Restoring Louisiana's Marine Habitat

NOAA is nearing completion of phase I of its largest marine habitat project in Louisiana. The project is restoring an 800-acre barrier island to create beach and marsh habitat, which will protect louisiana's coastal communities from wind, waves and flooding. Offshore sediment is being pumped onto the eroding barrier island to increase its width and height, and new sand fences are being installed to create dunes. Native plants and vegetation are being planted for intertidal marsh habitat. During the 20th century, coastal Louisiana lost over 1.2 million acres of land, an area more than 25 times larger than Washington, D.C. This and other restoration projects help reverse land loss trends and provide vital habitat for Gulf fisheries.

Benefits of Seafood Outweigh Risks

NOAA commissioned the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a thorough review of the scientific evidence about seafood and health, and to help integrate the message of benefits and risks of eating seafood for the American consumer.  The findings are clear: Seafood is nutritious and safe, and Americans should eat a variety of fish and shellfish for a heart-healthy diet. Coinciding with the Academy's report, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health released findings of an un-affiliated study on the benefits of eating seafood for cardiovascular health. The Harvard study concludes that regular consumption of seafood cuts the risk of death from heart disease by 36 percent and total human deaths by 17 percent.

Both of these independent and credible studies recommend Americans eat fish in accordance with existing guidelines established by the U.S. government. Specifically, people should eat seafood regularly and vary the species to increase nutritional value and decrease exposure to environmental contaminants. Children under 12 and women who are pregnant, nursing, or may become pregnant should also eat seafood regularly, up to 12 ounces (including a cap of 6 ounces of canned tuna), and avoid the "big four" large fish that are higher in mercury content than other species: shark, swordfish, tilefish, and king mackerel.

Resources for More Information

Institute of Medicine Report Brief
IOM Press Release
IOM Fact Sheet
Harvard Study Press Releas

Third Annual Seafood Cookoff Hailed a Success

Fisheries Director Bill Hogarth recently served as one of five judges for the third annual "Great American Seafood Cookoff" in the Big Easy. Among the delicacies Hogarth sampled (and loved!) at the cookoff:  Alaskan halibut, salmon and crab roulade, sausage of the sea from Michigan, wild Georgia shrimp and crab cake, seared largemouth bass from Kentucky, a delectable seafood platter from Louisiana titled "rebuilt," Chesapeake oyster stew from Maryland, skillet seared haddock with lobster from Massachusetts, and of course the winning dish, crispy snapper with Gulf shrimp from Florida. The cookoff helped publicize the mounting evidence of human health benefits of seafood, along with ideas for how to prepare seafood dishes the whole family will love. Learn more about the cookoff or try some of the competing recipes. Profiles of the contestants and their recipes are linked on the left-hand side of the cookoff site.

Protecting Alaska's Marine Habitat

NOAA has designated a large marine area off the Aleutian Islands in Alaska as a critical habitat conservation area. Fishing activities that can destroy sensitive habitats on the ocean floor will be restricted to preserve this important sea area. This designation follows a similar action taken by NOAA in June to protect the ocean floor off the Pacific coastal states, and President Bush's recent designation of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands as a national monument to protect the marine ecosystem there. Read and learn more about this designation.

Read the Full Story

Sockeye the Humpback Freed

Thanks to the diligence of crew and passengers aboard local whale watch companies, NOAA and partners were able to disentangle a humpback off Masachusetts on June 9.  Fortunately, when the whale watchers reported the struggling whale to NOAA, the research vessel Nancy Foster was in the vicinity conducting tagging research on humpbacks in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.  Scientists launched into action to free the whale, known as "Sockeye" to those who have studied him.

Read the Full Story

President Sets Aside Largest Marine Conservation Area on Earth

On June 15, 2006, President Bush created the world’s largest marine conservation area off the coast of the northern Hawaiian Islands in order to permanently protect the area’s pristine coral reefs and unique marine species. The President designated the area a national monument. Permits will be required for activities related to research, education, conservation and management, native Hawaiian practices and non-extractive special ocean uses. The commercial and recreational harvest of precious coral, crustaceans and coral reef species will be prohibited in monument waters, and commercial fishing in monument waters will be phased out over a five-year period. Oil, gas and mineral exploration and extraction will not be allowed anywhere in the monument.

Read the President's Announcement

Read More About It

NOAA Presents 2006 Stewardship Awards

On June 6, 2006, NOAA presented the innaugural Sustainable Fisheries Leadership Awards to six outstanding individuals and organizations. The awards program recognizes outstanding performance, achievements and leadership by industries, organizations and individuals whose contributions to science and management have served to promote best stewardship practices for the sustained use of the nation’s living marine resources.

Learn More About the Award Recipients

Read the Press Release

Watch a Video Highlighting Award Recipients

Should Striped Bass Fishing Be Allowed in Federal Marine Waters?

In a move to rebuild striped bass populations, federal waters (three-200 miles offshore) were closed to fishing for the species in 1990. The stock was deemed "fully restored" in 1995, and now has grown to record abundance. With regulations in place to prevent future overfishing, should recreational and commercial fisheries be allowed to expand into offshore waters? Today, any striped bass caught beyond three miles offshore must be thrown back, even if they are dead. NOAA has extended the comment period on a proposal to re-open the offshore striped bass fishery. Send comments by June 26th to: bass.comments@noaa.gov. Read the Proposal

NOAA Helps Sailors Avoid Whales

With NOAA's help, sailors in the Volvo Ocean Race are safely navigating through active marine mammal waters of the North Atlantic. Throughout the race's trek across the North Atlantic, NOAA's aerial survey team aboard a NOAA Twin Otter aircraft confirms sightings of migrating right whales and communicates this valuable information to race organizers. The race, currently making its way through the ports at Baltimore, Annapolis and New York City, began in Spain in November and ends in Sweden in June. Read more about it.

Investigating Marine Mammal Strandings

Over the past year, marine mammal biologists and veterinarians at NOAA Fisheries Service have been diligently conducting necropsies on the 36 whales that stranded and died in North Carolina in January 2005. The agency has been working to determine the cause of this unfortunate stranding event. On March 29, the agency announced the much anticipated conclusion of the necropsies. Read the announcement and learn more about marine mammal strandings.

Essential Fish Habitat Protected off West Coast

NOAA has designated more than 150,000 square miles of marine waters off the West Coast as essential fish habitat. The plan prohibits fishing methods within much of this area that can cause long-term damage to the ocean floor, such as bottom trawling. Now important marine fish habitats off the West Coast will now get much-needed protection! Read more about it

Smart Gear Competition in Full Swing

Have a great idea for how to reduce fisheries bycatch? Your idea could turn into $25,000 if you enter the World Wildlife Fund's annual Smart Gear competition by March 15th! WWF created the international smart gear competition to inspire and reward innovative, practical and cost-effective ideas that allow fishermen to fish "smarter" -- better targeting their intended catch while reducing bycatch. The competition will award a $25,000 grand prize and two $5,000 runner-up prizes to the best ideas. For more information on how to enter, visit the Smart Gear Web site.

NOAA Tracks Whale Calls Over Large Distances

NOAA researchers and their partners have developed passive listening devices designed to record the calls of the Earth's great whales. These moored autonomous hydrophones record sounds in the water, but do not actively emit sounds themselves. The new technology can be applied world-wide to investigate the populations and ranges of the great whales. Locating calling whales enables researchers to identify apparent seasonal shifts in distribution. Correlating these data with current field observations and an extensive historical database of species distributions may help answer critical population and stock management questions. The new technology can be used in all the worlds oceans, but the pioneering program began in the North Pacific. To date, more than 20 listening devices have been deployed in the waters off Alaska.

Protecting Right Whales

NOAA has confirmed the year's 28th unique sighting of a North Atlantic right whale mother-calf pair, making 2005 one of the best calving years on record for these rare and endangered animals. However, right whales still face significant challenges, and NOAA is working to help recover these magnificent animals. We released our new strategy to reduce collisions between right whales and ships on June 22, and we released our new Atlantic whale take reduction plan on June 21.

For more information on NOAA's efforts to protect right whales, read the July issue of Bill's Corner .

Offshore Aquaculture

On June 7, NOAA forwarded the National Offshore Aquaculture Act of 2005 to Congress for action. The act aims to increase America's $1 billion fish farming industry to a $5 billion industry within the next 20 years, and create an additional 150,000 jobs for coastal communities. NOAA says that only through aquaculture can the U.S. generate the additional two million metric tons of seafood per year that Americans will consume by 2025. More >>

Associated Press/Boston Globe Anchorage Daily News L.A. Times Washington Post Seattle Post-Intelligencer SeaCoast

Juneau Empire Science Magazine Christian Science Monitor The Hill Seattle Public Radio National Public Radio

Marine Life Posters Now Available!

For the first time since their last reprint in 1995, NOAA's popular marine life posters are once again available to the public through the Government Printing Office. The series includes eight beautiful posters of fish, mollusks, whales, and sea turtles, which can be purchased online from GPO at $13.00 each.

View and Order Posters Online or call GPO toll-free at: 866-512-1800

Protecting Fragile Corals

NOAA Fisheries Service has proposed to place both elkhorn and staghorn corals on the list of threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. After concerned stakeholders petitioned the agency to list the corals last year, the agency conducted a comprehensive evaluation and determined that listing is warranted. Recognition of the species' plight through listing promotes conservation actions. Should the corals be list ed, the agency would develop a recovery plan for them. The public may comment on the proposal until August 8th.

Read the proposal & comment instructions

Managing Our Nation's Fisheries II - Focus on the Future

The 26-page Summary of Conference Findings for the recent conference, Managing Our Nation's Fisheries II in Washington DC is now available!

Conference topic backgrounders:

Ecosystem Approaches
Science & Management
Individual Fishery Quota Programs
Marine Protected Areas & Deep Water Corals
Reconciling Statutes
Overfishing & Rebuilding
Fisheries Governance

Recreational Fishing Strategic Plan Unveiled

Every year, millions of Americans, both young and old, flock to the coasts to participate in one of the country's oldest and most beloved outdoor pastimes: marine sportfishing. Although their numbers are growing by leaps and bounds, anglers contribute to the conservation of marine fish stocks through a number of activities, such as the increased practice of catch-and-release fishing. This month, NOAA Fisheries rolled out its new plan for ensuring a prosperous future for the sportfishing industry in the United States. Read more about it.

Atlantic Sharks Get International Protection

Sixty-three countries have unanimously agreed to an international fisheries program for Atlantic sharks. Led by NOAA Fisheries Director Bill Hogarth, the U.S. delegation pushed for and won a consensus agreement to ban the wasteful practice of finning – slicing the fin off the shark and discarding the carcass. The United States banned finning in the Atlantic in 1993, and this binding agreement will require other countries fishing in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean to do the same. Read more about it.

FDA: Fish Help Fight Heart Disease

The FDA now allows fish containing omega-3 fatty acids to be labeled as a food choice that may help reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, a significant health problem that causes 500,000 deaths annually in the U.S.

"This new qualified health claim for omega-3 fatty acids should help consumers as they work to improve their health by identifying foods that contain these important compounds," said Dr. Lester M. Crawford, Acting FDA Commissioner.

This news follows advice from the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture that Americans should eat at least two servings of fish per week for a balanced, healthy diet. Read more about it.

Listen to the NPR story in its entirety.

2004 Wetland Awards
NOAA Fisheries staff pose with awardee Dr. Francis Golet, Susan Golet, and Senator John McCain at the awards reception on May 20, 2004. (l-r) Tom Bigford, Susan-Marie Stedman, Senator McCain, Susan Golet, Dr. Golet, and Brenda Rupli.

Read more about the award

May is National Wetlands Month

President Announces Wetlands Initiative on Earth Day

U.S. Oceans Commission
The U.S. Oceans Commission was established under the Oceans Act of 2000, signed into law by President Clinton on August 7, 2000. The Act established the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy to make recommendations for a coordinated and comprehensive national ocean policy in coordination with the States, a scientific advisory panel, and the public. This report makes recommendations to the President and Congress on ocean and coastal issues. The President then responds to these recommendations in a “National Ocean Policy” that he submits to Congress.

Read The Oceans Act of 2000

North Atlantic Right Whales
Years of commercial hunting at the turn of the century severely depleted North Atlantic right whale stocks. Whalers considered the animals the right whale to hunt because they were slow moving, migrated close to shore, and stayed afloat after being killed. Today, despite more than sixty years of protection, there are only about 300 right whales left in the North Atlantic. For more information, visit:

- NOAA's Right Whale Site
- Center for Coastal Studies' Right Whale Site