January 8, 2026 — More than USD 105 million (EUR 89.9 million) of NOAA’s fiscal year 2026 budget is earmarked for roughly 100 projects hand-selected by U.S. lawmakers, with much of the spending dedicated to supporting fisheries and aquaculture.
Leaders of the U.S. House and Senate appropriations committees released a bipartisan spending bill for the U.S. Department of Commerce – which houses NOAA Fisheries – and several other departments on 5 January. Lawmakers are hoping to get the regular appropriations process back in order after missing their deadline last September, plunging the federal government into a partial shutdown for several weeks. The government was reopened under a short-term spending bill in November, and Congressional leaders have stated their intent to pass regular appropriations bills to cover the remainder of the fiscal year before it expires 30 January.