\n<\/p>\n
April 4, 2025<\/b> \u2013\u00a0On Wednesday, a group of leading Democrats on the House Committee on Natural Resources hosted an unofficial forum to call attention to the potential impacts of significant staff cuts<\/a> and office closures at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration<\/a> (NOAA). NOAA\u2019s workforce is slated for<\/a> about a 20 percent reduction in size, with more than 1,000 employees already gone. DOGE is also planning to close 34 agency offices in 17 states and territories.<\/p>\n Representative Seth Magaziner (D-Rhode Island) said that one of those offices is a branch of the National Marine Fisheries Service in his district, noting that NOAA is an \u201ceconomic engine\u201d for fishing and agriculture, two industries that depend on weather and climate data. \u201cFishermen rely on accurate weather predictions to safely navigate our waters,\u201d he said. \u201cFarmers rely on NOAA\u2019s climate models to make informed decisions that affect their crops and livelihoods.\u201d<\/p>\n Mary Glackin, a 30-year NOAA employee who is now retired, emphasized that NOAA\u2019s National Weather Service<\/a> data underpins all private weather forecasting in the country.<\/p>\n NOAA is also the primary regulator of fisheries, and witnesses said they are already seeing impacts from cuts. Elizabeth L. Lewis, at attorney at Eubanks & Associates, told the lawmakers that Atlantic bluefin tuna was overfished<\/a> by 125 percent this year because NOAA failed to close the fishery on time and that several other fisheries, including scallops and Pacific salmon, likely face delayed openings.<\/p>\n Sarah Schumann, a commercial fisherman from Rhode Island, said she had approached Trump\u2019s populist rise with cautious optimism but now she believes DOGE\u2019s cuts threaten the livelihoods of Americans who work the waterfronts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n