Nathan Strout

NOAA scientists believe a 2018-2019 marine heatwave helped lead to a decline in snow crabs in Alaska, according to a study published in the periodical Science this month.

The snow crab population in the Eastern Bering Sea dropped by 50 percent from 2018 to 2019, and in 2021 a NOAA survey found the lowest number of snow crabs in the region since the survey began in 1975. Regulators responded by closing the fishery for the 2022–2023 season.

The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission (WFC) is considering extending a buffer zone prohibiting the commercial harvest of menhaden, also known as pogies, along the coast.

Louisiana introduced a quarter-mile buffer zone stretching across the entire Louisiana coast and a three-mile buffer between Holly Beach and Rutherford Beach this season. On 5 October, the WFC passed a notice of intent to amend the menhaden fishery rules, extending the

U.S. lawmakers last week reintroduced the Science-based Equitable Aquaculture Food (SEAfood) Act, legislation designed to foster and encourage more offshore aquaculture development.

If passed, the legislation would authorize NOAA to establish an offshore aquaculture assessment program and a grant program that would help minority-serving educational institutions create aquaculture centers of excellence. The law would also require the Government

The U.S. Supreme Court will listen to arguments on two challenges to NOAA Fisheries’ regulatory authority in January 2024, the court announced this week.

The court announced 13 October that it would take up the case of Relentless, Inc. v. the U.S. Department of Commerce, a lawsuit filed by Atlantic herring fishermen in 2020 challenging the government’s authority to require fishermen to pay for at-sea monitors on their vessels. The

Alaskan commercial salmon fishing groups and advocates are lashing out at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) for failing to take any action to reduce Alaska chum salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery.

“Today’s North Pacific Fishery Management Council process does not work for the majority of Alaskans,” SalmonState Executive Director Tim Bristol said. “The council’s inaction in the face

NOAA has announced USD 20 million (EUR 19 million) in awards for research on dangerous algal blooms and hypoxia.

"Harmful algal blooms and hypoxia affect coastal and inland waters and can be devastating to communities and businesses," Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Office Director Carl Gouldman said. "These awards are part of NOAA's ongoing commitment to advance our abilities to forecast, manage, and mitigate the effects of these

Ten killer whales have been caught incidentally as bycatch by Alaska trawling vessels so far in 2023, only one of which survived, according to NOAA Fisheries.

The number of incidents – which took place between 6 May and 9 September – is higher than usual for such a short time period, raising alarms at the agency.

“NOAA Fisheries is analyzing collected data to determine the cause of injury or death and determine which stocks

A federal jury convicted Montauk, New York, U.S.A.-based fisherman Christopher Winkler of multiple criminal charges on 4 October after the U.S. Department of Justice accused him of overfishing and falsifying reports. 

“While most U.S. fishermen follow the law, some still feel that they are above it,” NOAA Office of Law Enforcement, Northeast Division Acting Assistant Director Michael Henry said. “It is our job to protect

U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) has introduced a bill to neutralize subsidies offered by the government of India to that country's shrimp sector, a move to lessen the amount of cheap shrimp imports domestic producers must compete with.

The legislation would raise U.S. tariffs on Indian shrimp imports to be equivalent with the subsidies provided to the Indian shrimp industry.

“Forty percent of imported shrimp in this market comes

The head of one of Canada's biggest seafood companies believes the fishing and aquaculture sectors need to work together to push back against unscientific claims made by environmental groups.

Speaking at the Responsible Seafood Summit in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, Cooke Inc. CEO Glenn Cooke said 

“We’ve got to work together because we now have the same common enemy,” Cooke said. “These environmental groups