Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness
This Executive Order directs federal agencies to remove or revise regulations they determine unduly burden U.S. commercial fishing, aquaculture, and seafood processing, and to take a suite of actions intended to boost domestic seafood production, marketing, and exports. It also directs trade-focused steps to address unfair foreign practices (including illegal, unreported, and unregulated — IUU — fishing and forced labor), calls for modernization of fisheries data and technology, and orders reviews of some conservation protections (including marine national monuments) for possible opening to commercial fishing. If implemented, the order could increase fishing and processing activity, change how fisheries are managed (faster, more technology-driven), and reshape seafood trade policy. Potential benefits include higher domestic production, more market access, and streamlined regulatory processes for industry. Potential risks include reduced traceability of imports, tensions with conservation goals and environmental laws, and trade friction with seafood-exporting countries.
Key Points
- 1Regulatory review and burden reduction: The Secretary of Commerce (with HHS input and industry engagement) must, immediately and at the fishery-specific level, consider suspending, revising, or rescinding regulations deemed overly burdensome. Within 30 days the Secretary must identify the most overregulated fisheries; Councils must provide updated recommendations within 180 days.
- 2Public engagement and legal limits: Commerce will solicit public comments (from industry, scientists, tech experts, etc.) and engage agencies to ensure fisheries management and science support prioritized seafood supply-chain needs — while stating actions must remain within existing statutes (e.g., Magnuson‑Stevens, ESA, Marine Mammal Protection Act).
- 3Modernize science and data collection: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is directed to adopt less expensive and more reliable technologies, expand exempted fishing permits (temporary relief to test/fish under exemptions), support cooperative research, and modernize data/analytics for more responsive management.
- 4Trade and import actions: The Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) must produce a seafood trade strategy (within 60 days) to improve market access and counter unfair practices, and USTR is instructed to examine IUU and forced labor in foreign supply chains and consider trade enforcement (including Section 301). Commerce, HHS, and DHS are to consider narrowing recent expansions of the Seafood Import Monitoring Program to focus on high‑risk shipments.
- 5Review of protected ocean areas: Commerce, in consultation with Interior, must review existing marine national monuments within 180 days and recommend any that should be opened to commercial fishing, considering whether opening would be consistent with preservation of historically or scientifically significant features.