Daily Archives: June 10, 2025
NOAA firings, cuts will reduce services used to manage Alaska fisheries, officials say
Trump administration job cuts in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will result in less scientific information that is needed to set and oversee Alaska seafood harvests, agency officials have warned fishery managers. Since January, the Alaska regional office of NOAA Fisheries, also called the National Marine Fisheries Service, has lost 28 employees, about a quarter of its workforce, said Jon Kurland, the agency’s Alaska director. “This, of course, reduces our capacity in a pretty dramatic fashion, including core fishery management functions such as regulatory analysis and development, fishery permitting and quota management, information technology, and operations to support sustainable fisheries,” Kurland told the North Pacific Fishery Management Council on Thursday. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 18:26
A LOW BLOW TO THE LOW COUNTRY
The Holy City, revered for its historic charm and signature shrimp and grits, now finds itself at the center of a troubling food fraud scandal. A new investigation reveals that most restaurants promoting “local” shrimp in Charleston are, in fact, serving imported product, often farm-raised and falsely marketed as fresh-from-the-boat local fare. From May 19-22, 2025, SEAD Consulting—commissioned by the Southern Shrimp Alliance =conducted genetic testing on shrimp dishes served at 44 Charleston-area restaurants using the patented RIGHTTestTM (Rapid ID Genetic High-Accuracy Test). This testing determined whether restaurants were serving authentic South Carolina wild-caught shrimp or imported substitutes. The results are stark: only 4 out of 44 restaurants were found to be serving genuine domestic wild-caught shrimp. The remaining 40 were misleading consumers in their branding, menu descriptions, or proximity to local docks, with 25 found to be outright fraudulent. Links, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:46
Opponents call final MD approval of OC wind farm ‘unconscionable’
The company expecting to build more than 100 wind turbines off the Ocean City coast has received a construction permit from the Maryland Department of the Environment, prompting swift backlash from project opponents. US Wind, the Baltimore company responsible for the project, had already made its way through the federal approval process and has now received all necessary state-level approvals from Maryland. The company, though, still needs a permit from Sussex County, Delaware, to build electrical substations at a power plant in the area. The Sussex County Council last year voted to reject the much-needed permit, which at the time was expected to delay the project. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:54
Big octopus catch ‘does fishing industry a favour’
A massive haul of Mediterranean octopus has helped a Cornish trawler land a catch worth a record £158,000. The Newlyn-based beam trawler Enterprise was fishing close to the Channel Islands when its crew made the huge catch, a port record in terms of value, crew members said. About 90% of the catch, some £142,000-worth, was the octopus, which has seen its population explode in UK waters this year. The influx has caused problems for the shellfish industry in south-west England because octopus eat crabs and lobsters out of fishing pots. Enterprise skipper George Stevens said he had “done the industry a favour” by getting rid of a few. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:21
Longtime Outer Banks fish house opens doors to new facility
Long famous for its bountiful fishing, Hatteras Island now has a new state-of-the-art processing and packing facility that keeps Outer Banks fish local from sea to plate, while also enabling local fresh catch to be shipped directly to customers. And it’s owned by a local fishing family, to boot. “The thing was, all this fish used to go to Virginia to get processed,” owner Jeff Aiken said during a recent tour of Jeffrey’s Seafood, situated along Back Creek in Hatteras Village. The business officially opened May 21 during a ribbon-cutting celebration. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:43
