national marine fisheries service

Eighty miles southeast of Ocean City, scientists aboard the federal research vessel Henry B. Bigelow are exploring a lush underwater landscape that until recently few would have imagined —colorful corals clinging to the rocky slopes of deep-sea canyons.

According to a new study of the top U.S. seafood imports, an estimated 20 to 32 percent of the wild-caught seafood crossing our borders was found to have originated from illegal sources. Other recent research has have found that up to 33 percent of seafood samples tested in the U.S. were mislabeled, substituting one species of fish for another. The inability to distinguish between legally and illegally caught fish undermines progress being made both in the U.S. and abroad, puts law-abiding

A possible government shutdown starting Tuesday would cause federal agencies in Maryland to close or seriously cut back operations, resulting in significant hardship for federal workers, as well as declining economic output and lower tax revenue for the state.

There's new help on the way for what used to be the Chesapeake Bay's most important fish, though how much good it will do remains to be seen. The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council has enacted a first-ever cap on how many American shad and related fish that ocean-going fishing trawlers can catch by accident when going after other species such as mackerel.

Conservationists are decrying a move by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to loosen for smooth dogfish 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.

If a little green might help restore Baltimore's ailing harbor, how can a lot be bad? That's the question city, state and federal officials are pondering as they weigh a local marina magnate's plan to fill an unused corner of the Inner Harbor with a large floating marsh.

Some Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission members concerned about disappearance of rockfish in northern waters

Maryland Department of Natural Resources is bending over backward to get oyster farms up and running as quickly as possible