South Atlantic Archives - Saving Seafood

FLORIDA: Gov. DeSantis announces longest Gulf red snapper season

April 29, 2025 — Florida is ready to allow its longest-ever Gulf red snapper recreational season for 2025. Anglers will be allowed to harvest the gamefish for a total of 126 days total, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday.

Gulf red snapper management was previously handled by the federal government, but they shifted management to Gulf states over the years.

“When I became governor, a lot of anglers would tell me the way the federal government was managing the red snapper was not an accurate representation of what was actually there,” DeSantis said.

Read the full story at the South Florida Sun Sentinel

Florida Keys lobster industry, reliant on Chinese consumers, braces for potential tariff impact

April 24, 2025 — In Conch Key, Kelly Cordova’s crews are getting traps ready for lobster season.

She’s been on the water her whole life.

“This is our family’s business,” said Cordova. “My mom and dad started when they were 15.”

But even as the Trump administration softens its tone on China tariffs, there’s still uncertainty over the possibility of reciprocal tariffs tacked on to the live lobster they export.

“We don’t know what we’re going to do. It’s really, really scary right now,” said Cordova.

Spiny lobster is a multi-million dollar industry in Florida and the Florida Keys are the biggest producer, harvesting nearly 4 million pounds last season.

Read the full story at Local 10

NC Division of Marine Fisheries urges fishermen to complete license, permit renewals early

April 24, 2025 — The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries began renewing commercial fishing, seafood dealer and for-hire licenses and permits on April 15, and the division is asking fishermen go ahead and get this business done in April or May.

Those who renew in these months may find reduced wait times, as opposed to those who wait until late June, noted a DMF news release.

Another way to avoid long lines is to renew by mail or drop-box or schedule an appointment for April or May. Those with appointments will be given priority over walk-ins.

Read the full story at The Coastland Times

NORTH CAROLINA: Spotted seatrout harvest closure extended in state waters

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.

Read the full article at CoastalReview.org

Florida cold-chain logistics company issues strategic response to U.S. tariffs

April 8, 2025 — Ft. Pierce, Florida, U.S.A.-based Burnsed Trucking, which specializes in less-than-truckload (LTL) and full-truckload (FTL) seafood logistics, has issued a strategic response to the U.S. tariffs.

According to CEO Fred Baedorf, a major shift in global seafood sourcing and distribution has been taking place in the U.S. since before the Trump administration’s tariff program was announced.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Plenty of fish: Gov. DeSantis says Donald Trump ‘supportive’ of Atlantic snapper harvest

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.

Read the full article at Florida Politics

FLORIDA: Two ocean drones launched to map Florida’s coastline for the first time

March 31, 2025 — Florida’s coastline is about to get mapped, and it’s all thanks to two unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) launched in St. Petersburg.

The USVs, managed by the company Saildrone, are helping the Sunshine State on its multiyear mission to survey coastal waters within the continental shelf.

“At 2,170 kilometers long, Florida’s coastline is second only to Alaska among U.S. states,” the company says. “Many parts of the Florida coast remain unsurveyed, with existing nautical charts relying on outdated and low-resolution data.”

The Florida Seafloor Mapping Initiative may be the solution. Saildrone explains in news releases that the “Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) is managing the project, using $100 million in state funds to collect the data and create a public portal for the new imagery and information.”

Read the full article at NBC Miami

Research cruises assess North Carolina marine resources

March 27, 2025 — An East Carolina University professor is taking part in a series of interdisciplinary research cruises aimed at exploring biological organisms off the coast of North Carolina and gauging how climate and oceanic conditions affect marine resources.

Dr. Rebecca Asch, associate professor in the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Biology, is a collaborator on the $1.5 million Research Opportunities Initiative grant. ROI grants are funded by the North Carolina General Assembly to encourage innovative and collaborative research projects across the state. Dr. Bradley Tolar, assistant professor of biology and marine biology at UNC Wilmington, leads the project with partnerships from ECU, UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State University.

“It’s a really important initiative, and I am proud to represent ECU,” Asch said.

Transect Expedition to Assess Land-to-Sea Habitats via Interdisciplinary Process Studies (TEAL-SHIPS) is the name of the project. It involves researchers exploring the continental shelf of North Carolina to collect data and better understand physical, chemical and biological oceanographic processes. Surveys of the coast, from estuaries along the Cape Fear River near Wilmington to the Gulf Stream, will span two years of data collection throughout eight research cruises (four times per year, or once per season), with one year to analyze the data and findings. They will traverse the same locations, collect the same information and use the same equipment on each research cruise.

Asch said many of these offshore areas have not been surveyed by biologists since the 1990s.

Read the full article at East Carolina University

NORTH CAROLINA: North Carolina adopts 18 new marine fisheries rules

March 27, 2025 — On March 24, the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission implemented 18 new rules designed to enhance the management and conservation of the state’s marine and estuarine resources. These changes encompass improvements in data collection, harassment prevention, and the administration of shellfish leases.

Five of the newly adopted rules focus on bolstering data collection efforts and safeguarding Division of Marine fisheries employees from harassment during field activities, according to Island Free Press. Amendments expand protections against verbal, physical, or sexual harassment that staff may encounter while collecting vital data on marine and estuarine resources. Additional revisions to rules reinforce the obligation of fishermen to cooperate with data collection programs, emphasizing the critical role of accurate data in resource conservation.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

It’s time for collaborative management of North Carolina fisheries

March 27, 2025 — After two weeks of fisheries meetings and numerous comments from stakeholders, it’s clear that our current system of fisheries management leaves much to be desired.

Since the General Assembly passed legislation in 2010 requiring overfishing to be ended in two years, or less, and sustainable harvest to be achieved within 10 years (with management that has at least a 50% probability of success), we have seen nothing but declining harvest limits across every fishery.

This law – pushed by the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) and then DMF Director Louis Daniel – has made North Carolina the most restrictive state in the Nation when it comes to fisheries management.

Even California has less restrictive mandates!

The Division of Marine Fisheries routinely cites this law as the reason for severe regulatory decisions, pointing to the “statutory requirements” to justify harsh harvest reductions. And they’re right!

When common sense measures other than direct harvest reductions are suggested, again they point to these statutes, which require “quantifiable” reductions, saying only a direct harvest reduction can be quantified.

But the greater truth is this: Our coastal communities are paying the price.

One of the statute’s key requirements is that Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) be developed and reviewed every five years. Yet DMF often lacks the data needed to conduct the stock assessments that inform these plans.

Read the full article at the Island Free Press

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