The Ecosystem and Socioeconomic Profile website is now live! The profiles are a next-generation stock assessment tool used to adapt fisheries science to our changing climate. They directly inform the fisheries stock assessment and management processes by providing stock-relevant syntheses of ecosystem and socioeconomic data, products and knowledge. Multiple research track stock assessment working groups have published ecosystem and socioeconomic profiles as working papers supporting the stock assessments. Our scientists are working with fishery management partners to integrate the profiles into additional fisheries management decision-making pathways.

NOAA Fisheries and NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement will host three workshops for fishing industry members to help answer common questions about harassment and sexual assault/harassment, and to further support fisheries observers in the field. The workshops will be hosted in-person and will have a hybrid option for those interested in participating virtually. Workshops are voluntary and topics we will cover include: what constitutes harassment, how to communicate safety-related concerns, how NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement follows up on harassment reports, and more.

• 12/4/24 Viking Hotel - Newport, Rhode Island; 6:00 p.m. ET
• 12/9/24 SMAST - New Bedford, Massachusetts 2:00 p.m. ET
• 12/12/24 The Westin - Annapolis, Maryland 2:30 p.m. ET

Our Cooperative Research Branch is pleased to announce an exciting expansion of its Environmental Monitors on Lobster Traps and Large Trawlers (eMOLT) program, which engages commercial fishermen in collecting bottom water temperature data. The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative Innovation Institute awarded a $2 million dollar research and development grant to Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance to outfit 150 more vessels with the eMOLT sensors and onboard computers. Program lead George Maynard said, “We’ll be able to more than double the number of vessels engaged in the program and return substantially more subsurface observations to the forecasters and scientists who need them.” 

To maintain healthy and sustainable fisheries, validating methods for data used in stock and ecosystem assessments is critical. “Validating visually-aged otoliths—knowing that each ring indicates a year’s growth—is the holy grail of age and growth studies,” said our Population Biology Branch Chief Rich McBride. His branch includes the scientists who age fish for our science center.

Our scientists collaborated with others at the University of New England, Maine Department of Marine Resources, University of Maine, University of Texas at Austin, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. They compared two different methods of ageing white hake using otoliths— ear bones. Our age and growth group age fish visually by counting otolith growth rings—similar to counting tree rings. Our collaborators used advanced compositional analyses to look at the chemical signature of elements taken up during otolith formation. 

After comparing the two methods using hundreds of white hake otoliths, they had nearly 100% agreement (pdf, 14 pages). The team’s findings are satisfying because otolith ageing can be challenging. Ocean conditions and other factors can affect how annual rings are formed, making it difficult to see them and determine the age and growth of a fish. 

What better way to see the aurora borealis than during the fall 2024 Bottom Trawl Survey over Georges Bank?! We’ve added new images to our Bottom Trawl Survey photo gallery capturing some of the other incredible sights and scenes from the fall survey— fisheries data collection, general ship operations aboard NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow, gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, one adorable paper nautilus, and more! The survey operates on the Northwest Atlantic continental shelf, sampling stations from North Carolina to Canada’s Scotian Shelf.

Biological science technician Zach Fyke sailed as watch chief on all three legs of the 2024 Integrated Atlantic Sea Scallop and HabCam Research Survey. He saw Atlantic puffins and his first North Atlantic right whale. His report of the right whale sighting led to our aerial survey team surveying near the Hudson Canyon—about 100 miles off New Jersey. Over 3 days, the aerial survey team spotted more than 12 percent of the right whale population in that area! The survey was the first time HabCam was towed on a NOAA ship. In collaboration with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, they surveyed 727 nautical miles with HabCam and a long-range autonomous underwater vehicle called “Stella.” Stella may eventually be used to collect data in offshore wind farm areas where NOAA research vessels can’t sample.

Science center phytoplankton ecologist Katyanne Shoemaker shares her experience visiting her Canadian counterparts at the St. Andrews Biological Station in New Brunswick, Canada. She was there to measure changes in respiration in baby sea scallops exposed to ocean temperatures and pH levels expected in the future. Respiration rate is a way to measure how animals respond to environmental change, but measuring respiration in microscopic larvae is no small feat! This research is a transboundary collaboration with Fisheries and Oceans Canada to understand the effects of climate stressors on Atlantic sea scallop larvae. The results will provide a snapshot of how larval sea scallops may respond to sudden changes that are becoming more frequent, including marine heatwaves. 

Summer 2024 intern Jonathan Lim shares his experiences working at our Milford Laboratory in 2 blogs, Olivine, Oysters and Ocean Acidification Part 1 and Part 2. His internship included science communication and helping with laboratory experiments focused on ocean acidification’s effects on marine bivalves—shellfish with two shells. He helped with a marine carbon dioxide removal experiment investigating how the mineral olivine affects oyster larvae. Olivine has been studied in recent years as a possible marine carbon dioxide removal agent for negative emission technology. Jonathan also updated websites to communicate science to the public, collected fecal samples from Atlantic surfclams to study how ocean acidification affects feeding, and counted and relocated oysters in experimental aquaculture cages.

This past week, NOAA Fisheries highlighted significant advancements in our near-real time monitoring program pilot project for North Atlantic right whales - advancements made possible by Inflation Reduction Act funding. A major area of IRA investment is expanding the use of both archival and near-real time passive acoustic systems along the entire East Coast. North Atlantic right whales remain highly vulnerable to extinction. Passive acoustic monitoring has become a key way for NOAA Fisheries’ to address threats to this endangered species and monitor recovery progress. Much of this work has been led by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Passive Acoustics Branch. There are also a number of partners deploying passive acoustics systems and these data are collated and displayed publicly on the Passive Acoustics Cetacean Map. The information is used to designate Dynamic Management Areas, within which vessels are requested to slow down to 10 knots or less. Passive acoustics are also increasingly being used to minimize potential impacts of offshore wind development on whales. Passive acoustic systems are one of many examples of our science center using technology to achieve our mission.