Longtime NOAA staffer Emily Menashes is currently leading NOAA Fisheries amid a leadership gap following the resignation of Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries Janet Coit last month.
The appointment is part of a temporary churn of leadership positions at the U.S. Department of Commerce as leaders appointed by then U.S. President Joe Biden step down to make room for U.S. President Donald Trump’s picks. As the Biden administration came to an end in January, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad, and NOAA Fisheries head Coit all resigned, leaving the nation’s top fisheries management positions needing to be filled.
The Trump administration has moved quickly to replace the departed officials.
Earlier in February, the president nominated former NOAA Acting Administrator Neil Jacobs to lead the agency for a second time. Jacobs was appointed acting administrator by Trump in 2018, and the president nominated him to lead the agency. However, Jacob’s tenure was marred by the “Sharpiegate” scandal in 2019, and he left the government in 2022 without the Senate ever confirming his nomination.
Vice Admiral Nancy Hann, a lifelong NOAA employee and the highest-ranking officer in the NOAA Corps, has been acting administrator of NOAA since Spinrad’s departure.
While Jacobs or Lutnick could make their own choice on who will lead NOAA Fisheries, the government agency charged with managing the nation’s many fisheries, career NOAA staffer Menashes has been selected to lead the agency in the interim.
Menashes has worked in the federal government for more than two decades, serving in a number of positions across NOAA Fisheries, NOAA Ocean Service, and NOAA Research. Since 2023, she has served as deputy assistant administrator for operations at NOAA Fisheries, where she “oversaw the headquarters offices of Human Capital Management; International Affairs, Trade and Commerce; Law Enforcement; Aquaculture; Policy; Communications; EEO; and the implementation of the National Seafood Strategy,” according to NOAA.
The president has also tapped Wall Street billionaire Howard Lutnick to be the new secretary of commerce, and on 13 February the U.S. Senate advanced his nomination for a full confirmation vote. While Lutnick has not outlined detailed plans for NOAA Fisheries, in his testimony before U.S. senators he denied any intention of dismantling or privatizing the agency – although his claims haven’t alleviated Democrats’ fears that the Trump administration is trying to do that.
