NOAA News Releases

The latest news releases from NOAA - the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NOAA Fisheries Service Agrees to Review Petition to Protect Smelt - March 12, 2008

NOAA's Fisheries Service is formally accepting a petition from the Cowlitz Indian Tribe to list eulachon (smelt) populations in Washington, Oregon and California for protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The tribes petition describes severe declines in smelt runs along the entire Pacific Coast, with possible local extinctions in California and Oregon
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080312_smelt.html

NOAA Considers Case to Protect Five Puget Sound Rockfish Species - March 12, 2008

NOAAs Fisheries Service is assembling a team of biologists to examine the decline of five Rockfish specifies in the Puget Sound and determine if it should formally propose listings under the Endangered Species Act. The assessment follows the acceptance of a petition filed by a Washington citizen.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080312_rockfish.html

NOAA to Close NJ Tautog Fishery April 1 - March 11, 2008

NOAAs Fisheries Service found that the State of New Jersey has failed to implement measures necessary to fulfill its responsibilities under the tautog interstate fishery management plan which are crucial for conservation of the salt water fish. As a result, NOAA will close New Jerseys commercial and recreational fishery for tautog on April 1.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080311_tautog.html

NOAAs Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Recognizes Student Scientist for Fishy Science Project - March 11, 2008

NOAAs Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary has awarded the Farallones Young Marine Scientist Award to seventh-grade student Noe Manley for her entry which compared a fishs size to its breathing rate in the 26th annual San Francisco Middle School Science Fair.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080311_student.html

Hurricane Forecasters Bring Preparedness Message to Mexico and Caribbean - March 10, 2008

NOAA and the U.S. Air Force Reserve will host a series of public events the week of March 23rd in five coastal communities in Mexico and the Caribbean to urge residents to prepare for the upcoming hurricane season.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080310_prepare.html

In New Effort, U.S. Army Divers Help NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries Remove Marine Debris and Support Fish Research - March 6, 2008

NOAAs Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the U.S. Army Dive Company are joining forces this month to repair buoy moorings, remove trash from dive sites, and install listening devices to track fish in national marine sanctuaries off Florida and Georgia.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080306_divers.html

Changes in Ocean Conditions in Sargasso Sea Potential Cause for Decline in Eel Fishery - March 6, 2008

American eels are fast disappearing from restaurant menus as stocks have declined sharply across the North Atlantic. While the reasons for the eel decline remain as mysterious as its long migrations, a recent study by a NOAA scientist and colleagues in Japan and the United Kingdom says shifts in ocean-atmosphere conditions may be a primary factor in declining reproduction and survival rates.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080306_eel.html

Rare White Killer Whale Spotted in Alaskan Waters From NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson - March 6, 2008

Scientists aboard the NOAA research vessel Oscar Dyson in the North Pacific have sighted a creature of great rarity and even myth: a white whale.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080306_whiteorca.html

NOAAs Fisheries Service Releases New Steller Sea Lion Recovery Plan - March 5, 2008

NOAAs Fisheries Service has published its new Steller Sea Lion Recovery Plan to help restore the endangered population in western Alaska and provide further improvements to the threatened population across eastern Alaska.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080305_sealion.html

Unfavorable Ocean Conditions Likely Cause of Low Salmon Returns Along West Coast in 2007 - March 3, 2008

NOAA scientists are reviewing unusual environmental conditions in the Pacific Ocean as the likely culprit for the dramatically low returns of Chinook and coho salmon to rivers and streams along the West Coast of the United States last year.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080303_salmon.html