Congress said no — twice. The National Science Foundation is doing it anyway.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 12, 2026
CONTACT: Jo Knight, jo@conservefish.org

Arlington, VA – The Marine Fish Conservation Network today called on the National Science Foundation under the Trump administration to halt the dismantling of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), a $368 million deep-ocean monitoring network that fishing communities, fisheries managers, and scientists across the country depend on. Members of the Marine Fish Conservation Network released the following statements:

“Our fisheries are feeling the impacts of climate change on a massive scale, including ocean acidification, shifting currents, and more frequent extreme events like marine heat waves. Cutting-edge ocean monitoring systems like the Ocean Observatories Initiative are urgently needed to support productive fisheries and strong coastal communities in the face of climate change. Gutting this important ocean monitoring technology would set the U.S. back on the world stage and undermine our $319 billion dollar fishing industry.”
— Molly Masterton, Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

“Alaska fishermen depend on long-term monitoring of ocean currents and system changes to inform the science of fisheries management and our own business decisions to keep our industry successful. The Ocean Observatories Initiative gives us decades of invaluable knowledge that strengthens decision-making in an increasingly unpredictable ocean. Pulling those instruments out of the water undermines an important data foundation for our fisheries and takes a big gamble with our industry, our communities, and our fishing future.”
— Linda Behnken, Commercial Fisherman and Executive Director, Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association

“Dry docking this Ocean Observatories Initiative leaves our ships and critical science for marine managers with the nautical equivalent of ‘flying blind.’ Not only is this silly, it is dangerous for our many colleagues out on the water.”
— Kevin Scribner, Owner, Forever Wild Seafood

“Sound fisheries and marine ecosystems management requires sound science. The Ocean Observatories Initiative feeds real-time data into stock assessments, weather forecasting, harmful algal bloom warnings, and the climate and ecosystem monitoring that underpins billions of dollars in ocean and fishing-dependent economic activity. The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that fisheries decisions be based on the best available science. You cannot gut the monitoring systems that produce that science and claim to support American fishermen. The NSF calls it ‘descoping,’ but scientists, conservationists, and fishing communities call it what it is: the permanent destruction of invaluable infrastructure to study critical global issues from the seafloor to the atmosphere. Congress has said no before and should do so again.”
— Tom Sadler, Chief Executive Officer, Marine Fish Conservation Network

###

The Marine Fish Conservation Network is a coalition of commercial and recreational fishing associations, regional and national conservation groups, aquaria, and marine science organizations committed to sustaining fish populations, healthy marine ecosystems, and robust fishing communities.