Wednesday April 23, 2025
Mongabay —
The United States has long had one of the best systems of fisheries management in the world, supporting 2.3 million jobs and a relatively high number of healthy fish populations. Many experts attribute this to the management support, research and conservation work done by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and complemented by a set of eight regional, multistakeholder councils that devise management plans.
And so while NOAA is perhaps better known to the general public for its weather forecasting work, it’s also one of the premier fisheries management agencies in the world. NOAA employees conduct stock surveys, set catch quotas, supervise hatcheries, observe vessel activity, enforce fisheries regulations, and open and close fishing seasons, in addition to conducting fundamental oceanic research.
Yet the agency’s ability to provide these services now faces multiple threats as the U.S. executive branch begins to implement a program of budget cuts, staff cuts, facility closures and deregulation. Many experts and former NOAA employees told Mongabay that the Trump administration’s moves have been poorly planned and will be disastrous for U.S. fisheries. They say the cuts have led to great uncertainty in the U.S. commercial fisheries sector, a $321 billion industry, and could destroy a wealth of knowledge on how to manage fisheries sustainably and ensure profitability.