Saving Seafood

More than a quarter of staff gone at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center

May 5, 2025 — The Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC)—a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with an office in Woods Hole—has seen a 27 percent reduction in staff since President Donald Trump took office, according to current and former NOAA employees, who asked not to be named in this story for fear of retaliation.

In addition to the lab in Woods Hole, the NEFSC has four other offices—one each in Rhode Island, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maine. It is not yet clear how many of the departed staff worked in Woods Hole, which is described on the NOAA Fisheries website as the “focal point for the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s operations, management and information needs.”

The 27 percent reduction in staff includes people who took early retirement or voluntary separations. It also includes individuals who were let go as “probationary” employees—new hires or employees who have moved into a new role.

NOAA declined to comment, citing a policy at the agency not to discuss internal personnel matters. This reduction in staff comes as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce federal spending.

Read the full story at Maine Public

NOAA cuts come to Narragansett Bay and Woods Hole facilities

March 4, 2025 — Multiple employees for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration working in the agency’s Woods Hole and Narragansett Bay facilities had their positions eliminated by the agency on Thursday, according to 10 current and former employees of those labs and offices. The employees affected worked across the agency, including several in facilities and fisheries management.

The cuts affected people in their probationary periods of employment, which last one to two years at the agency. NOAA would not confirm the number of people whose jobs were cut at the two facilities, but several employees from Woods Hole said that branch provided the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, with a list of 23 names of probationary employees back in January. National news outlets like CBS and The New York Times have estimated the number of employees affected across the country is in the hundreds.

Sarah Cierpich was among the employees terminated from one of the campuses in Woods Hole after working for the agency for 19 years – first as a contractor, and then, since September 9 of last year, as a federal employee. She said she had called out sick yesterday, fell asleep, and then woke up to the bad news.

“I woke up to my boss calling me, saying, ‘Can you check your email?’” she said.

The termination email that came from Vice Admiral Nancy Hann, the new undersecretary of NOAA, made Cierpich feel “disrespected and disgusted,” she said.

Read the full article at CAI

Woods Hole Group is acquiring Faria Watchdog VMS

August 23, 2022 — Woods Hole Group, Inc. and Riverside Mfg. have entered into an agreement in which Woods Hole Group will purchase the entire fleet of Faria Watchdog Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) dedicated to fisheries products, technologies and services. Woods Hole Group, headquartered in Bourne, Massachusetts, is a subsidiary of CLS (Collecte Localisation Satellites) based in France, and is a supplier in good standing with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) within NOAA.

Faria Watchdog VMS systems have supported NMFS in the United States and international fisheries programs for more than a decade, and the fisheries fleet of Faria subscribers has grown to approximately 1,000 vessels, the companies stated in a press release. Riverside will transition active VMS subscriptions, technologies and specific assets to Woods Hole Group “over the next several months with no interruption to service for customers.”

“We are pleased to come to terms with Fred Merritt and his professional team at Riverside to expand our thriving sustainable fisheries business,” says Bob Hamilton, Woods Hole Group CEO. “We look forward to transitioning Riverside’s fisheries client base and technologies to Woods Hole Group, providing quality customer service and access to our industry-leading fisheries intelligence solutions.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

Resilient Woods Hole releases new, interactive tools to engage community in planning for climate change

February 22, 2022 — ResilientWoodsHole (RWH), a public-private initiative led by local science institutions, today released new, interactive website tools to further engage the local community in its collective goal of securing a climate-resilient future for the coastal village of Woods Hole.  An updated website, ResilientWoodsHole.org, provides status updates, news coverage and reports on these efforts.  A new stakeholder survey, for individuals to learn more about how they can offer input, is now on the website.

Also new are three interactive maps for public engagement. Each map highlights a different aspect of Woods Hole:  Important Features, Adaptation and Vision, and Flooding Risk. People can click on any of these three maps and input comments and suggestions in each of these key areas.

Links to both the survey and interactive maps can be found on the RWH website.

A recent public workshop held by RWH engaged more than 100 local community members in a dialogue about coastal flooding risks, identified village flood pathways and vulnerabilities, and discussed long-term adaptation strategies.

“Building on the success of our first visioning workshop, it is clear that the future of Woods Hole as a seaside community, blue economy driver, and home to world renowned ocean research organizations, lies collectively in our hands,” said Leslie-Anne McGee, manager of ResilientWoodsHole and a project manager at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. “Working with the community, it is our goal to prepare for sea-level rise and increasing extreme weather events, and jointly develop solutions.”

This effort is funded through the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM),’s Coastal Resilience Grant Program and matching funds from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Marine Biological Laboratory, and NOAA Fisheries.

Read the release from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

 

MASSACHUSETTS: Museum To Host Conversation On Woods Hole Fisheries’ 150th Anniversary

June 4, 2021 — “Celebrating 150 Years of Science at the Woods Hole Fisheries Lab” will be the topic of Woods Hole Historical Museum’s online Conversation on Wednesday, June 9, at 7 PM with Jon Hare, science and research director of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, founded as the U. Commission of Fish and Fisheries in 1871, is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. The Woods Hole Laboratory is the nation’s first marine research station, and is the founding laboratory of NOAA Fisheries, formally called the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Jon Hare has been the science and research director of the Woods Hole Fisheries since October 2016. He oversees science activities related to the Fisheries mission in the northeast region, including fisheries, aquaculture, protected species, habitat, and ecosystem science. He received a PhD in coastal oceanography from State University of New York Stony Brook. He was awarded a National Research Council Research Associateship in 1994 to work at NOAA’s Beaufort Laboratory and was hired by the agency in 1997.

Read the full story at The Enterprise

NOAA Fisheries: It All Started in a Shed

June 3, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The first marine station in the United States started out small: in a borrowed shed. The value of the research conducted there was proven early on. However, getting a larger, permanent space required a leader with personality who was also a gifted scientist and persuasive administrator.

Original Lab (1871–1885)

The original lab for the U.S. Fish Commission was in a shed borrowed from the Lighthouse Board on the shore of Little Harbor in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The shed was renovated and expanded in 1875, with federal and private funds, into a more permanent, two-story laboratory with a windmill for pumping seawater for the research aquaria.

The first floor was focused on research on fish, the second for biologists studying invertebrates. A small part of the shed, unofficially known as the “Sharks Parlor,” was set aside for conversations, reading, and relaxation. A piano was often seen on the back of a carriage parked nearby.

Most research was conducted during the summer months, when students and university researchers would join the Fish Commission staff. Collecting species in local waters and studying them was a priority since many were unknown. Year-round operations continued on a much smaller scale under local resident Vinal Nye Edwards. Edwards was a naturalist and collector and the first federal fisheries employee.

A Permanent Home (1885 –1958)

As the scope of research activities and staff grew, a larger and more permanent facility was needed. Baird decided that the south coast of New England, specifically Woods Hole, was the best option for permanent facilities due to water quality and other factors. The other location under consideration was Newport, Rhode Island.

Baird used his many persuasive powers to convince local business leaders, scientists, and several colleges and universities to donate funds or land for the new research station. Collaborators included Old Colony Railroad, Isaiah Spindel and Company, John M. Forbes, Joseph Story Fay, Alexander Agassiz, Mrs. Robert L. Stuart, Johns Hopkins University, Princeton University, and Williams College. Baird had offered use of a research table and facilities at the proposed new lab to a researcher from each academic institution in exchange for their support. Land at the end of Water Street, owned by Fay, was deeded to the U.S. government.

Construction on the lab commenced in 1884, beginning with a seawall and refuge for small vessels. The cost: $52,000—about $1.4 million in today’s dollars—with $25,000 for construction, about $681,000 in today’s dollars. At the same time as excavation and dredging were underway for the piers, foundation work started on housing for personnel. Known locally as the Residence, the living quarters became a local landmark.

Read the full release here

Woods Hole, Massachusetts, Birthplace of NOAA Fisheries

February 10, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

When the U.S. Fish Commission was established in 1871, there was not much question as to who should lead the special investigation into a serious food fish decline off southern New England.

Spencer Baird ticked a number of boxes—prominent scientist, already in the government, willing to work in the job without additional pay—and he knew just about everyone in the field. He also  had a demonstrated track record for attracting Congressional interest and funding for his work. Much has been written about Baird’s subsequent accomplishments in the job. But what led to the decision to site the first permanent federal fisheries laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts?

For the initial work of the U.S. Fish Commission, Baird settled on Woods Hole as a base. Up to this point, the village was mostly a tourist location. People fished and farmed; whaling was nearly a thing of the past. The largest employer was a fertilizer factory that relied on guano shipped from Pacific islands.

Read the full release here

John K. Bullard Diversity Award to be Presented Virtually July 23

July 13, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The Woods Hole Diversity Initiative has named Larry Alade as the 2020 recipient of the John K. Bullard Diversity Award. Alade is a research scientist at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Woods Hole Laboratory. He is being honored for his contributions to making Woods Hole a more welcoming, inclusive, and diverse community.

The presentation will follow the annual Ambrose Jearld Jr. Lecture on Diversity and Inclusion. This year’s lecture will be given by Nigel Golden,  a doctoral candidate in environmental conservation and graduate fellow in the Northeast Climate Science Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Golden will discuss “Reducing Harm: A Politic to Address Institutional and Cultural Practices that Reduce Participation and Retention in STEM.”

The lecture and award presentation will be offered on July 23 at 2:00 p.m. EDT via Zoom.  Registration is required.

Alade was chosen to receive the award for his:

  • Commitment to diversity in Woods Hole through his work on the Partnership Education Program
  • Leadership on the Black History Month Planning Committee
  • Participation in the Woods Hole Diversity Advisory Committee.

He is also a member of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s diversity and inclusion team. He participates on various other committees and programs that promote diversity and inclusion.

Read the full release here

MASSACHUSETTS: Kennedy endorses moving NOAA science center to New Bedford

July 13, 2020 — Congressman Joe Kennedy III brought his senatorial campaign to the Whaling City Friday afternoon, touting a plan at the center of his campaign for post-COVID-19 economic recovery. The focus of the stop: The Blue Economy, and more specifically, bringing NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center from Woods Hole to New Bedford.

Speaking alongside Mayor Jon Mitchell at City Pier 3, Kennedy expressed his support for the move of the science center from it’s current location on Cape Cod. The first federal officeholder to endorse moving the center, Kennedy said when it comes to the interaction between NOAA and the fishing industry, “you put them in the same place.”

“That could be 200 more federal jobs here in New Bedford. That not only provides important investment in a federal agency, that’s an anchor institution, but it says to the fishermen, ‘we want your opinion, we need your opinion, and we want to get this right.’”

Kennedy’s vision for the Science Center and the SouthCoast’s Blue Economy come as part of the much larger Kennedy Jobs and Justice Initiative (JJI), the center of his senatorial campaign, which proposes to guide economic recovery efforts by “building a better, stronger, more resilient post-COVID America.” The congressman announced the plan outside of IBEW Local 103 headquarters in Dorchester on Wednesday.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Measuring Atlantic Bluefin Tuna with a Drone

June 10, 2020 — This novel use of drones is a promising way to remotely monitor these hard-to-see fish

Researchers have used an unmanned aerial system (or drone) to gather data on schooling juvenile Atlantic bluefin tuna in the Gulf of Maine.

This pilot study tested whether a drone could keep up with the tuna while also taking photographs that captured physical details of this fast-moving fish. The drone was equipped with a high-resolution digital still image camera. Results show that drones can capture images of both individual fish and schools. They may be a useful tool for remotely monitoring behavior and body conditions of the elusive fish.

Individual fish lengths and widths, and the distance between fish near the sea surface, were measured to less than a centimeter of precision. We used an APH-22, a battery-powered, six-rotor drone. The pilot study was conducted in the Atlantic bluefin tuna’s foraging grounds northeast of Cape Cod in the southern Gulf of Maine.

“Multi-rotor unmanned aerial systems won’t replace shipboard surveys or the reliance on manned aircraft to cover a large area,” said Mike Jech, an acoustics researcher at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and lead author of the study. “They have a limited flight range due to battery power and can only collect data in bursts. Despite some limitations, they will be invaluable for collecting remote high-resolution images that can provide data at the accuracy and precision needed by managers for growth and ecosystem models of Atlantic bluefin tuna.”

Read the full story at Environment Coastal & Offshore