As we welcome autumn, we also celebrate National Seafood Month. The United States is recognized as a global leader in sustainable seafood for both wild-caught and farmed species. U.S. fishermen and fish farmers operate under some of the most robust and transparent environmental standards in the world. NOAA Fisheries works to advance and export sustainable management practices internationally. We establish and maintain a level playing field for our fishermen and fish farmers, and maintain confidence in U.S. seafood products and access to the global marketplace.
Aquaculture plays a key role in sustainable seafood as well. Developing a domestic aquaculture industry is critical for the economic and environmental resiliency of our coastal communities and supply of sustainable seafood.
Sustainable seafood relies on strong science, responsive management, and enforced compliance. NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement enforces best stewardship practices over our ocean fisheries. They work with domestic and international partners to ensure a level playing field for those playing by the rules, combating IUU fishing and expanding compliance with ocean stewardship laws.
Join us all month long to celebrate sustainable seafood with new features, videos, and more. There's a lot to celebrate because—aside from being scrumptious—seafood is good for you, good for the economy, and good for the planet! So dig into our seafood features below.
Seafood Features
Seafood for Everyone: A Conservation with Janet Coit
On this episode of Dive In With NOAA Fisheries, we talk with NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Janet Coit and discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the U.S. seafood industry and getting Americans to eat more local seafood.
How NOAA Preserves the Habitat of Seafood in the Pacific Islands
From protecting essential fish habitat to recovering coral colonies that have detached from the reef, NOAA supports seafood habitat in many ways.
How NOAA preserves the habitat of seafood in the Pacific Islands
Spooky Fish That Are Actually Delish: Serve These for Halloween
It’s the season for ghosts, goblins and ghouls — but did you know that October is also the time that we recognize the importance of sustainable seafood? This National Seafood Month, check out our FishWatch recipes to discover how you can turn spookily-named fish into your next delicious dish.
Spooky fish that are actually delish
BlueTrace Wins NOAA Small Business Innovation Research Grant
Maine-based shellfish technology company BlueTrace has won a $500,000 NOAA Small Business Innovation Research grant to expedite their innovative shellfish tagging and traceability efforts. Seeing a need in the shellfish market to more effectively manage and track harvests, founder and CEO Chip Terry and his partners started Oyster Tracker. That product quickly evolved into the BlueTrace tool for shellfish harvesters to print tags and digitally record the harvest logs required by law.
More about BlueTrace's Innovative shellfish tagging and traceability efforts
Ensuring a Future for Seafood in a Changing Ocean: Part 1
This October, we’re celebrating National Seafood Month by featuring (and feasting on) the bounties of our nation’s seafood industry. But we are also mindful of the challenges a changing ocean poses to the future of these harvests and all the people that bring them to us. Here’s a look at just some of the ways NOAA Fisheries and our partners are laying the groundwork for adapting our fisheries and aquaculture to a changing climate through the decades ahead.
Read the first installment in this 2-part series
Ensuring a Future for Seafood in a Changing Ocean: Part 2
NOAA Fisheries works to support resource managers, municipalities, and seafood businesses as they make decisions about how they will adapt to climate change. Across the country, regional fisheries councils and coastal communities are leading the way. The second installment of this 2-part series highlights a few examples.
Learn how NOAA's partners are working to build a resilient seafood future
7 Ways to Celebrate National Seafood Month
Temperatures are cooling, leaves are changing colors, and the smell of pumpkin spice fills the air—all signs of fall in the United States! This time of year is meaningful for many reasons. At NOAA Fisheries, it’s a time to celebrate seafood because October is National Seafood Month. Check out ways you and your family can savor the flavors—and health benefits—of seafood.
See 7 ways to celebrate National Seafood Month
Aquaculture: Policy and Possibilities
Aquaculture is important for nutrition, for local jobs, for climate-ready food systems, and for collaboration between wild capture and aquaculture to put U.S. seafood back on U.S. plates. In this Dive In With NOAA Fisheries podcast, we talk with Dr. Michael Rubino, NOAA Fisheries’ Senior Advisor for Seafood Strategy and formerly the director of the Office of Aquaculture. He’s been thinking a lot about farmed seafood’s place in the greater industry, and how technology and innovation have made it safer and more sustainable. Recently, he published an article about aquaculture policy considerations outlining some opportunities and challenges facing it in the future.
Ku a Lanakila Nā Mahi Iʻa: the Fish Farmers Stand Victorious
Join the webinar Wednesday, October 5, 2022 at 3:00pm EST to learn more about the Ku a Lanakila Nā Mahi Iʻa project. This project uses oral history documentation to uplift the innovation and pioneering spirit of the elder generation of Hawaiʻi aquaculturists. Hawaiʻi-based nonprofit Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo aims to document the lived experiences of growing seafood as a means to ensure we continue to hold restorative aquaculture as a crucial part of our food systems into the future. We also hope to increase awareness of aquaculture achievements in Hawaiʻi, including successes in modern aquaculture as well as the resilience of loko iʻa as the oldest form of mariculture and aquaculture innovation in the islands. The project also increases community capacity to do oral history documentation by providing resources for training and technical support for audio recording and transcription. We will share about the pilot phase of the project in which nine participants were interviewed on three different islands.
Sustainable Pacific Oyster Farming
Pacific oysters are a smart seafood choice because they are sustainably grown and harvested under state and federal regulations.
Learn more about Alaska's growing aquatic farming industry
Sustainable Fisheries, Sustainable Seafood
Celebrating success in recovering our nation's fisheries.
Celebrating sustainable fisheries and sustainable seafood
Cheer for Seafood at Your Next Tailgate Party
This fall, get ready for the big game with these seafood tailgate ideas.
Get fun fall seafood recipes ideas
