Nathan Strout

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has signed legislation extending the state’s management of its conch, whelk, and winter flounder fisheries. “By signing these bills, Governor Hochul ensures DEC [Department of Environmental Conservation] has the continued authority needed to protect vulnerable winter flounder and whelk population from further decline and support the long-term sustainability of New York’s historic commercial fishing… Read More

The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), a Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A.-based conservation NGO, has sued NOAA Fisheries to force the agency to issue findings on a petition to have gray whales listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). “We’ve lost half of these Pacific gray whales in just a decade. It couldn’t be clearer that the population needs protections, but we’re just getting silence from the Trump administration as the crisis… Read More

More than 30 federal lawmakers from California are protesting a formal government review of the state’s management of its coastal development, arguing that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is simply removing local control in order to advance the president’s policy preferences. “This extraordinary federal review which singles out California is based upon a thinly veiled and non-evidential argument. It is an attempt to curb… Read More

With the current moratorium set to expire later this year, NOAA Fisheries has moved to extend a ban on new federal shrimp permits for the Gulf of Mexico by another 10 years. While the Gulf of Mexico federal shrimp fishery supported more than 4,000 commercial shrimping vessels, rising fuel prices and competition from cheaper imported shrimp drove many of those vessel owners to call it quits. Still, regulators believed that there were too many… Read More

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is seeking public comments on how it should manage oyster harvesting in the Big Bend region of the state. Once a successful commercial fishery, the Big Bend lost roughly 66 percent of its oyster reefs between 1982 and 2011. The region also faced additional pressure following the collapse of the oyster population in Apalachicola Bay in 2013, with annual Big Bend harvests peaking in 2017… Read More

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced USD 7.5 million (EUR 6.4 million) in grant funding to help extend the cold storage chain to local food assistance programs. Through the Cold Chain Grants for Emergency Food Assistance Program (CCG), USDA will provide funding to purchase cold chain equipment that helps food assistance programs store and deliver fresh and frozen products. “The Trump Administration continues to prioritize providing… Read More

A North Carolina court has ruled that the evidence “overwhelmingly” shows the state government has failed to adequately protect coastal fisheries and people’s ability to fish them. That failure, according to a a 17 August ruling from Judge Bryan Collins of the Wake County Superior Court, represents a breach of the state's "obligations under the public-trust doctrine and the North Carolina Constitution." “With this ruling, we are calling… Read More

The U.S. Court of International Trade has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a group of environmental NGOs opposed to the U.S. government’s decision to allow swimming crab imports from countries previously banned from shipping to the U.S. over Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) violations. NOAA Fisheries is charged with ensuring foreign fisheries are meeting the same standards as domestic fisheries for reducing bycatch and protecting marine mammals… Read More

The U.S. state of Mississippi is preparing to launch a major USD 9 million (EUR 7.7 million) seafood marketing campaign this fall using some of the federal disaster funding it was allocated for the 2019 Bonnet Carré Spillway disaster. “If you're serving domestic seafood as a majority of what you're serving, you're going to get some types of symbols to put in your office, in your buildings, in your restaurants, in your markets, whatever,”… Read More

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has cited three subjects for violating state shrimping regulations and using skimmer nets during a closed season. While the state’s fall inshore shrimping season launched on 17 August, enforcement agents caught three individuals starting the season early. On August 13, agents on patrol in Terrebonne Parish encountered 56-year-old Paul Pierre illegally using skimmer nets. The agents discovered… Read More