Saving Seafood

Federal government’s new America-First Seafood Strategy offers hope for Gulf shrimpers

October 28, 2026 — The Southern Shrimp Alliance welcomes the Trump Administration’s announcement of the America First Seafood Strategy.

The Friday announcement was accompanied by a 33-page report and website, seafood.gov, focused on the revitalization of the U.S. seafood industry that clearly identified the challenge confronting the federal government: “Rich Waters. Rising Imports.”

The United States has some of the richest fishery resources in the world and the hardest working commercial fishermen on Earth. Yet America imports an overwhelming majority of its seafood supply while domestic seafood businesses and fishing communities struggle to survive. President Trump is fixing this, and putting America’s fisheries and American consumers first.

“President Trump has prioritized getting fishermen back to work to supply Americans with healthy, sustainable, domestically-sourced seafood. The U.S. shrimp industry is thrilled to see a detailed America First Seafood Strategy and looks forward to assisting federal agencies in the implementation of its objectives,” said Blake Price, Executive Director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “At the same time, American shrimpers ask that the Administration take meaningful action to combat the unfair trade practices that have allowed foreign seafood to dominate our market and provide immediate relief from high diesel costs that have forced our boats to tie up.”

Read the full article at The Houma Times

Trapped: Soaring fuel costs hurt Maine lobster industry before midterms

October 26, 2026 — Lobsterman Steve Train starts every workday before dawn about $1,000 in the hole, a hike in expenses driven by soaring fuel costs that are hammering Maine’s flagship maritime industry ahead of US midterm elections.

Before hauling a single trap from picturesque Casco Bay, north of Portland, the 59-year-old lobsterboat captain counts the costs: Thirty gallons of diesel at $6.49 per gallon — nearly 45 percent up from one year ago — and three drums of increasingly expensive bait at $260 a pop.

“It’s hard to make a business plan with so many uncertainties and so much change,” Train, who works with his brother, told AFP aboard their 36-foot (11-meter) single-engine boat named “Moira Bay.”

They had just finished unloading 430 pounds (195 kilograms) of American lobster at the Portland pier. “We had a good day,” Train said.

But a storm is brewing — and the fuel costs affecting Maine’s lobster industry feature prominently in November’s midterm vote, where the state’s veteran Republican Senator Susan Collins is fighting a strong challenge from Democrat Troy Jackson.

Read the full article at Yahoo! News

ALASKA: Juneau fishing fleet could get relief for soaring diesel costs

October 26, 2026 — Diesel prices climbed so high this summer that some Southeast Alaska fishermen shifted toward less fuel-intensive fishing, but now, an $8 billion federal relief program could help offset those costs, although crews still don’t know when they can apply or how much they might receive.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the Harvest Fuel Relief Program on Monday (Oct. 19), promising one-time payments to producers facing higher operating costs and market disruptions. Sen. Dan Sullivan announced Tuesday that Alaska’s commercial fishermen would be eligible to participate.

Juneau has a sizable stake in the program. United Fishermen of Alaska’s latest community profile, using 2023 data, lists 482 fishing vessels homeported in the city and borough, including 275 that were locally owned. Seafood delivered to Juneau that year carried an estimated dockside value of $27 million.

Read the full article at Juneau Empire

MAINE: Maine farmers and fishermen can get federal assistance to offset high fuel prices

October 22, 2026 — Maine farmers and fishermen can now get federal assistance to offset rising diesel prices.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said Tuesday that farmers and fishermen are eligible for assistance under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s $8 billion “Harvest Fuel Relief” program.

Under that new program, farmers and fishermen can get a one-time payment to offset those higher production costs. Rates will be announced in November.

“The rising cost of fuel and other inputs has placed significant financial strain on hardworking farmers, fishermen, lobstermen, and their families. After speaking with both the White House and Secretary Rollins, I am pleased to have been assured that Maine fishermen and lobstermen will benefit from the Administration’s new agricultural relief package,” Collins said in a statement. “I will continue advocating for Maine’s fishermen, lobstermen, and specialty crop growers, who are integral to our state’s heritage, economy, and way of life, to ensure they receive the support they need to overcome these challenges.”

Read the full article at Bangor Daily News

National Seafood Association Statement on the Harvest Fuel Relief program

October 22, 2026– The National Seafood Association welcomes the announcement of the new Harvest Fuel Relief program, designed to offset the impact of higher fuel prices on agriculture and seafood communities. Getting America’s healthiest animal protein from bait to plate involves a complex supply chain, and rising fuel costs have placed significant financial pressure on seafood businesses.

The Trump administration’s work with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, the USDA Office of Seafood and the Farm Service Agency to include seafood in this critical program illustrates a focus on affordably feeding Americans. Likewise, it demonstrates the important role seafood plays in nutrition and food security.

Fuel continues to be one of the biggest operating expenses in the commercial seafood sector and this understanding and assistance from the Agriculture Department will help consumers and the  hardworking families who harvest America’s seafood.

Lisa Wallenda Picard
President & CEO

LOUISIANA: Price of diesel affecting shrimping industry

October 8, 2026 — For years, the shrimping industry has battled wave after wave of challenges, from surges of imported shrimp to plummeting prices and wild weather. Now, a new threat looms: skyrocketing diesel fuel costs.

Diesel fuel has hit a record price of close to $6 a gallon in South Louisiana, and the national average is $6.52, according to AAA. That is up an average of $3.69 a gallon at this time last year.

With fuel prices so high, many shrimpers remain at the dock.

Albert and Cheryl Granger are a husband-and-wife team who own a 55-foot-long shrimp boat that their son, Albert Jr., operates. They sell their shrimp from their home in the north Vermilion area. Their business is called “Granger Seafood.”

It is a method they have been doing since the early 1980s, long before it was popular.
But in recent months, they have watched their hard-earned profits slip away, eaten up by the relentless climb of fuel prices.

Read the full article at VermilionToday.com

Diesel at $6.52 squeezes fishing fleets as lobster demand sags

September 28, 2026 — The national average U.S. diesel price hit $6.529 per gallon for the week of September 21, its 11th consecutive weekly increase, according to EIA data reported by Logistics Management — and nowhere is that pain more concentrated than on the nation’s fishing docks.

Heating Oil futures (CME:HO1!), the most direct commodity expression of the diesel crunch, were trading at $4.64 per gallon ahead of Monday’s NYSE open, up 3.88% from Friday’s close and more than double their 52-week low of $2.31, per Investing.com data. Equity investors looking for a direct market handle on fishing-sector margin pressure can watch two thresholds: Clearwater Seafoods trades as a proxy for seafood-processor economics, and analysts note that a move by HO1! through $5.00 per gallon would represent the point at which fuel costs exceed most mid-sized fleet operators’ break-even assumptions, likely forcing further capacity reductions and order-book deterioration for processors like Clearwater. That trajectory tracks precisely with what commercial fishermen are paying at the pier.

Cape Cod fisherman Sam Fuller told the Cape Cod Chronicle that diesel at the Chatham fish pier reached $6.44 per gallon, nearly double the $3.48 he paid a year ago. His vessel burns roughly 200 gallons per week. “Unfortunately fishermen, we’re the end of the line. We can’t raise our rates,” Fuller said. “Everything we’re using now is going up.” The quote captures the structural trap: unlike trucking companies or airlines, fishermen have no mechanism to pass fuel costs downstream. Dock prices for their catch are set by buyers, not sellers.

Read the full article at Investing.com