HIGHLIGHTS
New Tool Helps Fishermen Avoid Protected Species in Real Time
New computer-generated forecast maps may help
West Coast fishermen locate the most productive fishing spots in near real-time,
while warning them where they face the greatest risk of entangling sea turtles,
marine mammals, and other protected species. Scientists from NOAA Fisheries and
several universities produced the maps with a system called EcoCast, designed
to help reduce accidental catches of protected species in fishing nets.
2019
Saltonstall-Kennedy Grants Competition
NOAA released the FY 2019
Saltonstall-Kennedy Grants Program federal funding opportunity. This year, the
long-standing program is adding an emphasis on funding science initiatives that
track closely with industry priorities. Pre-proposals are a required first step
and are due July 23.
Sea Turtles
Return Home
NOAA Galveston’s Sea Turtle
Hospital marked World Turtle Day by releasing 32 rehabilitated green,
loggerhead, and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles into the Gulf of Mexico. The turtles
had come to the Sea Turtle Hospital with injuries including boat strikes,
entanglements, and cold stun.
Share the
Shore with Seals
It’s harbor seal pupping season
off the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. During pupping
season, it is common to see a seal pup resting on the beach alone while its
mother is out feeding at sea. As tempting as it may be to take a selfie with an
adorable baby seal, please do the right thing and keep your distance—at least
150 feet.
West Coast
Response Team Removes Line from Gray Whale
Response teams from NOAA
Fisheries’ Large Whale Entanglement Response Network attempted to free a
juvenile gray whale entangled in fishing gear about 20 miles off Washington’s
Olympic Peninsula on May 9. Due to its injuries, the long-term prognosis for
the whale is poor, but the team’s action provided as much help as possible.
New Boating
Safeguards for Killer Whales
The Pacific Whale Watch
Association, a regional organization of commercial whale watching vessels,
issued new guidelines in an attempt to further reduce disturbance to whales
from boat and vessel traffic. Endangered Southern Resident killer whales, which
live around Washington’s San Juan Islands, are one of NOAA’s eight Species in the Spotlight.
Outsmarting
Octopus to Bring Back Abalone
NOAA Fisheries’ first-ever test
to restock abalone off the coast of Los Angeles in 2016 ended when the abalone were
promptly gobbled up by octopuses. Now research supported by California
Sea Grant is analyzing octopus populations
and predatory behavior to help NOAA Fisheries and the California Department of
Fish and Wildlife develop a more effective protocol for stocking abalone.
Pacific Islands
Science
Blog: Managing Bigeye Tuna Is Not Easy
Managing bigeye tuna fishing in
the Pacific Ocean is complex, for reasons both scientific and organizational.
Bigeye tuna management requires cooperation internationally (among member
nations of international fishing commissions) and domestically (between
fishermen in Hawaii and U.S. territories), and within a diverse fishing fleet.
Greater Atlantic
Faces of
North Atlantic Right Whale Conservation
This past year has been
devastating for critically endangered North Atlantic right
whales. Learn how NOAA and our partners use aerial surveys to locate, count,
and photograph groups of whales in this Q&A with aerial survey researcher
Tim Cole.
Recreational
Rules for Summer Flounder, Black Sea Bass, Scup
NOAA Fisheries announces
management measures for the 2018 summer flounder, black sea bass, and scup recreational
fisheries. We are continuing “conservation equivalency” for the summer flounder
fishery; implementing new measures for black sea bass; and keep scup measures
the same as in 2017.
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