Daniel Cusick

The reduction of launches at six stations is the latest in a growing string of balloon cancellations as the agency adapts to a shrinking staff.

Industry groups say they are concerned about cuts to NOAA Fisheries staffing and policies that have made agency experts inaccessible.

Organizers of at least two recent industry gatherings had to revamp program lineups after senior NOAA officials withdrew.

Aging aircraft and staff shortages are compromising forecasters' ability to predict Atlantic hurricanes and intensifying Pacific storms.

"With this next round, things are going to break, and they're going to break badly," said a NOAA official with the first Trump administration.

The Center for Weather and Climate Prediction was opened in 2012 and built to NOAA's specifications, said a former National Weather Service director.

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen said his current estimate is that 650 probationary employees were dismissed.

It is unclear how many NOAA employees were terminated Thursday by the Trump administration.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's review finds global fishing economies exceeds $380 billion annually.

The decision about the Rice's whale from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management was applauded by the oil and gas industry operating in the Gulf of Mexico.