National Marine Fisheries Service

BARATARIA BAY, La. (AP) — Open sores. Parasitic infections. Chewed-up-looking fins. Gashes. Mysterious black streaks. Two years after the drilling-rig explosion that touched off the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, scientists are...

Conservationists are decrying a move by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to loosen what critics say is already a lax restriction on shark finning, the controversial practice of slicing the fins off and discarding the body at sea. At its...

Last week, National Marine Fisheries Service officials made the decision to consider listing a harbor seal population in Lake Iliamna as endangered or threatened--yet another piece of wood on the controversial fire that is the Pebble Mine project. In...

Two people aboard a 20-foot boat near Ketchikan had their voyage terminated by the U.S. Coast Guard Thursday, following the discovery of several safety and fishing violations aboard. U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley says...

Two federal agencies on Friday announced a major review of how seismic testing for oil and gas deposits affects marine mammals and fish in deep waters off the Gulf of Mexico. So-called seismic surveys entail blasts from air guns or other ship-borne...

WASHINGTON — In one of nature's best comeback stories, endangered green sea turtles have multiplied in Florida during the past two decades and are now thriving in protected waters from Melbourne to the Florida Keys, marine scientists have...

The great hammerhead shark, a fearsome predator that prowls South Florida waters, has moved a step closer to protection under the Endangered Species Act. The National Marine Fisheries Service says the great hammerhead, which can reach a length of 18 feet...

What could drilling do to the Arctic Ocean?  That’s what an expanded environmental impact statement is looking into. In March, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) released a second draft study of oil and gas activities in the arctic and...

The National Marine Fisheries Service is planning workshops in Juneau and Yakutat on April 22 and 23 to take comment on whether cruise ships or other vessels in glacial fjords disturb harbor seals. Harbor seals are an important subsistence game animal...

Federal budget cutters are merging the two West Coast administrative regions of the National Marine Fisheries Service, a move that could leave California at a disadvantage. The merger will create one administrative region for the West Coast, saving an...

The Anchorage Economic Development Corporation released two reports on Friday outlining good news for unemployment and consumer optimism index in Anchorage. "Anchorage consumers are the most optimistic they have been in quite some time," Bill Popp, AEDC...

When the World Trade Organization found last year that U.S. labeling requirements for dolphin-safe tuna put Mexican tuna fishermen at a trade disadvantage, marine advocates worried that the federal government would weaken its dolphin-safe standards....