July 10, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Due to the uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the unique challenges those are creating for NOAA Fisheries, we are cancelling three research surveys off the Northeast United States. The cancelled surveys include those for sea scallop, Atlantic surfclam/ocean quahog, and an advanced technology survey investigating the ocean’s mesopelagic layer—the “twilight zone.”
These are difficult decisions for the agency as we strive to balance our need to maintain core mission responsibilities with the realities and impacts of the current health crisis.
Since March, we have been rigorously analyzing various options for conducting cruises this year and are taking a survey-by-survey, risk-based approach. After much deliberation, we determined that there was no way to move forward with these surveys while effectively minimizing risk and meeting core survey objectives.