Nathan Strout

The U.S. Senate has approved legislation funding NOAA Fisheries, as well as several major federal departments, through the remainder of fiscal year 2026 in an overwhelming 82-15 vote. The legislation next goes to U.S. President Donald Trump to be signed into law. Lawmakers are playing catch-up after missing their 1 October 2025 deadline to pass appropriations legislation funding the federal government for fiscal year 2026. Congress was finally… Read More

The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources recently held a hearing on the Marine Fisheries Habitat Protection Act, which was introduced last year to overhaul regulations for transforming decommissioned oil rigs into artificial reefs. While advocates presented the bill as necessary to eliminate red tape, other lawmakers accused it of weakening government oversight of gas and oil decommissioning in the Gulf of Mexico, currently referred to as… Read More

An oysterman working in the U.S. state of Louisiana drowned last month while fleeing from the U.S. Coast Guard, with deckhands allegedly concerned the officers were working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Coast Guard told NOLA.com that the patrol was not part of a joint operation with ICE but the service had swept the area with ICE agents a month earlier. That November patrol had resulted in the U.S. government detaining… Read More

A group of 10 U.S. senators have penned a joint letter to NOAA Fisheries demanding the agency do more to prevent illegal red snapper from reaching U.S. markets. “The continued ability to sell illegally harvested red snapper into the U.S. market is a powerful financing source for the [Mexican] cartel and undermines both U.S. fisheries management and national security,” the senators stated in their letter. “We would appreciate NOAA… Read More

A new requirement that digital catch certificates be attached to all fishery products entering the E.U. has gone into effect as officials look to limit illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. “The new system, known as CATCH, replaces the previous paper-based process and makes import controls for fishery products more effective and harmonized across the E.U.” the European Commission Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and… Read More

U.S. government officials told Congressional lawmakers the Coast Guard needs more vessels, personnel, and tools to prevent illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU) in U.S. and distant waters. “IUU is a threat to both the global economy and the U.S. economy. The illegal catch that is brought into the United States ... impacts the USD 150 billion [EUR 129 billion] that our fishermen bring to the global domestic product,” Rear Admiral… Read More

Regulators and conservationists have welcomed the arrival of 18 new North Atlantic right whale calves as they continue to push for the endangered species’ recovery. The whales’ calving season stretches from mid-November through mid-April, but already the number of mother-calf pairs has surpassed the 11 documented the previous season. “We’re starting 2026 right with some great news from the 2025–2026 North Atlantic right whale calving… Read More

The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a legal challenge to fisheries management in the Great Lakes region filed by the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa, which argued that a 2023 consent decree violated its treaty fishing rights. Referencing an 1836 treaty between the U.S. government and Tribes around the U.S. state of Michigan, a 1979 court decree found that the Tribal governments around Michigan were allowed to self-govern fishing activities in… Read More

The Hawai‘i Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) has levied the maximum administrative penalties on a commercial longline fisher caught using illegal gear to catch tuna. “This action sends a clear message that illegal longline fishing in Hawai‘i’s state waters will not be tolerated,” Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Acting Chair Ryan K.P. Kanakaʻole said in a release. “Our fisheries laws exist to… Read More

The state of California has decided to further delay the start of the commercial crab season along a stretch of its Northern coast after detecting elevated levels of domoic acid in the area. After facing a delay of several weeks due to an abundance of whales off the state’s coast, California has been starting the commercial Dungeness crab season piecemeal as conditions improve in designated fishing zones. Crabbing in the central management… Read More