National Marine Fisheries Service

Fearing a new catch share plan will bankrupt their small businesses, halibut charter operators in Homer met with federal regulators Friday night.  The meeting was hosted by the Homer Chamber of Commerce.  The catch share plan is expected to be approved...

Labradors are natural born hunting dogs, but what Tucker is retrieving is a little out of the ordinary.  The research team from the University of Washington is in the San Juan Islands tracking Orca poop. Samples they've collected so far show our Southern...

Vic and I attended the third Bolsa Chica Science Symposium this past Saturday, where nine scientists presented the results of their research and monitoring programs conducted at Bolsa Chica. Actually, Vic did more than attend. He was the moderator....

There is now more time to weigh in on a contentious plan to limit the number of halibut caught by anglers on charter boats.      The National Marine Fisheries Service could cut the bag limit for charter boat anglers from two to one halibut.        The...

In his recent article about oyster farming ("State's oyster farmers snagged on red tape," June 20), Tim Wheeler left out several important facts regarding the issuance of aquaculture leases. Had they been included, perhaps the headline of the article...

Three Orca whales have been lingering miles up Nushagak River in Southwest Alaska for weeks, the first known report of killer whales traveling in a freshwater river in Alaska. According to NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service spokesperson Julie...

If three killer whales that have been swimming up the Nushagak River in Southwest Alaska for weeks fail to turn back for the ocean soon, biologists may have to intervene, a NOAA official said Friday. Officials with NOAA’s National Marine...

(CNN) -- A team of four NOAA veterinarians and a killer whale specialist from SeaWorld, San Diego will begin necropsies Tuesday on two wayward killer whales whose carcasses were found in Alaska's Nushagak River, according to NOAA. The two whales that...

The National Marine Fisheries Service said dozens of seals are dead and now walruses are also showing signs of an unusual skin-lesion outbreak on Alaska's north-west coast. Scientists are investigating if a skin disease found on those seals is leading...

Halibut fishing restrictions are a hot topic this week, as charter operators work with federal regulators on a management plan for the flatfish in Alaska waters. Anglers fear further restrictions will cripple business. While Southeast Alaska has a...

They are whimsical symbols of the beach, appearing on key chains, murals, logos and postcards. They form inseparable, monogamous couples. And they are hauled from the sea in nets, ground into powder for traditional Chinese medicine and dried for sale in...

— A proposal that could have slashed Maryland's annual striped bass catch by more than 50 percent in 2012 was shelved Tuesday morning by the commission that oversees East Coast fisheries. The 9-6 vote by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries...