A final peer-reviewed report synthesizing the current state of science on the interactions between fisheries and offshore wind is now available online. The report summarizes the results of a first-of-its-kind Synthesis of the Science symposium that helped gather information for the report. It was developed through a partnership with the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and our science center. 

Join us in welcoming the 2023 class Inclusive NOAA Fisheries Internship Program students! We can’t wait to see what great things they’ll accomplish during their internship! The IN FISH Program is a partnership program between NOAA and research partners in academia and non-governmental research institutions to help build a diverse and inclusive workforce of scientists and managers. 

Were you an active, federally-permitted commercial fishing vessel owner in our region during 2021 or 2022? If so, please consider participating in the Commercial Fishing Business Cost Survey. This survey is the only way NOAA Fisheries collects information about commercial fishing expenses in our region. It helps us track trends over time, better understand the economic performance of fishing fleets, and inform management decisions. The survey is voluntary and individual responses are confidential. Deadline for online and interview surveys is July 31, 2023. Hardcopy surveys will be accepted after July 31.

The TODAY Show’s Al Roker visited sustainable aquaculture farms on the East and West Coasts of the United States and highlighted aquafarming as a climate solution. Aquaculture can provide sustainable seafood, working waterfronts and local jobs, and help rebuild protected species. With help from our Milford Lab’s research vessel, Al visited a Connecticut kelp farm owned by Copps Island Oysters—a Milford Lab collaborator. In addition to several growers, he met with NOAA Office of Aquaculture director Danielle Blacklock and Connecticut Sea Grant’s Anoushka Conception. Watch the clip on the TODAY Show!

European countries have been planning, constructing, and now decommissioning offshore wind energy structures for the past 30 years. With offshore wind development growing in our waters, it’s critical we learn as much as we can from our European counterparts. That’s why we’re working with the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, an international transboundary fisheries science organization with 120 years of history. ICES recently hosted a workshop to develop a roadmap exploring how it can provide scientific expertise, better coordinate offshore energy development science, and answer tough questions like, “what additional research is needed?” and “how do we coordinate and engage with different stakeholders?” 

Join us, New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium, New Jersey Natural Gas, and many others on May 20-21 for Ocean Fun Days—a  weekend celebrating New Jersey’s coastal environment! All kinds of great activities for kids of all ages, including an energy scavenger hunt, sea life seining, fiddler crab races, eco-tours, games, prizes, and more! It’s fun, free, and family-friendly! Hope to see you there!

Join us in welcoming four new Cooperative Institute for the North Atlantic Region fellows: 

• Robert Griffin, School for Marine Science and Technology at UMass Dartmouth
• Lisa Kerr, University of Maine
• Kathy Mills, Gulf of Maine Research Institute
• Mei Sato, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

The CINAR program engages early-career scientists in research that supports the training and education of the next generation of stock assessment scientists, ecosystem scientists, and economists. Each fellow will partner with one of our scientists to help improve the assessment and management of living marine resources in our region. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution leads the program with funding support from NOAA Fisheries’ QUEST program, our science center, and CINAR’s Education program.

Students from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, have been critical to  helping us study surfclam growth in changing ocean conditions. Over the past 2 years, they have been working with us, driving the boat skiff, collecting samples, and keeping our clam condo cages in shipshape. Two students, seniors Shannen Allen and Crystal Santos, share what a day’s work on the surfclam study is like. They take us on a journey to field sites, describe sampling seawater for pH and alkalinity, walk us through measuring clam feeding rates, how the weather always kept them on their toes, and more. 

Cusk on the Cusp

Fisheries biologists at our science center recently published the first comprehensive overview of cusk's life history. Little is known about this elusive fish, partly because it prefers to hide away in the cold, deep, rocky areas of the western North Atlantic. Assessing, managing, and protecting this kind of fish is challenging without solid life history information. We need to know things like feeding, spawning, and movement patterns and if they differ based on age, size, sex, and other factors. To address this, our scientists used data collected from our bottom trawl survey, bottom longline survey, and our Cooperative Research Branch’s study fleet—a fishery-dependent data collection program where commercial fishers collect fishery data. 

Cod Spawning and Offshore Wind

Little is known about Atlantic cod's habitat use and spawning behavior in southern New England. With plans for offshore wind energy development in this area, we need to better understand how construction activities could affect Atlantic cod. Researchers from UNC Chapel Hill, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, and our science center used passive acoustics to evaluate when, where, and under what conditions Atlantic cod spawn in southern New England. They recently published their research and found that construction activity will likely overlap with where and when Atlantic cod spawn. Their results can be used to help minimize construction disturbance on spawning cod.

Bottom Longline Survey Celebrates 10 Years of Success

This year, our Cooperative Research Branch’s Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline Survey celebrates its 10 year anniversary. The team will continue their success by setting sail at the end of April aboard the F/V Mary Elizabeth from Scituate, Massachusetts, and the F/V Tenacious II from Barnstable, Massachusetts. They’ll collect species abundance and biomass data, samples for age and reproductive analyses, videos for classifying bottom type, and environmental data at 45 stations in the southern Gulf of Maine. Data from this survey complements our other surveys to provide a more complete picture of fisheries resources and ecosystems in the Gulf of Maine.

Last month we welcomed the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator Dr. Richard W. Spinrad to our Woods Hole Laboratory. It was a great opportunity to talk with him about our priorities, including organizational excellence, North Atlantic right whales, offshore wind science and surveys, and cooperative research. We also had a quick meet–and–greet with staff and a tour of our Woods Hole Science Aquarium.
Choosing topics for these types of tours is difficult, but we wanted to discuss challenges and opportunities. While all the topics have significant challenges, they also offer some great opportunities. During the visit, we emphasized these opportunities we’re pursuing:

• Further developing our Inclusive NOAA Fisheries Internship Program designed to build a diverse and inclusive workforce of scientists and managers 
• Expanding into new ways to monitor and protect North Atlantic right whales by deploying passive acoustic sensors to “listen for whales,” evaluating very-high resolution satellite imagery to detect whales, and developing on-demand “ropeless” fishing technologies
• Continuing to work on our Survey Mitigation Strategy  that will be shared for comments and ideas

We also provided Dr. Spinrad with an overview of our Study Fleet and Environmental Monitors on Lobster Traps programs before visiting the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to see how our towed HabCam can be turned into an autonomous underwater vehicle. Initial at-sea testing for the AUV is scheduled for this summer.

It was a jam–packed 4–hour tour! We were thrilled to connect with Dr. Spinrad and his team, talk about our science, discuss our needs so that we can fulfill our mission to provide the scientific information and tools necessary for productive, sustainable, and healthy marine ecosystems and coastal communities in our region.