Nathan Strout

The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources unanimously approved legislation designed to help foster a market for invasive blue catfish in pet food production during a 22 January markup session. Initially introduced as a sportfish, blue catfish quickly spread throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The voracious fish soon outcompeted local species, disrupting the fragile ecosystem in the bay. “Invasive blue catfish in Maryland and… Read More

More restaurants in Galveston, Texas, U.S.A., are serving domestic wild-caught shrimp than they were a year ago, according to testing from SeaD Consulting. The firm – which has been conducting DNA testing of shrimp sold and served along the U.S. Gulf Coast to highlight the prevalence of imported shrimp – claims that holding restaurants accountable has helped deter mislabeling and incentivized them to utilize Gulf-caught shrimp on their… Read More

Following their victory before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2024, commercial fishers are asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to vacate a NOAA Fisheries rule requiring them to pay out of pocket for at-sea monitors. “Forcing fishermen to pay the salaries of government regulators watching them conduct their work is backward,” New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) Senior Litigation Counsel Kara Rollins said in a statement. “The… Read More

The Philippines Department of Agriculture is testing whether it is feasible to farm Australian redclaw crayfish in the country’s freshwater ponds as it looks to diversity its aquaculture sector. “We want our farmers to grow profits, not just crops,” Philippines Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel said of the initiative. “With proper observance of good aquaculture practices and biosecurity measures, the culture of redclaw… Read More

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources plans to charge 25 people in a scheme that involved illegally harvesting and selling catfish from public waters. "This case reflects our commitment to safeguarding Kentucky's natural resources," Col. Jeremy McQueary, director of the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement Division, said in a release. "Illegal commercialization of wildlife – especially through the exploitation of native… Read More

A coalition of conservation groups has asked a U.S. district court to keep vessel speed limits established to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales in place. “We have speed limits near schools, crosswalks on busy roads, and traffic lights to make driving safer, and tickets are issued when drivers speed, ignore pedestrians, or blow through red lights because those behaviors increase the risk of someone getting hurt,” Regina… Read More

The Global Shrimp Council (GSC) said its first year of promoting shrimp as “the happy protein” on social media was surprisingly successful in 2025, and it hopes to continue its momentum in 2026 with pop-up, in-person events. “We’re going to keep on going with the marketing effort because before [2025], we had zero community effort toward shrimp. Now, we have something to show,” GSC Co-Founder Gabriel Luna said at the Global Seafood… Read More

The U.S. House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party has released an investigation accusing China of being “the world’s largest perpetrator of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.” The committee made several strong claims about China’s distant-water fishing fleet, accusing the Chinese government of using the fleet of roughly 16,000 vessels for intimidation and… Read More

U.S. federal judges are allowing some offshore wind projects to move forward, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempt to once again block any development on the East Coast. “The Trump administration’s bogus effort to stop offshore wind blew up again in federal court today,” U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) said in a statement. “Stopping clean energy raises customers’ costs, and the money goes to fossil fuel… Read More

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has signed legislation into law to incorporate local aquaculture products into the Jersey Fresh program, the state’s agricultural marketing initiative. “Aquaculture is an increasingly important part of New Jersey’s agricultural economy, and the farmers behind it deserve the same visibility and marketing support as other Jersey Fresh producers,” New Jersey Assemblyman Clinton Calabrese (D-Bergen, Passaic)… Read More