Nathan Strout

Two U.S. senators have introduced legislation that would allow businesses in direct support of commercial fishing to access a federal agriculture loan program.

Under The Fishing Industry Credit Enhancement Act, introduced by U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) and U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), businesses such as cold storage providers and gear suppliers would be allowed to use the Farm Credit System (FCS), a nationwide network of lenders

New genetic evidence suggests the overfishing of cod in the 1900s led the fish to rapidly evolve over decades, according to a study led by Rutgers University.

The study, published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Science, shows that the collapse of cod stocks in the Atlantic due to overfishing may have spurred genetic changes that were previously thought to take place over millions of years.

“We have now

NOAA is considering the creation of an aquaculture opportunity area in the U.S. state of Alaska, the agency announced 1 June.

Alaska could become the third region with an aquaculture opportunity area (AOA), joining Southern California and the Gulf of Mexico, though Alaska's is likely to be declared in state waters, whilethe previous two AOAs are in federal waters.

AOAs have been evaluated as suitable sites for future to aquaculture

A U.S. judge has rejected a motion from the state of Alaska, the Alaska Trollers Association, and NOAA Fisheries to stay his order earlier this month that will effectively close the winter and summer commercial chinook troll fishery in Southeast Alaska.

The groups are now looking to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for relief as they race against the clock to ensure the commercial fishery can open 1 July. 

Alaskan fishing groups were

NOAA Fisheries has recommended 40 projects to receive USD 11 million (EUR 10.3 million) in grant funding.

“These grant awards support the promotion and marketing of U.S. fisheries which supports U.S. fishing and aquaculture industries and our nation's working waterfronts,” NOAA Fisheries Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations Jim Landon said in a statement.

Established in 1954, the Saltonstall-Kennedy Program is a U.S.

The United States Supreme Court rolled back the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate wetlands under the Clean Water Act, ruling that the law only applies to wetlands that are indistinguishable from “waters of the United States.”

Environmental groups have condemned the court’s decision as a limitation on the ability of communities to protect waterways and the fish that live in them, but others argue

NOAA Fisheries released its first Equity and Environmental Justice Strategy on 22 May, with the goal of ensuring the agency is treating all communities equitably.

“The federal government recognizes that barriers to equity have left many communities underserved, and they are often the most vulnerable to environmental issues, such as climate change,” the strategy reads.

According to NOAA Fisheries Deputy Assistant Administrator for

Sysco revealed earlier this month that it was the victim of a cybersecurity attack, with the perpetrators possibly stealing social security numbers of some employees and financial information of some customers.

The breach, believed to have begun on 14 January, 2023, was first discovered by the company in March, although it was only revealed in a quarterly earnings report filed at the beginning of May.

“Immediately upon detection, Sysco

A half-dozen U.S. senators say that NOAA’s plan to expand the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) doesn’t go nearly far enough and are asking the agency to revise its proposal.

“The proposed rule is far too narrow in scope,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to U.S. regulators. “As SIMP currently only requires catch documentation and traceability for approximately 45 percent of seafood imports, there is a need to

The U.S. Mid-Atlantic region saw its lowest year of seafood production by volume on record in 2021, paired with its lowest commercial revenue for seafood sales since 1987.

“When we look at performance relative to management objectives in the Mid-Atlantic, we see that both seafood production and profits as indexed by revenues have a long-term downward trend and are currently below the long-term average,” NOAA NMFS Research Fishery