NOAA Fisheries FishNews—November 20, 2025

NOVEMBER 20, 2025

Dive Into the Holidays with Seafood Incorporating seafood into your holiday meals is a healthy, sustainable, and delicious way to support our nation’s fishermen and seafood farmers. It could be a festive seafood feast, a beloved family recipe, or a lighter dish to balance out holiday indulgence. Either way, adding more U.S. seafood to your table brings people together—this season and all year long. Seafood Tips from the People Bringing You America’s Seafood During this time of thanksgiving, we’re honoring the American people, families, and communities who bring fresh, sustainable seafood to our tables. Read their stories—and their tips for making seafood a bigger part of your life.

National Advanced Technologies Improve Protected Species Conservation As conditions in ecosystems change, marine mammals and sea turtles may change their behaviors or shift their ranges to survive. This makes new technologies for tracking their movements and health vital to conservation efforts. Diving Into Ghost Shark Systematics: My Summer as a NOAA Hollings Scholar Northeastern University student Lei Curtis reflects on their Hollings internship experience with the National Systematics Laboratory. With support from Dr. Katherine Bemis, Lei worked with specimens of an elusive group of deep sea animals called chimaeras—or ghost sharks—preserved at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The Road to Identifying Aquaculture Opportunity Areas New publications identify 21,000 acres in the Gulf of America and off Southern California as Aquaculture Opportunity Areas. The multi-year process, rooted in science and public engagement, identified areas that may be suitable for developing multiple commercial aquaculture projects.

Alaska Helping Alaska's Coastal Communities Adapt with Next-Generation Ocean Forecasting NOAA scientists are working on the Alaska Climate Integrated Modeling Project helping to predict the responses of fish, crabs, marine mammals, and other key species to varying ocean conditions in the Bering Sea. These projections are being turned into useful outlooks and advice for fishing communities and resource managers to help them safeguard livelihoods and local economies in the face of rapid environmental changes in this region. Investigating Salmon Bycatch Dynamics in the Alaska Pollock Fishery A new study is exploring salmon bycatch in the eastern Bering Sea pollock fishery and how bycatch rates may relate to oceanographic conditions. This research deepens our understanding of oceanographic factors contributing to encounters between pollock fisheries and salmon. It also supports our efforts to simultaneously manage a sustainable Alaska pollock fishery and minimize bycatch. Faster Analysis of Data to Evaluate Bycatch Reduction Efforts in Pollock Fishery Advancements in AI such as computer vision, machine learning, and deep learning assist with processing data. Scientists used a model to more quickly detect and classify fish in videos. It’s helping scientists evaluate the effectiveness of excluders that help salmon escape from fishing nets intended to catch pollock. Science Blog Series: Currents and Connections The Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s education and outreach team strives to create place-based and hands-on educational materials for students and educators to bolster ocean, coastal, and climate science literacy. Catch up on their latest posts to find resources from interns, NOAA educators, and partners. NOAA Fisheries Releases 2025 Alaska Aquaculture Accomplishments Report The Alaska Regional Office has released the 2025 Aquaculture Accomplishments Report. It highlights the growth of the aquaculture industry in Alaska and provides details about local, state, and federal efforts aimed at supporting this important maritime industry. Alaska Creek Impacted by Historic Mining Restored to Support Salmon and Local Communities The NOAA-funded restoration of Resurrection Creek on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula is reviving salmon habitat, boosting the local economy, and uniting conservationists and miners in an unprecedented partnership. The project also reduces flood risks in the nearby town of Hope and employs local workers.

New England/Mid-Atlantic Shortfin Squid Project “Squids Their Stride” in 2025 Fish biologist Mary Kate Munley shares how she and others involved in the shortfin squid project have hit their stride. In year two of the project, the team runs like a well-oiled science machine. NOAA Fisheries Partners with Northeast Groundfish Industry to Update Key Data for Stock Assessments Commercial catch records are typically based on total fish weight, which is easy to measure in bulk. However, scientists use stock assessment models that require numbers of individual fish to accurately evaluate population trends and dynamics. NOAA Fisheries’ Cooperative Research Branch and partners are re-evaluating conversion factors and length-weight relationships to improve the accuracy of groundfish stock assessments and ensure sustainable fisheries.

Pacific Islands Papahānaumokuākea: 2025 Monk Seal and Sea Turtle Field Season Highlights From drone-assisted surveys to inter-island rescues, the 2025 season brought new insights and conservation wins in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Check out the season’s photo highlights.

Southeast New StoryMap: Monitoring Reef Fish With Advanced Technology and Artificial Intelligence Dive into our new StoryMap to explore the Gulf Fishery-Independent Survey of Habitat and Ecosystem Resources and how we’re using advanced technology and AI to advance our survey enterprise. Small Modifications to Turtle Excluder Devices Have Big Impacts for Gulf Sea Turtles A recently completed project successfully developed and tested new turtle excluder devices with narrower bar spacing. These devices were found to effectively reduce juvenile sea turtle bycatch while causing no significant decrease in shrimp catch. A follow-up project aims to encourage the voluntary use of these new devices among shrimpers.

West Coast New Data Show Healthy Numbers of Quillback Rockfish off California; Fishing to Resume New data collected with help from California fishermen revealed more quillback rockfish off the California Coast than estimated earlier. These findings allow NOAA Fisheries to drop fishing restrictions meant to help rebuild the species. Experts Euthanize Oregon Humpback Whale After Unsuccessful Attempt to Free It from Beach A young humpback whale stranded on the Oregon Coast north of Yachats on November 15, prompting a response of trained teams from across the West Coast through the West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network.

Upcoming Deadlines November 21: Apply for the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel November 30: Registration and Abstract Submission Deadline for the 2026 Northeast Cooperative Research Summit December 1: Apply to the Marine Resource Education Program December 12: Apply to NOAA’s Teacher at Sea Program December 31: Apply for the Gulf Council’s Fisheries Outreach Specialist Position View more news and announcements

Upcoming Events January 12–16: The 2026 Marine Resource Education Greater Atlantic Workshop in Falmouth, MA February 26: Northeast Cooperative Research Summit in Riverhead, NY  April 10–16: Marine Resource Education Program Federal Fisheries Science & Management Workshop in Honolulu, HI View more events

Federal Register Actions Visit NOAA Fisheries' Rules & Regulations web page to learn more about recently proposed and finalized regulations in your region.

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