A message from Assistant Administrator Janet Coit highlighting NOAA Fisheries’ work to build a more resilient nation in the face of climate change.

Earth Day is April 22, a time to honor and celebrate our incredible planet. It is also a time to recognize the serious challenges ahead, especially in the face of a changing climate. This week, we are taking a look at the ways NOAA Fisheries scientists are using the best available science to prepare for and respond to changing climate and ocean conditions.

Explore how NOAA Fisheries’ new, interactive fisheries data portal shows how specific marine species’ locations have shifted over time, which may be in response to climate change. This tool can help us better understand and respond to these changes.

Researchers have developed global forecasts that can provide up to a year's advance notice of marine heatwaves—sudden and pronounced increases in ocean temperatures that can dramatically affect ocean ecosystems.

Every year on Earth Day, NOAA Fisheries joins citizens and organizations around the world in celebrating our planet and recognizing the need to care for our natural resources. While our work continues, we can share some Earth optimism as we look back on our progress toward sustainable U.S. fisheries.

NOAA Fisheries has published a notice in the federal register seeking information on foreign vessels engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated (IUU) fishing, bycatch of protected living marine resources, or activities that have targeted or incidentally caught shark catch beyond any national jurisdiction during 2020–2022.

NOAA Fisheries is holding a public meeting via webinar session on May 2, 2022, from 11am to 1pm EDT for the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section to ICCAT and all interested stakeholders to receive an update and provide input on the development of the management strategy evaluation (MSE) for Atlantic bluefin tuna. Please register to attend the meeting at: https://forms.gle/NTH38FNaF6LY9iEV8. Registration will close on April 29, 2022, at 5pm EDT. Instructions for accessing the webinar session will be emailed to registered participants.

Growing up in a Northern Californian fishing town, Nate Mantua’s family owned a business connected to the local salmon fishing industry. When one of the worst El Niño events ever recorded hit the West Coast in 1982 and 1983, the salmon fishery his family relied on suffered. Nate would go on to study how to predict El Niño events in graduate school, and now he works to understand the impacts of climate change.

NOAA Fisheries scientist Tye Kindinger explains how identifying the best algae-grazing fish in the Pacific region can help fight against algae overgrowth and promote recovery of distressed coral reefs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had global impacts to human health, safety, and livelihoods, including to Pacific Islands fisheries. Pacific Islands fishermen share how the pandemic affected their livelihoods and how they adapted.

NOAA and partners began construction on a massive 1,200-acre marsh creation project in Louisiana’s Barataria Basin. The $151 million project will create habitat, reduce erosion, and protect communities.

Climate change is transforming estuaries along the Gulf Coast. Two NOAA Fisheries shrimp experts explain how these changes may impact shrimp populations.

As we announced last fall in our final rule to implement new measures to protect North Atlantic right whales, the deadline for Northeast lobster and Jonah crab fishermen to make the necessary gear modifications is May 1, 2022. These regulations are critical to protecting the endangered North Atlantic right whale and keeping this valuable and important fishery open for business.