August 12, 2026 — The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is ending support for NOAA’s annual report on the state of the Arctic.
NOAA Spokesperson Kim Doster told CNN that the 2026 Arctic Report Card will not be facilitated through the agency. However, Doster added that the data that historically contributed to the product “will continue to be collected and will remain publicly available.”
May 18, 2026 — Ocean Conservancy and Earthjustice have filed an amicus brief in federal court opposing a recent decision to allow expanded recreational harvest of South Atlantic red snapper, raising concerns that the move could lead to overfishing and conflict with federal law.
The brief was filed in Southeastern Fisheries Association v. Lutnick in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. At issue are exempted fishing permits approved May 1 for Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The permits significantly extend recreational red snapper seasons in the South Atlantic, a change that conservation groups argue could exceed established harvest limits.
According to Ocean Conservancy, the current annual catch limit for the recreational sector is 22,797 fish. The group cited recent landings data showing that a two-day season in Florida alone resulted in 24,885 fish landed—already surpassing that limit. Using that rate, and projecting across a longer season, Ocean Conservancy estimates total landings could reach as high as 485,000 fish over a 39-day period.
May 7, 2026 — The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed a 41 percent budget cut to NOAA Fisheries, which includes the removal of effectively all protected species and habitat conservation functions.
“Funding cuts for NOAA could not come at a worse time when you consider just how vulnerable American fisheries and fishermen are right now,” Jeff Watters, vice president of external affairs at NGO Ocean Conservancy, said in a release. “We are essentially putting blindfolds on and hoping for the best.”
March 20, 2026 — The bosses of the Environmental Defense Fund, World Wildlife Fund and National Audubon Society are the top-earning executives among major environmental and conservation groups, according to the most recent tax filings.
Carter Roberts and Fred Krupp, the leaders of WWF and EDF, respectively, both earned more than $1 million in total compensation, according to the latest publicly available tax records, ranking them among the best-paid leaders in the environmental movement.
Nonprofits are required to release their tax documents publicly, although their disclosure often lags by several years. The nonprofits’ most recent publicly available documents detail senior employees’ pay for calendar or tax years in 2023 or 2024.
Audubon CEO Elizabeth Gray and The Nature Conservancy’s CEO Jennifer Morris weren’t far behind, each earning compensation topping $900,000 in the most recent filings.
Other top earners in the latest records include former Greenpeace leader Ebony Twilley Martin — who left her position with a settlement payment — and Jamie Rappaport Clark, who received a bonus the year she left her job as head of Defenders of Wildlife.
POLITICO’s E&E News analyzed 27 environmental and conservation groups’ most recent tax filings, many of which were compiled by ProPublica. Here’s how much their bosses made in base pay and total compensation, which can include bonuses, retirement pay and other benefits:
1. Fred Krupp, president, Environmental Defense Fund
EDF’s leader since 1984, Krupp’s total compensation in the 2023 filing was $1,302,005, the tax records show.
2. Carter Roberts, president and CEO, World Wildlife Fund
Roberts has led the international conservation group since 2005. His reported compensation in 2023 was $1,290,569.
3. Elizabeth Gray, CEO, National Audubon Society
Gray has been the group’s permanent CEO since 2021. Her total compensation in 2023 was $951,881. That included a bonus of $256,250 “for her exceptional performance during her tenure at Audubon,” according to the filing.
February 5, 2026 — A trio of U.S. senators have introduced legislation that would require NOAA Fisheries to consider the impact of climate change on fish distribution in setting commercial fishing quotas.
“This legislation addresses outdated fishing requirements and ensures that climate change conditions like rising water temperatures that shift fish stocks are prioritized in fishery management plans. Our changing climate has seriously altered our oceans, forcing fishermen to travel far distances to earn a living or throw back valuable fish,” U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) said in a release.
August 11, 2021 — A new report has foundthe best way to reduce the impact of lost fishing gear is to enforce existing rules.
The report, “Ghost Gear Legislation Analysis,” was jointly written bythe World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Ocean Outcomes, and Ocean Conservancy’s Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI). It assesses existing government legislation and policies addressing ghost gear and provides recommendations to governments to strengthen existing efforts and other actions to address lost, abandoned, or discarded fishing gear.
July 26, 2021 — U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California) announced on Monday 26 July, 2021, that he introduced a reauthorization bill for the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the federal law that oversees fishery management in the United States.
In a statement, Huffman said it’s time for a new reauthorization of the landmark legislation because of changes within the industry and the challenges it faces.
April 8, 2020 — A decade after the nation’s worst offshore oil spill, dolphins, turtles and other wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico are still seriously at risk, according to a report released Tuesday.
The April 20, 2010, explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig killed 11 workers and spewed what the nonprofit environmental organization Ocean Conservancy estimated to be 210 million gallons (795 million liters) of oil before it was capped 87 days later.
What followed, Muth said, was the largest restoration attempt ever in the world, with billions invested or committed to projects to help restore the Gulf and its ecosystem, and another $12 billion to be spent through the year 2032.
March 26, 2020 — In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, many people are dreaming of Florida as a retreat from long days of self-isolation. Hundreds of miles of beautiful beaches, azure skies, shimmering oceans, teeming wilderness including barrier reefs and the Everglades, and strands of picturesque keys and islets. But this paradise is staring down a menace of its own — a rising sea level — and it’s time for a paradigm shift to help us save the Sunshine State. How that battle plays out will have huge implications for other coastal regions across the rest of the United States.
Floridians are experiencing the undeniable impacts of sea level rise firsthand on a daily basis. For Florida’s environment, the signs of danger and damage are everywhere. Saltwater is inundating the Florida Bay, exacerbating an already hyper saline ecosystem and negatively impacting fish stocks and sea grass.
Mangroves, which are estuarine trees that thrive in salty habitats, are creeping northward into the Everglades and taking over critical freshwater habitat that serves as important rookeries for birds and as nurseries for freshwater fish and reptiles such as alligators. In South Florida, rising seas stand to upset the balance between the fresh water and salt water environments, possibly reshaping the bays, wetlands and waterways of the greater Everglades ecosystem.
December 16, 2019 — Federal agencies have approved nearly $226 million for 18 projects to restore open ocean and marine habitats that were decimated in the Gulf of Mexico by the 2010 BP oil spill.
The projects range from $52.6 million to study deep-sea habitats to $290,000 to find ways to keep sea turtles from swallowing or getting snagged on hooks or tangled in lines set out for miles along reefs.
They are described in a 490-page report released Tuesday.
The nonprofit Ocean Conservancy said it’s “the world’s first plan to restore the open ocean and deep-sea environment from a major oil disaster.”
“Ocean Conservancy welcomes this major conservation milestone for the Gulf of Mexico,” CEO Janis Searles Jones said in a news release.
The explosion April 20, 2010, on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig killed 11 workers. There are varying estimates on how much oil was released. According to Ocean Conservancy, the well spewed 210 million gallons (795 million liters) of oil before it was capped 87 days later.