December 2, 2025 — The following was released by the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy:
What: On December 1, 2025, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published a notice in the Federal Register reopening a docket requesting comments on how to improve regulations for the fishery and seafood industries. NOAA also announced that a virtual public listening session will be held on December 8, 2025, from 4:00 – 5:00 PM ET.
Why: NOAA’s request, originally published on August 27, 2025, builds upon President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) 14276, “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” The EO directs the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to “immediately consider suspending, revising, or rescinding regulations that overly burden America’s commercial fishing, aquaculture, and fish processing industries at the fishery-specific level.”
NOAA is seeking comments on the following areas:
- Regulations that govern fishing activities that may be suspended, revised, or rescinded.
- Ways to improve fisheries management and science.
- Less expensive and more reliable technologies and cooperative research which can be used to support fisheries assessments.
- Ways to modernize data collection and analytical practices to improve the responsiveness of fisheries management to real-time ocean conditions.
- Types of data, forecasting tools, or information products that are most needed by U.S. fishing businesses to adapt their operations effectively to changing economic and/or environmental conditions and maintain access to fishery resources.
- Ways to expand exempted fishing permit programs to promote fishing opportunities nationwide.
The Office of Advocacy submitted a comment letter with more than 20 different recommendations to NOAA on October 14, 2025.
Action: Comments are now due December 15, 2025. Comments should be submitted via email to nmfs.seafoodstrategy@noaa.gov with “E.O. 14276 Notice Response” in the subject.