The United State’s Department of Agriculture, NOAA Fisheries, and the University of Maine have a new project focused on understanding how the nation's commercial fishermen market their catch. Researchers hope to fill a data gap on seafood marketing at the national level, increase understanding of local and regional seafood marketing practices, and help remove barriers to direct marketing for the commercial fishing sector. Principal investigators include Patricia Pinto da Silva of our Social Science Branch, Dale Squires, who leads the economics and social sciences program at NOAA Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Josh Stroll, a professor and marine policy expert at the University of Maine, and Edward Ragland, an economist with the the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. To support the work, NOAA Fisheries Office of Sustainable Fisheries awarded a $142,824 grant to the University of Maine through the Cooperative Institute for the North Atlantic Region, and the USDA contributed $24,222.

Our long-running scientific bottom trawl survey strives to keep its net performing similarly from tow-to-tow and tracks net performance during each deployment. We know there are differences in net performance between each tow, but when does this difference become significant enough to affect catch? New published research conducted by fishermen and scientists reports on just how well our science center's survey trawl gear captures fish at different depths, especially flat fish like flounders.

Recording sounds in the ocean allows us to hear what we can't see. It can be more revealing, less expensive, and is less confounded by time constraints, weather, and fatigue than are other types of monitoring that require humans to be present all or most of the time. This framework was developed by NOAA Fisheries and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and recently published in Frontiers in Marine Science. It’s  for developers who want to use passive acoustic monitoring to collect data on when, where, and what kind of marine life is present in a lease area. According to the paper's lead author, Sofie Van Parijs, “As wind energy development expands in U.S. waters, this publication aims to address the need for recommendations and best practices to help industry develop robust and consistent passive acoustic mitigation plans and long-term baseline monitoring programs.” Van Parijs leads the passive acoustics research group at our science center. 

Research acoustician Annamaria DeAngelis has been participating in #MMIGyreX, a month-long collaborative research expedition aboard the R/V Pacific Storm to search for beaked whales in the Eastern Pacific Gyre, or GyreX. She’s an acoustics expert in beaked whales and her focus during the expedition is to provide acoustic support and to help gather as much data as possible on beaked whales. Very little is known about beaked whales because they’re so rarely encountered, spending mere minutes at the ocean’s surface and then disappearing for an hour or more. The data Annamaria and her colleagues collect will increase our knowledge about these elusive whales so they can be protected. 

Our Milford Laboratory became a leader in aquaculture research in large part because of the foundational studies on algal production by pioneering scientist Ravenna Ukeles. While at the Milford lab, Ravenna made significant contributions to the development of modern shellfish aquaculture. Her methods for cultivating algae to feed oysters and other shellfish resolved a critical bottleneck in hatchery production. She also expanded the Milford Lab’s Microalgal Culture Collection, a key resource for the shellfish aquaculture industry and the research community. Check out also the Science Center Scrapbook where you can learn more about our Milford lab history, including the lab’s open houses and seminars.

Lionel Albert Walford was the first lab director at our NOAA Fisheries laboratory in Sandy Hook, New Jersey. During his tenure as director and senior scientist, Lionel Walford oversaw innovative marine research accomplished by a small staff with a modest budget. The work focused on sharks, a survey of anglers, the impacts of pollutants on marine life, and life histories of game fish–about which little was known. Some of the research milestones Walford accomplished during his time at the Sandy Hook lab included his pioneer research in the 1960s on bluefish and striped bass.

Congratulations to our science center 2021 IN FISH! students Malia Armstrong and Aaron MacDonald! They presented their summer IN FISH! research at the National Technical Association’s 93rd Annual Conference and Research Symposium and won third and first place in the Environmental Science category. Watch the awards ceremony and learn more about the research Malia and Aaron conducted this summer.

The Northeast Fisheries Science Center is pleased to work with Representative Seth Moulton’s Groundfish Task Force. The Task Force identified three priority areas to improve science used in groundfish assessments. Grants were recently awarded through the Cooperative Institute of the North Atlantic Region to conduct research in these priority areas. The work will produce new data and analyses, which scientists and fishermen hope will lead to more accurate measurements of groundfish populations.

Do you know the difference between an Atlantic surfclam and an ocean quahog? Follow Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s biological science technician and blogger Christine Kircun as she dives deep into clams while sailing on our 2021 clam survey aboard the F/V ESS Pursuit.

Did you know we have a group of marine mammal scientists actively engaged in many public outreach events? Check out our newest passive acoustics research group outreach page to explore opportunities that bring marine sciences to people of all ages, both in person and virtually. The passive acoustics research group uses innovative technologies to study the behavior, movements and distribution of marine animals and their contribution to soundscape ecology. This group also evaluates how man-made sounds affect marine animals.

NOAA Fisheries is moving away from paper vessel trip reporting requirements in the Greater Atlantic Region. Beginning on November 10, 2021, most fishermen permitted to fish federal marine waters from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to the Canadian border will be required to submit their vessel trip reports electronically. They must be submitted to NOAA Fisheries within 48 hours of the conclusion of a fishing trip. The new reporting requirement applies to all federally permitted vessels except those holding only a permit for American lobster.

We invite data contributions to improve and expand the Passive Acoustic Cetacean Map so that it can provide broader research, management, and conservation context for users. For more information, or to express interest in contributing data, visit our passive acoustic reporting system templates page.

I am excited to announce selections for two recent positions at our science center with specific focus on external partnerships. Zack Gordon joins us through a joint position with Connecticut Sea Grant to serve as liaison between scientists at our Milford lab and members of the aquaculture industry. Zack will work to accelerate the transfer of research from the lab to industry and strengthen ties between NOAA Sea Grant and NOAA Fisheries in the region. I’d also like to welcome Andy Lipsky as our fisheries and offshore wind lead. Andy will work with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the fishing industry, conservation community, and offshore wind industry with the goal of developing offshore wind while protecting biodiversity and promoting ocean co-use.
Jon Hare, Center Director