Federal budget conflicts in Washington, D.C. have consequences that reach beyond the capital. For commercial fishermen, cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service (NWS) create real safety hazards on the water.
Since early 2025, hundreds of NWS and NOAA employees have left due to layoffs and attrition. About 40% of the nation’s 122 weather forecast offices now carry significant staffing vacancies, and at least eight are unable to maintain 24-hour coverage. As Tom Fahy of the National Weather Service Employees Organization noted, “This has never happened before. We’ve always been an agency that has provided 24/7 service to the American public.” Five former NWS directors issued a joint warning to Congress: “Our worst nightmare is that weather forecast offices will be so understaffed that there will be needless loss of life.”
Alaska is uniquely exposed. The Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska are known for fierce weather conditions. For a Dutch Harbor or Kodiak skipper, reliable forecasting isn’t a convenience, it can be the difference between a safe trip and a fatal one.
In January 2026, a bipartisan spending bill was passed that maintained NOAA Fisheries funding at the current $1.12 billion level. The bill allocated $105 million to fisheries and forecasting initiatives, and designated $3.5 million to the Bristol Bay Science and Research Institute for genetic analysis aimed at reducing chum salmon bycatch in the pollock fishery. $2 million was allocated to the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation’s Seafood Modernization Initiative, and $1.5 million went to the University of Alaska Fairbanks for drone-based lidar salmon counting improvements. Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) fires quick laser pulses and measures their return time to create an accurate 3D map of objects.
Approving a budget that was already stretched doesn’t instantly bring back scientists or refill forecast offices overnight. It can take years to recover the expertise lost when layoffs occur or employees leave.
A stretched budget does not change your legal rights as a maritime worker. Vessel operators remain legally obligated to provide their crews with a reasonably safe workplace, including making sound decisions about weather. When those decisions go wrong, injured fishermen and their families have rights under the Jones Act and general maritime law.
If you or someone you love has been injured at sea, contact Stacey & Jacobsen, PLLC for a free, confidential consultation. With offices in Seattle and Anchorage, we represent commercial fishermen and maritime workers throughout Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.