We are following guidance from the Department of Commerce and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help ensure the safety and wellbeing of our staff. As we adjust operations at our facilities to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, we also remain committed to continuing our services to the maximum extent possible. We are actively monitoring and adjusting as needed. 

As part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NOAA Fisheries is temporarily waiving the requirement for vessels with Northeast fishing permits to carry a fishery observer or at-sea monitor. The waiver will be in effect through April 4, and future extensions of this waiver will be evaluated weekly.

Our fisheries observers perform a unique function—they collect critical fisheries data on board more than 4,000 commercial fishing vessels each year to support fisheries in our region, from North Carolina to Maine. But how is this observer information being used?

When you protect an Atlantic salmon you get back much more than fish. You support coastal communities and expand recreational opportunities for people. You build resilient fisheries and ecosystems. You reconnect rivers and oceans. You improve freshwater habitats, and more. This is a story about the ripple effects of Atlantic salmon conservation.

NOAA Fisheries scientists and colleagues have started a three-year study of Atlantic cod and other commercial fish species in Southern New England. Their goal is to gather baseline data to address how offshore wind development in the region could affect these animals. Offshore wind development is rapidly expanding along the Atlantic coast of the United States, especially from Massachusetts to North Carolina. This is a new use of our marine waters, requiring substantial scientific and regulatory review by NOAA.

We are working with commercial fishermen through our cooperative research branch to acquire fresh samples of two important forage fish species: Atlantic mackerel and butterfish. Our scientists transported these samples to Tufts University, where images of the internal structures of these animals were captured in 3D using a computerized tomography (CT) scanner. Atlantic mackerel and adult butterfish have the distinction of lacking gas-filled swim bladders, and scientists are working to determine if that characteristic creates a unique signature in the acoustic data that NOAA survey vessels and some commercial boats collect.

Throughout this year we will conduct four groups of fisheries assessments to cover over 20 species. This includes several management track assessments and an index-based methods and control rules research track assessment. We have completed our first research track assessment on red hake stock structure and will share results at the upcoming management track assessment oversight panel meeting on May 27. Groundfish, halibut, and scallops are among the species included in the fall management track assessments.

As animals swim, they shed scales, tissue, and waste, leaving traces of DNA in the water. Scientists collect a water sample and analyze the DNA found in it, identifying the species that left it behind without capturing a single animal. For the first time, NOAA Fisheries scientists have sampled for eDNA in Long Island Sound and across a broad area of the Atlantic continental shelf to identify fish communities and monitor ecosystems.

Attention parents, teachers, and educators! #NOAAEdLive! is a new webinar series geared towards kids in grades 2-6 featuring NOAA scientists, including science center whale researchers Allison Henry and Genevieve Davis. Series is hosted by NOAA and Woods Hole Sea Grant and science center educator Grace Simpkins.

Every year for Women’s History Month we ask several of our women scientists to share a little about their science journey, what hurdles or obstacles they’ve experienced during their journey, how they overcame them, and what advice they might have for the next generation of women scientists. They're candid, honest and full of sage advice.