Saving Seafood

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

VIRGINIA: Trump administration withdraws $39.27M for Norfolk offshore wind project

September 3, 2025 — The Trump administration last week withdrew $39.27 million in federal funding that had previously been awarded for an offshore wind logistics port in Norfolk and attempted to terminate $20 million for a project that had already been completed in Portsmouth.

The Norfolk Offshore Wind Logistics Port, part of the 111-acre Fairwinds Landing project at Lambert’s Point Docks, is the project losing nearly $40 million that was awarded in 2023 under the Biden administration.

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced on Aug. 29 that Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy withdrew or terminated a total of $679 million in funding for 12 offshore wind projects across the country. The department stated that the action is intended to “ensure federal dollars are prioritized towards restoring America’s maritime dominance and preventing waste.”

The department stated that it identified 12 projects that were not aligned with the current administration’s priorities. The Trump administration has repeatedly criticized and targeted  projects, instead prioritizing fossil fuels and “traditional forms of energy.”

“Wasteful, wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry,” said Duffy in a statement. “Joe Biden and [former Secretary of Transportation] Pete Buttigieg bent over backwards to use transportation dollars for their Green New Scam agenda while ignoring the dire needs of our shipbuilding industry. Thanks to President Trump, we are prioritizing real infrastructure improvements over fantasy wind projects that cost much and offer little.”

Read the full article at Virginia Business 

VIRGINIA: Stone crabs are calling Virginia waters home — for the first time ever

August 28, 2025 — The Chesapeake Bay might have a new resident, thanks to warming waters and successful habitat restoration.

Blue crabs are the typical catch in local waters. But crabbers on the bay have reported adult stone crabs in their pots on Willoughby Spit, marking the first time the species has been spotted growing in Hampton Roads.

The find could mark an exciting addition to the crab industry in the Chesapeake Bay, according to Rom Lipcius, a researcher and professor at William & Mary’s Batten School at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

Read the full article at The Virginian-Pilot

VIRGINIA: US government halts nearly complete offshore wind farm. Is Virginia’s next?

August 27, 2025 — After the Trump administration has ordered a halt to construction of a nearly complete $4 billion offshore wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut, it’s reasonable to wonder whether Dominion Energy’s $10.9 billion  project off the coast of Virginia Beach could be in similar peril.

On Aug. 22, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management stopped Orsted’s Revolution Wind project, which already has 45 of 65 turbines installed, along with all underwater foundations. Citing a January memorandum by , BOEM told Orsted North America to “halt all ongoing activities related to the Revolution Wind Project” while the federal government reviews potential national security concerns.

Read the full article at Virginia Business 

US FDA recalls more shrimp after discovering radioactive contaminant

August 22, 2025 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced a voluntary recall of frozen shrimp products due to possible contamination with Cesium-137 (Cs-137), a man-made radioisotope that can elevate cancer risks through longer term, repeated low dose exposure.

The announcement comes shortly after U.S. Customs and Border Control (CBP) detected Cs-137 in shipping containers at the Ports of Los Angeles, Houston, Savannah, and Miami, with agents finding evidence of the radioisotope in a single shipment of frozen bread shrimp. The discovery led the FDA to issue an alert for frozen shrimp supplied by Indonesia-based PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati to Walmart and sold under the “Great Value” brand name.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

More catch restrictions due in 2026 to help struggling striped bass

August 18, 2025 — Amid signs that a hoped-for recovery of Atlantic striped bass may be faltering, East Coast fisheries managers are moving to further tighten already restricted catch limits on the popular but beleaguered migratory fish.

At a meeting on Aug. 6 in Arlington, VA, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s striped bass management board voted to proceed with a plan to impose a 12% reduction in 2026 on both recreational and commercial catch of the prized species.

The plan, if adopted later this year, would trim the commercial harvest quota by that amount, while it would require East Coast states to curb the recreational catch by shortening the fishing season or adjusting the size limits for legally catchable fish.

Striped bass are found in the Atlantic from Maine to the Carolinas, but the Chesapeake Bay, where they’re also called rockfish, is the primary spawning and nursery ground for 70% to 90% of the entire stock.

The coastwide striped bass population is currently struggling to recover from years of being overfished, a problem exacerbated by poor reproduction in the Bay — for six straight years in Maryland waters and for the past two years in Virginia. Striped bass spawning tends to vary year to year, but it has never been this low for this long, and scientists aren’t sure why.

The fisheries commission ordered catch restrictions in the Bay and along the coast in 2020 and again in 2024 to halt overfishing and rebuild the stock. But higher-than-expected recreational fishing in 2024, mainly along the Mid-Atlantic coast, cast a shadow over the projected recovery, lowering the odds the stock could reach a healthy level by 2029, as federal law requires.

Read the full article at the Bay Journal

VIRGINIA: Omega Protein contributes $250k to Festival Halle project

August 7, 2025 — Omega Protein recently presented a check for $250,000 to the Greater Reedville Association toward the restoration of Festival Halle, a cherished landmark on Main Street in the village.

“With deep roots in Reedville’s maritime heritage dating back to 1878, we are honored to support an organization whose mission is to preserve and share the rich history of our community,” according to Nick Sterrett, vice president of sales for Omega Protein. “We are grateful to be part of an organization like Cooke Seafood, who makes it their mission to strengthen the communities in which they operate.”

Read the full article at News on the Neck