Tag: NOAA

NOAA to Remove Derelict Fishing Gear From Midway Islands Shores
8May By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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NOAA to Remove Derelict Fishing Gear From Midway Islands Shores

Officials with the NOAA Marine Debris Program say that the program’s expected to soon complete a mission to Midway Atoll, also known as Kuaihelani, to clean up derelict fishing gear and other debris from the shoreline. The plan, announced May 2, is supported through a five-year grant to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), using $5.8 million in funds provided by the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This 1,350-mile stretch of small, uninhabited atolls, reefs and shoals is home to unique wildlife and incredible historical sites. The atoll is also known as Kuaihelani, which means “the backbone of heaven,” and describes a mythical floating island in the sky, possibly originating from the large lagoons that reflect the sky. Despite their significance and remot...
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Record Low Fish Stocks Subject to Overfishing
8May By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Record Low Fish Stocks Subject to Overfishing

A record low number of fish stocks were subject to overfishing in 2023, according to the annual Status of Stocks report that assesses the 506 stocks and stock complexes managed by NOAA Fisheries, which was released May 2. U.S. fisheries data confirmed that 94% of stocks in 2023 were not subject to overfishing and 82% were not overfished, a 1% improvement over 2022 data of 93% and 81% respectively. Ongoing positive trends continued with the number of stocks on the overfishing list decreasing by three stocks, reaching an all-time low of 21 stocks, and the number of stocks on the overfished list decreasing by one stock, to 47. Since 2000, NOAA Fisheries has rebuilt 50 stocks. NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said that by ending overfishing and rebuilding stocks, the agency is s...
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NOAA Fisheries Issues Final Rule on Cook Inlet EEZ
1May By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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NOAA Fisheries Issues Final Rule on Cook Inlet EEZ

NOAA Fisheries on April 29 announced publication of the final rule implementing federal management of commercial salmon fishing in the Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone Area. Under federal management, which goes into effect 30 days after publication, commercial fishing vessels must obtain a federal permit, maintain a fishing logbook, have a vessel monitoring system (VMS) installed on their vessels, and comply with all other federal regulations laid out in the final rule. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) uses VMS in most federally managed fisheries in Alaska. NOAA Alaska spokeswoman Julie Fair said that the VMS requirement will be new for many Cook Inlet drift gillnet vessels that choose to fish in the EEZ fishery. “NMFS uses VMS to provide vessel location to make sure...
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Study: Alaska Snow Crab Collapse Attributed to Starvation
1May By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Study: Alaska Snow Crab Collapse Attributed to Starvation

Federal fisheries researchers studying the dramatic crash of snow crab in the Bering Sea from 2018 to 2021 have determined that caloric requirements of the crab quadrupled when sea temperatures rose and the crab ultimately starved to death. Snow crabs will eat almost anything they can catch and break open with their claws, a diet that may include fish, shrimp, crabs, worms, clams, brittle starts, snails, algae and sponges, as well as anything dead they find. In 2018, there were more snow crab in the Bering Sea than ever seen before, Cody Szuwalski, a fisheries biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center, said. So the decline of roughly 10 billion crab from 2018 to 2021 was a precipitous unexpected collapse, he said in a ...
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Dutch Harbor Holds Top Commercial Fisheries Landings Honors
24Apr By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Dutch Harbor Holds Top Commercial Fisheries Landings Honors

The latest data compiled by the federal fisheries officials show in that in 2022 the Port of Dutch Harbor in Unalaska, Alaska ranked again as first in the nation for seafood landings, while the Port of New Bedford, Mass. maintains its status as first in value of deliveries. The annual “Fisheries Economics of the United States Report,” released by NOAA Fisheries April 4, shows among the nation’s 20 top ports that 613.5 million pounds of seafood, with a value of $159.9 million dollars were delivered to the Port of Dutch Harbor in 2022. The value of 88.4 million pounds of seafood delivered at the Port of New Bedford came to $443.2 million. Eight other Alaska ports, plus two from Oregon, one from Washington state and one from California also made the list of top 20 ports in the count...
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Emergency Action on Bering Sea Chinook Salmon Bycatch Denied
24Apr By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Emergency Action on Bering Sea Chinook Salmon Bycatch Denied

NOAA Fisheries has denied a request to institute a zero cap on Chinook salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea, to ensure no bycatch of Chinook salmon in the Bering Sea pollock fishery, saying the petition did not meet criteria necessary for emergency action. The decision, announced by NOAA Fisheries on April 18, was in response to a petition submitted Jan. 17 by five Native Alaska tribal entities, asking Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to close the Bering Sea pollock fishery, which opened on Jan. 20. The petition was signed by the Association of Village Council Presidents, Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, Tanana Chiefs Conference, Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association and Yukon River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. The petitioners also asked the Commerce Department ...
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NOAA Fisheries Requests $1.1B Budget for 2025
27Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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NOAA Fisheries Requests $1.1B Budget for 2025

NOAA Fisheries is seeking $1.1 billion to cover operations, research and facilities in 2025, down slightly from the $1.3 billion allocated to the agency by Congress for fiscal 2023, and roughly equal to the fiscal 2024 funds that Congress agreed to earlier in March. One of those budget priorities, the online publication SeafoodSource notes, is funding for Mitchell Act hatcheries in the Columbia River Basin, to help restore fish to that water body and protect biodiversity from offshore wind. The budget request notes that the additional funds are “part of the (Biden) administration’s commitment to prioritize the restoration of healthy and abundant wild salmon, steelhead, and other native fish populations to the Columbia River Basin, and honor the United States’ obligations to triba...
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Marine Debris Foundation Establishing Headquarters in Juneau
28Feb By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Marine Debris Foundation Establishing Headquarters in Juneau

The Marine Debris Foundation (MDF), established by Congress as a public-private partnership with NOAA’s Marine Debris Program, will have its headquarters in Juneau, Alaska on the campus of the University of Alaska College and Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, it was announced Feb. 21. The foundation, based alongside the fisheries college and the University of Alaska Southeast, has enormous potential, said Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who made the announcement in his annual address to the Alaska Legislature. “NOAA's program is our nation's sole government agency exclusively focused on the complex issue of marine debris,” the foundation’s executive director, Susan R. Sherman, said. “Government agencies typically enter into public-private partnerships like this one to expand the scop...
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NOAA Fisheries Slates Virtual Listening Sessions on Aquaculture
21Feb By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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NOAA Fisheries Slates Virtual Listening Sessions on Aquaculture

NOAA Fisheries has announced virtual listing sessions for the West Coast and Alaska in March to help the agency plan better for the future of its aquaculture program and the potential impact of constraints on achieving its aquaculture goals. The West Coast virtual session is to be held from 10 a.m. to noon Pacific Standard Time on March 1 and the Alaska session from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Alaska standard time. The link to register for the West Coast session is http://tinyurl.com/2c569p3c. For the Alaska virtual session, visit http://tinyurl.com/5b9hswns. A date for the Pacific Islands virtual session is still to be determined, according to NOAA Fisheries.
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SPRFMO Adopts New Monitoring Standards
14Feb By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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SPRFMO Adopts New Monitoring Standards

Members of the New Zealand-based South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO), while meeting in Manta, Ecuador from Jan. 29-Feb. 2, adopted U.S. proposals to boost observer coverage and combat labor abuse in South Pacific fisheries. NOAA Fisheries said that the U.S. delegation, including members of the State Department, offered proposals to continue strengthening management and monitoring of the squid fishery in the South Pacific. According to NOAA Fisheries, the fishery has been the focus of claims of rampant illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in recent years. U.S. efforts led to adoption of a comprehensive high seas boarding and inspection program last year, a program that has increased opportunities for monitoring the fleet. NOAA Fisherie...
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