Saving Seafood

VIRGINIA: Bay scallops surge on the Eastern Shore

October 9, 2025 — The following story originally appeared on the website for W&M’s Batten School & VIMS. – Ed.

Virginia’s bay scallop population is experiencing an unprecedented resurgence, thanks to years of dedicated restoration work led by William & Mary’s Batten School & VIMS Eastern Shore Laboratory (ESL) in Wachapreague. Once locally extinct due to habitat loss, bay scallops are now multiplying in the restored eelgrass meadows of the southern coastal bays along the Eastern Shore. Now, a recreational fishery could be on the horizon.

VIMS ESL’s 2025 Bay Scallop Survey documented an average density of 0.114 scallops per square meter, with researchers routinely finding multiple scallops within a single square meter — something unimaginable just a few years ago. With the recent trend of progressive growth, researchers estimate the population will double in less than 1.5 years.

“The restoration of bay scallops to their former range along the Virginian Eastern Shore represents a significant societal and ecological achievement,” said VIMS ESL Director Richard Snyder.

Read the full article at W&M’s Batten School & VIMS

VIRGINIA: Ocean Harvesters fight to keep fishing

September 29, 2025 — Virginia holds the distinction of being the largest East Coast state for seafood catch volume and the third-largest producer of marine products in the nation, surpassed only by Alaska and Louisiana.

This is largely tied to Reedville, Va. having historically been the fifth largest “volume of catch” commercial fishing port in the United States, and home to Omega Protein, Inc. and its fishing partner Ocean Harvesters.

The recent news that Ocean Harvesters is adding a $9 million menhaden vessel, the 165-foot F/V Tangier Sound, to its fishing fleet is sending a message that Ocean Harvesters, Omega Protein Inc. and Canadian parent company Cooke Inc. plan on fishing in the bay region well into the future.

The company has been dodging a barrage of opposition up and down the East Coast, ranging from Maryland 5th graders writing letters to the firm to “stop killing ospreys,” to opponents throwing blocks into nets.  Tactics have included a jet skier interrupting net sets, protest boats attempting to block the fishermen, and environmental groups alleging that overfishing of menhaden is depleting osprey and striped bass populations.

A lawsuit in federal court for the Southern District of New York alleging that Cooke Inc. had been illegally fishing in U.S. waters because the boats are owned by a Canadian firm was dismissed in January 2025, allowing Ocean Harvesters to continue to fish.

The jet ski incident occurred in September 2023 and brought national attention to the debate, prompting Virginia legislators to pass a “right to fish” law to protect menhaden crews and commercial fishing watermen from harassment.

During a Sept. 15 tour of Omega Protein’s fish meal and oil plants and the new vessel, including a 45-minute ride on Tangier Sound and a three-hour classroom style seminar, Ocean Harvesters defended why reduction menhaden fishing should continue on Chesapeake Bay.

Ocean Harvesters’ CEO Monty Diehl addressed each issue with detailed graphic presentations aimed at countering growing opposition from environmental groups such as the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, as well as a swelling waterfront population whose changing demographics have no ties to the bay’s seafood or maritime culture.

Virginia has a small purse net bait recreational fishery that catches menhaden as well as the larger “reduction” fishery, so named because of how its catch is processed for omega fish oils, meal and related products. It is the only large menhaden reduction fishery remaining on the East Coast. The reduction fishery was founded in 1867 by Elijah Reed who brought the modern day pogy (menhaden) fishery to Virginia from Brooklin, Maine. Reedville is named after Elijah Reed and a monument in the town square memorializes that history.

Read the full article at National Fisherman 

First US offshore wind ship arrives for work amid Trump attacks

September 22, 2025 — The first American-made offshore wind installation vessel is ready to work, just as the Trump administration is making moves to shut the industry down.

The Charybdis, a turbine installation ship named for the sea monster from Greek mythology, arrived at Portsmouth Marine Terminal in Virginia last week. The $715 million vessel is set to begin erecting turbines next month at the country’s largest marine wind farm, named the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.

The Charybdis’ arrival marks a significant logistical and symbolic milestone for the U.S. offshore wind sector at a moment when the industry is under siege from President Donald Trump.

Read the full article at E&E News

VIRGINIA: Ocean Harvesters welcome new menhaden seiner

September 18, 2025 — Omega Shipyard Inc. of Moss Point, Miss., recently delivered a new, state-of-the-art menhaden seiner, F/V Tangier Sound, to Ocean Harvesters in Reedville, Va.

The 165’x40’x12’ steel hull vessel will be fished in Chesapeake Bay and in the Mid-Atlantic region. The vessel’s hull was originally used as an offshore oil supply vessel (OSV) and was about to be scrapped when it was purchased by Ocean Harvesters for $250,000. Omega Shipyard Inc. has done a $9 million conversion on the vessel.

Ocean Harvesters CEO Monty Diehl said OSV hulls make good menhaden steamer platforms. For many decades the industry used scrapped steel hull World War II freighter vessels for “fish steamer” conversions. The use of the term goes back to the days when large purse seine fishing boats were powered by steam engines.

Even though steam engines have long ago been replaced with diesel engines, the 150-foot plus diesel powered vessels on Chesapeake Bay are today still referred to as fish steamers. Before steam engines, sail powered schooners, bugeyes and pungies were used in the bay’s menhaden purse seine fishery that goes back to the late 1860s.

Omega Shipyard Inc.’s previous OSV hull conversions that have come to the Chesapeake have all been powered by rebuilt and reused Caterpillar or Detroit Diesel engines pulled out of old fishing boats. Tangier Sound has two new Cummins KTA38 model, 12 cylinder, 38-liter diesel engines, rated at 1350 h.p. that will push the vessel 13 knots, burning 55 gals. of fuel an hour.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Menhaden Fisheries: Federal Policy, Sustainability, and Coastal Economies

September 15, 2025 — America’s menhaden fishery is one of the great success stories of U.S. seafood production – a renewable, sustainably managed resource that supports thousands of jobs, fuels rural economies, and delivers essential products to global markets.

This longstanding industry, rooted for generations along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, often finds itself at the center of debate – praised as a model of science-based management by some, while questioned by others concerned about its ecological footprint and role in coastal economies.

What happens in these policy debates carries real weight for the communities, small businesses, and working families whose livelihoods are tied directly to menhaden.

From Reedville, Virginia, to Moss Point, Mississippi, and from Cape May, New Jersey, to Empire and Abbeville, Louisiana, the fishery forms the backbone of local economies. The industry supports not only fishing crews but also dock workers, plant employees, welders, mechanics, truck drivers, shipbuilders, and countless vendors.

Read the full article at NOLA.com

VIRGINIA: The Lone G.O.P. Governor Opposing Trump’s War on Offshore Wind

September 10, 2025 — President Trump has sought to halt the construction of five giant wind farms off the coasts of Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island — all states run by Democrats.

But there is one East Coast wind farm that has so far escaped the administration’s ire: a $10.8 billion project under construction off the shores of Virginia, where Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, has been its champion.

Mr. Youngkin has quietly pushed back against Mr. Trump’s war on wind energy. A supporter of the president, the governor has privately urged the Trump administration not to target the project known as Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, according to four people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.

Mr. Youngkin called Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, last month to voice support for the project, according to two of the people briefed on the matter. His office also called the White House in January to express concern about Mr. Trump’s executive order that paused permits for new wind farms on federal lands and waters, two of the individuals said.

Read the full article at The New York Times

More Rockfish Catch Reductions? Public Hearings to be Held in MD, VA

September 9, 2025 — East Coast fishery managers are seeking public feedback this month on options for cutting the catch of Atlantic striped bass to help rebuild its depleted population. There are in-person and virtual hearings planned for Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. as well.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which represents state fishery managers from along the coast as well as federal agencies, voted in August to proceed with a plan to impose a 12% reduction in 2026 on both the recreational and commercial catch of the prized species.

If finalized later this year, the plan would trim the commercial harvest quota by that amount. To curb recreational catch, it would require East Coast states to shorten their striped bass fishing season or adjust the size limits for legally catchable fish.

Read the full article at the Bay Journal

VIRGINIA: VA Wetlands and Living Shorelines Worth $90 Million in Economic Value

September 9, 2025 — A push in Virginia to invest in shorelines and marshes may be paying off. Natural wetlands and man-made living shorelines around Virginia’s Middle Peninsula generate just under $90 million of economic value each year, according to a new study led by William & Mary’s Batten School & VIMS.

The Middle Peninsula (Gloucester, Mathews, & Middlesex counties) has been a Habitat Focus Area of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Chesapeake Bay Office (NCBO) since 2022. That Office funded the study, which combines ecological data, spatial modeling, economic valuation, and surveys to assess the current and predicted benefits of marsh ecosystems. Researchers used numbers from the study to develop a new online tool for coastal communities to estimate the economic benefits of marsh and living shoreline projects. It’s known as SHORE-BET (Shoreline Benefit Estimation Tool).

“This study looks at wetlands from a number of perspectives and puts research-informed values on the benefits they provide,” said Donna Bilkovic, professor and assistant director of the Center for Coastal Resources Management at the Batten School & VIMS. “These data serve as the foundation for SHORE-BET, allowing local planners and individual landowners to better understand the potential environmental and economic benefits associated with living shoreline projects and marsh protection and restoration.”

Read the full article at the Chesapeake Bay Magazine

VIRGINIA: Two Hampton Roads wind energy grants were canceled. But $20M was already spent.

September 8, 2025 — A Norfolk maritime facility tied to the region’s nascent offshore wind industry plans to shift part of its operational plans after President Donald Trump’s administration killed a $39 million grant.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced last week his agency was withdrawing from or terminating $679 million in funding for 12 projects related to offshore wind energy.

The canceled funding includes a $39 million grant for Fairwinds Landing, a more-than $500 million maritime facility in Norfolk’s Lamberts Point connected to shipbuilding, ship repair and offshore wind.

Fairwinds Landing leaders are now asking the Department of Transportation’s U.S. Maritime Administration, or MARAD, to reconsider the cuts , said Mike Hopkins, the project’s managing director.

VIRGINIA: Trump admin cancels $39M meant for Norfolk’s Fairwinds Landing because of wind energy association

September 4, 2025 — Norfolk’s Economic Development Authority will ask the Trump administration to reconsider its decision to cancel a grant meant to improve Fairwinds Landing.

The body made the decision during their monthly meeting Wednesday, five days after the U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the $39 million in Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) funding would be withdrawn, due to the sites association with the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project.

The funding, first awarded to the authority in 2023 under the Biden administration, was to “assist in transforming the marine terminal at Fairwinds Landing into offshore wind logistics facility,”

Read the full article at WAVY