A NOAA-affiliated research scientist pioneered a smaller, longer lasting satellite tag design that anchors safely in the blubber layer of a whale. This engineering breakthrough improves scientists’ monitoring of baleen whale species.

Enforcement officers from NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Law Enforcement have successfully wrapped up deployments for Operation North Pacific Guard. This annual mission, conducted with international partners, targets illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing on the high seas. IUU fishing threatens global fish stocks and the broader ocean ecosystem and impacts economic and food security. It also puts law-abiding fishermen and seafood producers—in the United States and abroad—at a disadvantage.

NOAA Fisheries is implementing increased bluefin tuna quotas after historic negotiations by the United States at the 2025 annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. Today’s action—alongside additional quota increases for bluefin tuna, North and South Atlantic swordfish, and North Atlantic albacore—will dramatically expand access, create new fishing opportunities, and provide greater flexibility for U.S. fishermen.

Pacific capelin are a major forage species for marine mammals and commercially important groundfish species in the North Pacific. They are short-lived and their abundance fluctuates wildly in changing environments. It was thought that, like salmon, they spawn only once and then die. A new study found that some capelin are capable of spawning multiple times.

This month, Teacher at Sea Jo Slavitz returned home after spending 22 days helping scientists aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson survey Alaska pollock in the Eastern Bering Sea. In this blog post, she reflects on the value of underwater photography for helping scientists understand the Bering Sea ecosystem and gather data to inform management decisions. She highlights some of the specialized technology invented by NOAA scientists for this survey.

Every year in the spring and the fall, NOAA Fisheries partners with two commercial fishing vessels to conduct the Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline Survey, which focuses on the rocky bottom habitat in the Gulf of Maine. In this blog post, Field Biologist Ben Church describes encountering a new species for the survey: the first chain dogfish ever seen in 12 years of sampling the region.

A fisheries observer's job is full of challenges, but one of its greatest rewards isn't found in the catch—it's the people you meet along the way. Read observer Sophie Brager’s story about the friendships, support, and connections that make life at sea a little easier.

Recently, Teacher at Sea Cheyanne Vanderdonckt returned home after 17 days aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II. She gained first-hand experience helping scientists survey sharks and snapper species off the eastern coast of Florida. In this blog post, she explains the methods for measuring and tagging sharks that are too large to bring on board the ship. 

Recently, Teacher at Sea Stacey Morris returned home after 16 days at sea aboard NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker helping scientists survey pelagic fish species off the West Coast. In this blog post, she catalogs the many fish species observed during the trawl sampling. Stacey helped sort out the target species—northern anchovies, Pacific sardines, Pacific mackerel, and jack mackerel—for measuring and biological sampling.