News and Announcements | NOAA Fisheries

Cracking the Code: Scientists Use DNA to Examine Differences between Hatchery and Wild Chinook Salmon in Southeast Alaska

Hatchery-reared salmon show genetic differences from wild populations in only a few generations, but those differences vary among hatcheries.

February 14, 2024 - Feature Story ,

Alaska

Large school of fish swimming in greenish water

Name That Whale Contest!

Help us name our newly identified North Pacific right whale.

February 14, 2024 - Feature Story ,

Alaska

Public Input Helps Improve our Understanding of Marine Ecological Relationships in Alaska

Critical links identified between young pollock survival and changes in habitat and prey availability over a 60-year timeframe.

February 13, 2024 - Feature Story ,

Alaska

food web for Bering Sea fish and other species, graphic showing connections between species

This is a path diagram for the Bering Sea and Aleutians Islands marine ecosystem. It shows linkages between ecosystem variables. Arrows correspond to suspected relationships. An arrow pointing from X to Y indicates that a change in X is estimated to cause a change in Y. The number next to each arrow shows the estimated magnitude of the change (red arrows indicate a negative change and blue arrows indicate a positive change).

New Program Manager to Lead Economic and Social Science Research in Alaska

The Alaska Fisheries Science Center continues to emphasize the importance of economic and sociocultural data in fisheries management by hiring Abigail Harley to lead the program.

February 08, 2024 - Feature Story ,

Alaska

Scientist with child in a safety vest on a boat

Abigail Harley and her son on a boat.

Scientists Identify Ways to Account for Effects of Climate Change on Fish Stock Estimates

Thirty years of larval fish data prove essential for development of a new approach to enhance stock assessment accuracy.

February 08, 2024 - Feature Story ,

Alaska

Top image is a larval pollock, bottom image is an adult pollock

Larval and adult walleye pollock. Credit: NOAA Fisheries

Whales on the Brink: Making Strides in Marine Mammal Research and Protection

NOAA Fisheries and partners convened an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, the discovery of the Rice’s whale, and recent advancements in marine mammal research and conservation.

February 01, 2024 - Feature Story ,

Alaska

Southeast

National

A large group of people smile in front of an ocean-themed backdrop in a museum

NOAA staff stand by the new Rice’s whale exhibit (far right) in Sant Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Paul Hillman

NOAA Announces Confirmed Large Whale Entanglement Numbers in 2022

There were 67 large whale entanglement cases in 2022—a slight decrease from 2021, and slightly below the historical average.

January 22, 2024 - Feature Story ,

Alaska

New England/Mid-Atlantic

Pacific Islands

Southeast

West Coast

National

Large whale entanglement responders attemot to free an entangled minke whale. One responder is in the bow of the boat and holding the control line while another use a dive mask to better visualize the entanglement configuration.

Responders from the Center for Coastal Studies work to free an entangled minke whale on June 29, 2022. The animal was anchored in place after the whale had bitten down on a 20-pot trawl line. The team was able to cut the buoy line near the whale’s mouth, and the fisherman was able to recover the gear. Credit: Center for Coastal Studies; NOAA Permit No. 18786

Documenting the Elusive North Pacific Right Whale

North Atlantic right whales get a lot of attention. In this episode, we learn a little about their lesser known West Coast cousins: North Pacific right whales, whose numbers are dramatically low.

January 11, 2024 - Podcast ,

Alaska

West Coast