NOAA Announces Major Changes for Federal Fisheries Management
New list of agency priorities will fundamentally weaken science-based management of U.S. fisheries
Press Release Date: September 8, 2026
Location: WASHINGTON
Contact:
Jamie Karnik | email: jkarnik@oceana.org | tel: 907-635-8722
Eugenio Soler, the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has released a new list of agency priorities for NOAA Fisheries that include significant changes to U.S. fisheries management as part of the agency’s attempt to meet guidelines laid out in a recent executive order by President Trump. The priority list contains extensive modifications to the implementation of bedrock environmental laws like the Endangered Species Act and Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act as well as to management of essential fisheries on both U.S. coasts.
If carried out, the proposed agency priorities would affect nearly every fish species and fishery managed by the federal government, along with marine mammals, seabirds, and other wildlife. The announcement includes new proposals that would undermine three fundamental components of science-based and responsible fisheries management — catch limits, habitat conservation, and bycatch reduction. Other proposed changes are likely to increase the number of whales, sea turtles, and other protected species caught and killed in U.S. fisheries.
In response, Oceana Fisheries Campaign Director Gib Brogan released the following statement:
“The NOAA Fisheries priority list is nothing more than a wish list for the shortsighted. The heavy-handed, ill-informed changes proposed in the name of so-called ‘fisheries competitiveness’ would instead set back fisheries management by decades and fundamentally undermine proven, science-based policies that support healthy fish populations and thriving fisheries. Rather than focusing on science-based management that works, the administration is proposing to hurtle down a path that threatens the livelihoods and quality of life of countless Americans who rely on healthy fisheries and oceans for food, jobs, and economically vibrant coastal communities.”
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