and Texas for large-scale commercial aquaculture, according to a NOAA proposal for 13 “aquaculture opportunity areas” in the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.

The initiative — which could provide a boon to U.S. seafood production while carrying risks for traditional fishing economies and ocean environments — shifts into high gear a Trump administration policy priority embodied in two executive orders, one signed by President Donald Trump during his first term and another this spring.

The Biden administration continued the work of studying possible aquaculture projects, including releasing two draft environmental impact statements. The NOAA documents released Friday are the final environmental reviews.

Read the full article at E&E News

Western Pacific Council Pushes for Tougher Standards on Seafood Imports

September 23, 2025 — Western Pacific fishery managers are pressing federal regulators to crack down on seafood imports that don’t meet US standards for protecting marine mammals. 

At its meeting last week, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council urged NOAA to strengthen newly finalized Marine Mammal Protection Act Import Provisions, which were published earlier this month in the Federal Register. The Council called for stricter benchmarks when reviewing foreign fisheries and requested a transparent process that allows for public and stakeholder input. 

The import rules, first authorized in 1972 but only now being fully enforced, are meant to block seafood products from countries that fail to meet US requirements for reducing marine mammal bycatch, according to the Council. For the first time, NOAA has issued Comparability Findings that will ban imports from certain nations and fisheries starting Jan. 1, 2026 — affecting roughly 15% of U.S. seafood imports. 

Read the full article at SeafoodNews.com

NOAA advisory council endorses Pacific monument fishing

September 22, 2025 — President Donald Trump’s push to roll back commercial fishing restrictions in marine national monuments advanced this week when a NOAA advisory council recommended permitting fishing in four Pacific ocean monuments.

The decision by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council to move toward scraping the prohibitions on commercial fishing would align policy with Trump’s April 17 executive order requiring the Commerce and Interior departments to “review all existing marine monuments and provide recommendations to the President of any that should be opened to commercial fishing.”

The council directed its staff to “prepare an analysis of management options to implement” the executive order to be presented at the council’s next meeting in December.

Read the full article at E&E News

Conservation groups plan lawsuit over hatcheries

September 18, 2025 — Two Seattle area conservation groups say they intend to sue the federal government for failure to protect salmon, steelhead and orcas from hatchery programs.

The announcement from Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC) and The Conservation Angler (TCA) contends that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is funding and authorizing hatcheries in the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam under the Mitchell Act, relying on a flawed 2024 Biological Opinion that contains scientifically indefensible conclusions and violates the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The Mitchell Act, passed by Congress in 1938, is intended to advance the conservation of salmon and steelhead fisheries in the Columbia River Basin. Mitchell Act funding has supported the establishment, operation and maintenance of hatchery facilities in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, as well as monitoring and evaluation of hatchery programs, screening irrigation intakes, and improving fish passage.  NOAA Fisheries has administered the Mitchell Act since 1970, distributing funds to tribes and Oregon, Washington and Idaho to produce hatchery salmon and steelhead to support fisheries.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NOAA Fisheries claims success at eastern Pacific tuna conference

September 11, 2025 — The 2025 Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission meeting closed Sept. 5 without changes to Pacific bluefin and bigeye tuna management sought by environmental groups. The returned U.S. delegation took credit for “prioritized American interests by enhancing conservation efforts, strengthening monitoring programs, and expanding opportunities for American fishermen.”

Meeting in Panama City, Panama, the 21-nation tuna commission dealt with tropical tuna management, the recovery of derelict fish aggregating devices (FADs) and regulatory simplification, according to a summary this week from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries division.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

NOAA gathering input on restoring U.S. seafood competitiveness

September 4, 2025 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) is gathering input from the public on the White House executive order entitled “Restoring America’s Seafood Competitiveness.”

The association is inviting feedback from fishing industry members, technology experts, marine scientists, other relevant parties, and members of the public on priority needs such as fishery-related barriers, fisheries management, and science, NOAA said in a public statement.

The executive order, which was published in April 2025, said, “Seafood is one of the most heavily regulated sectors in the United States. Federal overregulation has restricted fishermen from productively harvesting [U.S.] seafood, including through restrictive catch limits, selling our fishing grounds to foreign offshore wind companies, inaccurate and outdated fisheries data, and delayed adoption of modern technology.”

Read the full article at Aquaculture North America

Right whale plane surveys in Gulf of Maine suspended with $200K budget cut

September 4, 2025 — Fall airplane surveys tracking North Atlantic right whales north of Cape Cod in the Gulf of Maine, run by the Provincetown-based Center for Coastal Studies, are off the table after federal funding was cut.

While the fall flights are grounded, the center’s leadership stressed that the winter and spring surveys over Cape Cod Bay remain unaffected and on schedule.

The center expanded its whale research program beyond the bay last year. The newer program was supported with funds from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency that oversees ocean and wildlife programs.

North Atlantic right whales are among the world’s most endangered large whales species, and Cape Cod Bay is a key seasonal habitat, where a significant portion of the population gathers, especially in the spring.

Read the full article at Cape Cod Times

Northeast fisheries center surveys wind energy areas

August 25, 2025 — Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration used its 25-foot DriX autonomous research vehicle for a 20-day spring mission in southern New England waters, collecting data on fish and plankton within five offshore wind energy areas.

Those wind power projects, like Ørsted’s Revolution Wind 65 turbines south of Rhode Island, are now under severe pressure from the Trump administration’s opposition to all forms of wind and solar generation.

But the amid the turmoil, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researchers are still learning how the new generation of autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles can fill in the margins of ecosystem and fisheries surveys, in areas where it’s more difficult to operate NOAA’s big science ships.

The April 16-May 5 expedition by ocean researchers with the Northeast Fisheries Science Center was the second DriX survey out of Narragansett Bay, R.I., with the probe operating nearly around the clock for nearly three weeks.

“Uncrewed systems have the ability to support various stock and ecosystem assessments through data acquisition, particularly in areas that have traditionally been or are increasingly becoming challenging to sample,” Conor McManus, the Advanced Technology Program lead for the science center, said in a statement. “We are learning more about how marine ecosystems are changing while improving the technology and operations to be able to use it more expansively in the future.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NOAA Fisheries embracing eDNA tool for rockfish management

August 26, 2025 — NOAA Fisheries has developed an improved environmental DNA (eDNA) tool that will enable scientists to better understand rockfish species and could inform management of the U.S. commercial fishery.

Environmental DNA tools test for genetic material in collected water samples, allowing scientists to detect the presence of various animals. NOAA Fisheries has worked to adopt eDNA tools to help improve its species management, especially with fish that are difficult or cost prohibitive to track otherwise. Rockfish, for instance, live in rocky areas that are not conducive to trawling and are not distributed evenly. By using eDNA, scientists can get a better picture of where rockfish are present in a body of water.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: New rule could clear path to harm Cook Inlet’s endangered whales

August 19, 2025 — A new rule proposed to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) would allow companies working on the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in the Cook Inlet to “take” marine mammals.

The rule was proposed on July 29 by 8 Star Alaska, LLC, a subsidiary of Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC).

The proposed rule falls under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMAP) and would allow the company, over the next 5 years, to harass, hunt, capture or kill mammals by carving out acceptable ways of taking.

Currently, the taking of mammals is prohibited, unless a rule is proposed and directed in a specified area while engaged in a specific activity.

Read the full article at Alaska News Source