Fish & Fisheries

"The House Natural Resources ranking member is worried Elon Musk could stand to benefit if parts of NOAA were privatized."

"Microplastics contamination is widespread in seafood sampled in a recent study, adding to growing evidence of the dangerous substances’ ubiquity in the nation’s food system, and a growing threat to human health."  "The peer-reviewed study detected microplastics in 180 of 182 samples comprising five types of fish and pink shrimp".

"Staff members at a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been told this week to stop all contact with foreign nationals, including on international treaties and seafood catch limits, stoking confusion and fear among government scientists as the Trump administration begins to shape its vision for their work."

"Staffers with Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge) reportedly entered the headquarters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) in Silver Spring, Maryland, and the Department of Commerce in Washington DC today, inciting concerns of downsizing at the agency."

"More than 30,000 small dams currently block river tributaries from Maine to Maryland. New initiatives to remove them are aimed at restoring natural flows, improving habitat for aquatic life, and reopening thousands of river miles to migratory fish, from shad to American eels."

"President Donald Trump has named Neil Jacobs, an atmospheric scientist who was found to have violated scientific integrity policies during the “Sharpiegate” scandal of the first Trump administration, to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."

"Commercial fishermen who hoped for a loosening of fishing regulations during President Donald Trump’s administration faced a setback when a federal appeals court reinstated rules meant to protect a dwindling whale species from getting entangled in fishing gear."

"A federal appeals court on Thursday restored a U.S. agency rule restricting lobster and Jonah crab fishing off the Massachusetts coast to protect endangered whales, rejecting a claim that the agency did not deserve deference under a recent landmark Supreme Court case."

"President Trump’s pick to lead the Commerce Department assured senators on Wednesday he won’t try to dismantle the nation’s climate, oceans and weather science agency during a largely genial confirmation hearing."

"The Trump administration is weighing how to take control of water in California — including setting aside endangered species protections — framing its mission in a new executive order as necessary to prevent future wildfires like those that recently swept across Los Angeles."