Saving Seafood

USDA launches new office to support US seafood industry

April 17, 2026 — The federal government is rolling out a new office aimed at making it easier for fishermen and seafood businesses to get help from Washington.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it is creating an Office of Seafood, a first of its kind office aimed at better connecting seafood producers with federal programs and support.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins said in a statement the goal is to make it easier for fishermen, processors and aquaculture businesses to navigate government resources that haven’t always been easy to access.

Read the full article at WSUA9

USDA launches first-ever Office of Seafood

April 16, 2026 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Wednesday the creation of its new Office of Seafood, a first-of-its-kind office designed to give commercial fishermen, aquaculture producers, and seafood processors a clearer path to accessing federal programs and resources.

The announcement was made by USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins alongside Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, Sen. Dan Sullivan, R.-Alaska, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

The new office will primarily serve as a coordinating body, working across USDA agencies to better integrate fishermen into existing programs while also partnering with the Department of Commerce and other federal agencies. A central piece of its mission will be helping develop the America First Seafood Strategy, an initiative aimed at boosting domestic production, marketing, export, and processing capacity for U.S. seafood.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

US lawmakers ask government to provide financial aid for shellfish sector

February 19, 2026 — A group of U.S. lawmakers has asked the federal government to provide financial support to the nation’s struggling shellfish sector, which they claimed has been hit hard by increased tariffs.

“Tariffs and retaliatory tariffs have led to higher consumer prices, altered supply chains, reduced availability, higher equipment costs, and market instability for farmers of all kinds, including shellfish growers,” the lawmakers said in the joint letter dated 6 February. “In the last year, our strongest trade partners have launched retaliatory tariffs against the United States, causing uncertainty and hurting geoduck, oyster, and other shellfish industries many of our communities rely on as lifelines.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Opinion: Embarking on an America-first seafood strategy in Alaska

September 16, 2025 — In 1787, Alexander Hamilton stressed the need for a united national effort to protect America’s ocean resources from stagnation and unfair foreign trade practices. Absent vigorous federal action to free our fisheries from barriers to growth and trade, “that unequalled spirit of enterprise, which signalises the genius of the American Merchants and Navigators, and which is in itself an inexhaustible mine of national wealth, would be stifled and lost.”

Since Hamilton wrote those words, Alaska became first a territory, then the 49th state in the Union, cementing itself as a linchpin of the nation’s food supply, economy and national security.

Alaska has the largest federal fisheries in the nation—roughly 60% of America’s harvest by volume. The Alaska seafood industry produces roughly $6 billion in economic output for the state and employs 48,000 Alaskans.

In addition to feeding our own citizens, fisheries products are among the top three U.S. food, agriculture and related product export categories, and there is soaring global demand for these high-quality, high-value commodities.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News