April 4, 2025 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has long struggled to compete with corporate America to recruit tech workers to maintain the complicated computer systems that track the federal seafood harvests off Alaska.
These chronic staffing shortages at NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Region have been greatly exacerbated by the Trump administration’s efforts to cut the federal workforce.
As of mid-March, the Alaska Region had 29% of its staffing positions vacant, and the Information Services Division, staffed largely by tech workers, had a vacancy rate of 45%, according to an internal agency memorandum obtained by the Alaska Beacon.