NOAA Firings, Cuts Will Reduce Services Used to Manage Alaska Fisheries, Officials Say

This Alaska Native fishing village was trying to power their town. Then came Trump's funding cuts.

For the fewer than a hundred people that make up the entire population of Port Heiden, Alaska, fishing provides both a paycheck and a full dinner plate. Every summer, residents of the Alutiiq village set out on commercial boats to catch salmon swimming upstream in the nearby rivers of Bristol Bay.  John Christensen, Port Heiden’s tribal president, is currently making preparations for the annual trek. In a week’s time, he and his 17-year-old son …

Laid-off federal workers in WA face uncertainty, tough job search

In Washington state, the fallout from the Trump administration’s widespread cuts to the federal workforce are reverberating. Officials still don’t have a clear picture of the scale of the layoffs — and many former federal workers are struggling to land on their feet. “It’s a giant mess,” said Rebecca Howard, a former research biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who was fired in February, rehired under a court order…

DOGE Cuts at NOAA, Explained

Personnel cuts could affect forecasting this hurricane season. - Joseph Polidoro - Start a free trial today for full access.

Lawmakers work on legislation to help commercial seafood industry

To help pull the struggling Alaska’s commercial seafood industry out of its tailspin, state lawmakers passed some bills aimed at lightening the financial load on harvesters and advanced others for next year that are intended to help businesses and fishery-dependent municipalities. The bills stemmed from recommendations made by the Joint Legislative Task Force Evaluating Alaska’s Seafood Industry,...

NOAA firings and cuts will reduce services used to manage Alaska fisheries, officials say

Commercial fishing vessels docked in the St. Paul Harbor in Kodiak; Feb. 6, 2023 (Brian Venua/KMXT) Trump administration job cuts in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will result in less scientific information that is needed to set and oversee Alaska seafood harvests, agency officials have warned fishery managers. Since January, the Alaska regional office of NOAA Fisheries, also called the National Marine Fisheries Service, has…

NOAA firings, cuts will reduce services used to manage Alaska fisheries, officials say

Scientists have scrambled to stage necessary fish surveys, but data analysis, salmon research and other services will be impacted, officials tell the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.