Nathan Strout

Mexico’s National Aquaculture and Fisheries Commission (Conapesca) has established three new fishing refuge zones (ZRP) to help fish populations recover. Last year, the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRICULTURA) announced its intent to triple the number of ZRPs across nine coastal states, expanding from 28 ZRPs to 83 and protecting 2.2 million marine hectares. “The new ZRPs are developed through the active… Read More

U.S. President Donald Trump issued a proclamation opening roughly 500,000 square miles of Pacific marine national monuments to commercial fishing, continuing his push to roll back protections unilaterally enacted by his predecessors. “President Trump is once again delivering for American fishermen by opening prized Pacific fishing grounds with this Executive Proclamation,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a release. “By… Read More

U.S. lawmakers seem largely uninterested in carrying out U.S. President Donald Trump’s request to integrate NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Protected Resources into the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS), opting to keep the office within NOAA. Trump has pushed to reduce or eliminate conservation funding within NOAA Fisheries, and part of that effort has included moving the agency’s responsibilities for administrating both the Endangered… Read More

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Certified Group’s new method of testing for polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) – popularly known as “forever chemicals” – in frozen clams. The Melville, New York, U.S.A.-based laboratory testing company said it developed its validated method for the analysis of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in frozen clams with direct guidance from FDA. The… Read More

The European Commission has voted to adopt OceanEye, an initiative to improve Europe’s ocean intelligence and a major deliverable of the European Ocean Pact adopted last summer, with an initial investment of EUR 92 million (USD 106 million). “With OceanEye, Europe will lead the race to understand our ocean, to protect it, and to sustainably harness its potential,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a release.… Read More

U.S. Representative Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) has introduced legislation that would require NOAA to establish a portable chemical test that can reveal the origins of shrimp. “South Carolina shrimpers have been undercut for years by foreign imports with no accountability and no transparency,” Mace said in a social media post. “Our SHRIMP Act puts an end to this. They have earned a level playing field. We are delivering it.” The… Read More

Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives included another year’s worth of money for the new Office of Seafood within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in a fiscal year 2027 appropriations bill funding the department, along with other seafood provisions. The bill includes several of the priorities and stipulations outlined in the fiscal year 2026 agriculture appropriations legislation, which was passed by Congress in November… Read More

NOAA has launched a new initiative to improve the United States’ seafood competitiveness, the Cooperative Institute Fostering Aquaculture Research and Markets (CIFARM) “By investing in aquaculture research and markets, NOAA Fisheries continues its commitment to improving sustainable American fisheries through science-based management,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Eugenio Piñeiro Soler, said in a release. “We are proud to… Read More

The European Commission has approved the Spanish government’s plan to provide EUR 25 million (USD 29 million) in financial support to offset the increase in fuel prices for commercial fishers caused by the Iran War. The closing of the Strait of Hormuz after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran has limited global oil supplies, causing fuel prices to spike. With fuel typically being the biggest operating cost for commercial fishers, the higher… Read More

A U.S. court of appeals has ruled the Court of Federal Claims was correct in dismissing a lawsuit brought by Louisiana oystermen who were seeking damages for the destruction of their oysters by the Bonnet Carre Spillway openings in 2019. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened the spillway twice for a total of 123 days in 2019 to help alleviate flooding; however, the sudden torrent of nearly 10 trillion gallons of freshwater lowered salinity… Read More