National Fisherman

The Coast Guard medevaced a fisherman from the 44-foot vessel Still Fishing, 92 miles offshore Brunswick, Ga. An MH-60 Jayhawk crew from Air Station Clearwater hoisted the 56-year-old crewmember and transported him to St. Simons Island Airport for further care.

Fisherman medevaced off Georgia coast An ailing crewmember was medically evacuated Friday from a fishing vessel operating 92 miles offshore Brunswick, Ga., the Coast Guard said.

McKinley Research Group forecasts a 15% drop in global sockeye harvests and a 26% drop in keta from recent averages. Alaska harvests of all five Pacific salmon species are expected to decline in 2026. Wholesale sockeye values suggest higher ex-vessel prices may be ahead, but pink prices remain at decade lows.

Report forecasts 15% drop in global salmon harvest A global salmon market report produced for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute predicts a drop in 2026 state harvests of all five species of Pacific salmon.

President Trump signed an executive order reopening some U.S. western Pacific waters to commercial fishing within several marine national monuments. The Western Pacific council recommended the move in March. NOAA says previous restrictions forced American fishermen into international waters to compete against poorly regulated foreign fleets.

Trump moves to reopen Pacific remote waters for fishing A June 11 executive order by President Trump will open some fishing grounds in the U.S. western Pacific, the latest in years of restricting and then reopening national marine monument waters during the Obama, Biden and Trump administrations.

The January 5 grounding of the crabber Arctic Sea on St. George Island in the Pribilofs released approximately 45,000 gallons of diesel, Alaska environmental officials confirmed. All nine crew were rescued with no injuries. Ten of 11 fuel tanks are suspected breached. Salvage planning is ongoing.

Grounded fishing vessel spilled 45,000 gallons of diesel near Pribiloffs The Jan. 5 grounding of the fishing vessel Arctic Sea resulted in some 45,000 gallons of diesel fuel being released into the ocean offshore of St. George Island in the Pribilofs, environmental officials have confirmed.

URI's two-year Fisheries and Marine Technology program ran from 1967 to 1985, turning out vessel captains, regulators, and fish buyers who shaped New England's fishing industry.

The URI fisheries and technology program legacy When it comes to breadth and depth, few fisheries education programs today can rival the University of Rhode Island's two-year Fisheries and Marine Technology degree program, which ran for almost 20 years from 1967 to 1985. "The market doesn't need it anymore," said Dr. Joe DeAlteris, who was hired....

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Southern colleagues introduced the SHRIMP Act of 2026, directing NOAA to develop a portable chemical test to verify shrimp country of origin. The tool would support enforcement of trade restrictions and food safety laws. The Southern Shrimp Alliance and South Carolina Shrimpers Association backed the bill.

Mace, Southern legislators back ‘shrimp honesty’ act Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., with Congressional colleagues from other shrimp producing states introduced legislation to require NOAA and other federal agencies to develop a portable chemical testing methodology to identify the country of origin of shrimp sold in the U.S. market.

Britain's 1775 fishing ban put thousands of New England fishermen out of work. George Washington armed their schooners and sent them to intercept British supply ships. The fleet captured 55 vessels, including one carrying 2,000 muskets. Historian Christopher Magra tells the story of how out-of-work fishermen helped save the Revolution.

How out‑of‑work fishermen saved the American Revolution George Washington knew his forces could not win the American Revolutionary War without some measure of sea power. “It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day,” he later wrote in a letter, “that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, and with it everything h...

A federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of Louisiana oystermen's lawsuit over the 2019 Bonnet Carre Spillway openings, which caused an estimated $258 million in commercial fishing losses. The court ruled Louisiana law subordinates oyster lease rights to the Corps' flood-control operations.

US appeals court affirms dismissal of Louisiana oystermen’s Bonnet Carre Spillway lawsuit 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.

Marad has published two final rules modernizing how vessel owners evidence U.S. citizenship. The changes eliminate PII requirements from affidavits, drop notarization, and introduce streamlined annual recertification. One rule covers Marad programs like CCF and Title XI. The other covers the American Fisheries Act.

Marad modernizes US citizenship evidencing requirements for vessel owners and program participants The Maritime Administration (Marad) published two companion final rules in the Federal Register on June 4, 2026, that together modernize and streamline the process by which corporations and other business entities must evidence United States citizenship to participate in Marad programs and obtain fi...

Sens. Merkley and Wicker have introduced a bill to expand NOAA's authority to sanction nations acting as flags of convenience for IUU fishing vessels. Up to 32% of U.S. wild-caught seafood imports are products of IUU fishing. The U.S. imported $25 billion in seafood in 2024, with over 94% of consumption coming from foreign sources.

New legislation would tackle foreign flags of convenience New legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate would identify and sanction nations accountable for weak supervision of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fisheries crimes at sea.