Senior Scientist Dr. Jason Link has been with NOAA Fisheries for more than 25 years. He was recently honored by the American Fisheries Society with the 2025 Award for Excellence, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the aquatic sciences. In this two-part interview, Dr. Link discusses the evolution of his own career and of ecosystem-based management at NOAA Fisheries.

We feature five projects funded through the eeBLUE Aquaculture Literacy Mini-Grants Program, a collaboration between the North American Association for Environmental Education and NOAA. They showcase community-driven aquaculture education programs that are connecting communities to sustainable seafood—one classroom, kitchen, and podcast at a time.

Sea Grant and NOAA Fisheries have announced the recipients of the 2025 National Marine Fisheries Service–Sea Grant Joint Fellowship. Four population dynamics fellows and one marine resource economics fellow were selected for advanced research opportunities that directly support NOAA Fisheries’ national science and management priorities. 

The commercial Pacific cod fishery is the lifeblood and economic mainstay for many small coastal fisheries and rural communities across Alaska. Scientists conducted a new socio-economic risk assessment, combined with statistical modeling, on the risk of coastal Alaska fishing communities to changes in Pacific cod distributions. Their insights may help these communities prepare and adapt to these changes.

NOAA’s Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary and NOAA Fisheries combined forces in a September survey of endangered Southern Resident killer whales. This first joint survey employed two NOAA vessels and new technologies to study the whales’ summertime shift to Washington coastal waters.

Our partners at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science developed a tool that land owners, communities, and resource managers can use to aid decisions about habitat restoration projects in Virginia’s Middle Peninsula—one of NOAA’s Habitat Focus Areas. The new online interactive tool calculates ecosystem and economic benefits for marsh and living shoreline restoration projects. 

Field scientist Maura Flynn shares her highlights from the Fall Bottom Longline Survey, which samples the Gulf of Maine’s rocky bottom in partnership with two commercial fishing vessels. This Longline Survey focuses on rocky bottom areas in the Gulf of Maine that are challenging for the Bottom Trawl Survey to sample. 

Our survey sees some pretty incredible things while collecting data on species that prefer the Gulf of Maine’s rocky habitats. From fish, marine mammals, and birds, to gorgeous sunrises and exciting moments, here are some of our favorite sights and scenes from the Gulf of Maine.