We wrapped up the year with a roundup of 2025's most popular marine stories, videos, social media posts, and more.

Last summer, NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Law Enforcement led “Operation Riptide,” a 2-day multi-state operation targeting highly migratory species enforcement. Agents and officers from NOAA and the states of New Jersey and New York worked together to improve compliance with fishing regulations, protecting marine life, and leveling the playing field for honest fishermen.

A collaboration between the North American Association for Environmental Education and NOAA, the eeBLUE Aquaculture Literacy Mini-Grants Program has funded 19 projects since 2020. These small but powerful education programs are helping communities learn where their seafood comes from, why it matters, and how to support sustainable domestic seafood.

Submit your comments by March 6 on proposed revisions to commercial Atlantic blacknose shark and recreational Atlantic shark fisheries management measures. We will also host public hearing webinars on January 22 and 29.

Winning entries to the 2025 Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Art Contest are featured in the 2026 Swordfish and Billfish art calendar, now available to download. The 2026 art contest is now open for all U.S. students in grades K-8. Entries are due March 31.

Ribbon seals get their name from the distinct pattern of light-colored fur encircling their necks, fore-flippers, and hips. Learn more cool facts about these ice-bound seals.

Enjoy these downloadable and printable snowflake templates from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center. This season’s designs celebrate residents of the Woods Hole Science Aquarium, currently under renovation: two octopuses and a diamondback terrapin.

Since 2019, NOAA has supported The Nature Conservancy’s efforts to restore North Carolina’s Roanoke River and its declining fish populations. Now a grant from NOAA’s Office of Habitat Conservation will support TNC’s efforts to remove additional barriers and reopen 5 more miles of stream passage.

With funding from NOAA, the Quinault Indian Nation is restoring habitat on the Upper Quinault River. By installing engineered log jams, restoring floodplain and side-channel habitat, and planting trees, the project aims to improve spawning and rearing conditions to help recover salmon stocks and sustain the Tribe’s way of life.

Juvenile salmon encountered a mixed bag of ocean conditions off the West Coast in 2025, according to an annual analysis by NOAA Fisheries and Oregon State University researchers. Early upwelling and strong juvenile coho salmon abundance were encouraging. But poor winter food availability and weakened upwelling in the summer raised concerns. Together, these indicators suggest moderate survival rates and average adult salmon returns along the West Coast.

With funding from NOAA Fisheries, The Nature Conservancy and its partners are raising sunflower sea stars in hopes of reintroducing them to the wild. This keystone species helps control sea urchins that can devastate California’s kelp forests when their abundance is high. The researchers are studying sunflower sea star feeding, genetics, and rearing techniques to grow healthy juveniles for future reintroduction and ecosystem recovery.