April 8, 2025 — California is closing dungeness crab fisheries along Monterey County and the Central Coast to protect migrating humpback whales. According to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, the goal is to keep humpbacks from getting entangled in crab gear as they return to feed along the coast.
Starting April 15, commercial dungeness crab fishing will be banned from Santa Cruz County to the Mexico border. Recreational crab traps will also be restricted in Monterey County.
April 8, 2025 — Cold stuns have pushed the harvest closure of spotted seatrout, also known as speckled trout, out an additional 15 days to June 30.
The closure, effective for both recreational and commercial fishers, is in accordance with the state Spotted Seatrout Fishery Management Plan, according to the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries.
State fisheries officials initially closed spotted seatrout harvest Jan. 24 effective through June 15.
April 8, 2025 — The state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi has passed a bill expanding the state’s seafood-labeling law, sending the legislation to the state’s governor to be signed into law.
“We are trying to do everything that we can to help promote seafood [and] to help promote the brand of Gulf fresh seafood, not just for shrimp, not just for oysters, but for all seafood,” Mississippi Senator Scott DeLano (R-Biloxi) told WLOX.
April 8, 2025 — Massachusetts is poised to become the first East Coast state to set regular fishing limits on false albacore and Atlantic bonito.
Though there aren’t clear numbers about the abundance of either fish, fishermen have urged the state regulators to set precautionary limits to prevent the stocks from getting depleted. It’s somewhat unusual; often, the fishing community pushes back against new regulations.
“I think a lot of the guides and charter boat captains are really trying to protect the golden egg here,” said Chris McGuire, director of the Massachusetts Ocean Program at the Nature Conservancy. “Things are seemingly good right now. And if there’s a way of putting precautionary management in place to maintain the status quo, that would be amazing.”
The regulations establish a minimum size limit for both species at 16” and a combined bag limit of 5 fish per angler. There are some exemptions for the mackerel fishery and the weir fishery.
In letters to the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), many fishermen voiced their support.
April 7, 2025 — Another day, another Washington state industry caught in the trade crossfire between the U.S. and much of the rest of the world.
On Friday, farmers, seafood companies and other food makers in Washington were weighing potential damage after China announced 34% tariffs on U.S. exports, starting next Thursday, in retaliation for a new 34% U.S. tariff on Chinese goods announced Wednesday by President Donald Trump.
Though not unexpected, China’s tariff tit-for-tat means yet more pain for trade-reliant Washington, which last year sold nearly $700 million in everything from beef and seafood to wheat and hay to China, the state’s No. 4 export market for agricultural goods and seafood.
“It’s just unprecedented, what’s happening,” said Mark Anderson of Ellensburg-based Anderson Hay, which sells 70% of its crop overseas, including in China, of the latest tariffs. “And the more you dive into the details, the scarier the consequences are, because they’re all unknown.”
April 7, 2025 — The amount of Chinook (king) salmon allocated under the Pacific Salmon Treaty is much lower this year in Southeast Alaska —almost 40 percent lower than last year— and that’s affecting all user groups.
The treaty is an agreement between the U.S. and Canada, ensuring both countries get some fish. Southeast’s sport fishing allocation (the amount of fish the group is allowed to take) is 27,700 wild king salmon — a slice out of the region’s almost 131,000-fish pie.
Patrick Fowler, regional fisheries management coordinator for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said that overall, under the significantly lower treaty allocation, everyone’s going to fish less.
“The Board of Fish has given us the allocation plan for how big of a slice of the pie for each fishery,” he explained. “But because the base of the whole pie wasn’t as big, everyone’s slice is smaller.”
Fish and Game expects resident anglers to harvest about 10,000 fish, which leaves about 17,000 fish for nonresidents this year.
April 7, 2025 — For more than a century, Louisiana’s commercial menhaden fishery has been a pillar of the state’s coastal economy, providing stable jobs, sustaining businesses, and fueling essential industries worldwide. From the Gulf waters to global markets, menhaden fishing supports communities and industries that rely on its valuable marine ingredients – fish meal and fish oil – for aquaculture, pet food, and human nutrition.
Leading the industry, Omega Protein and its fishing partner Ocean Harvesters, along with Daybrook Fisheries and its fishing partner Westbank Fishing, operate one of the largest and most productive fisheries in America. Their work transforms Gulf menhaden into high-value products that drive innovation and sustainability across multiple industries.
April 7, 2025 — Florida’s Governor says the federal government may come through in expanding the red snapper season in the Atlantic.
“I think the administration is supportive of it,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said.
“I have mentioned it to the President, but I definitely mentioned it also to the Secretary of the Commerce. And I know they’re still filling out NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and they’re doing, still, all that. And there’s a lot of irons in the fire, but returning this to state management would be a home run.”
Recreational anglers got just one day in 2024, though commercial operations had from July until the end of the year.
April 4, 2025 — Delaware’s blue crab commercial fishery is larger than all the other fisheries in the state combined. If Dan Mills has his way, he’ll be adding to that fishery by building the state’s first blue crab hatchery.
Mills went before the state’s Advisory Council on Shell Fisheries in early March. The demand is high, but the wild stock is dwindling, said Mills, on why he’s looking into the project. The potential for job creation is there too, he said.
Mills went before the council to gauge their interest in the project. For the hatchery to get off the ground, two state laws would have to change – one related to not being allowed to have juvenile crabs in his possession; another related to not being allowed to have sponge crabs, females with eggs, in his possession. Mills suggested the laws could be changed to allow possession if the juvenile crabs are hatched and the sponge crabs are kept in an aquaculture system.
There was some discussion about whether local watermen would want the additional competition, but a general consensus was reached that there are blue crabs coming into Delaware from other states, so a hatchery wouldn’t add much more. In the end, council seemed to have a favorable view on the plan, but it ultimately said Mills would have to get the laws changed, and that would take an act of the General Assembly.
April 4, 2025 — In an effort to protect humpback whales from becoming entangled in fishing gear, state officials on Thursday announced that commercial Dungeness crab fishing would be closed later this month along the California coast south of San Mateo County.
When the whales, which are now returning to forage off California coasts, become entangled in crab fishing gear that can hinder their ability to swim and feed. Dragging gear can result in injuries, drowning and starvation, according to wildlife officials.
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