May 29, 2025 — U.S. President Donald Trump has delayed implementation of a 50 percent tariff on goods from the European Union to 9 July, after first announcing they would go into effect 1 June.
Following a 25 May call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Trump announced he would be pushing back the date. When questioned by a reporter 28 May, the president said the initial threat was needed to bring Europe to the negotiating table.
May 29, 2025 — Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a permit that will allow the first industrial-scale fish farm to begin operating in federal waters.
The pilot project, called Velella Epsilon, has been stalled for about six years; its approval follows an executive order signed by President Trump in April ordering the deregulation of aquaculture and the opening of some protected waters to commercial fishing.
It’s particularly significant because Velella Epsilon, which is expected to produce 20,000 red drum annually about 40 miles off the coast of Sarasota, Florida, has been at the center of a larger debate over farming the oceans for years.
On one side, environmental groups and coastal fishermen see any large-scale ocean farming of finfish as too risky, given past ecological disasters and the potential impacts on wild fisheries. On the other side, experts and advocates say we should find ways to farm more fish for climate benefits, to combat overfishing of wild species, and to reduce dependence on seafood imports.
Supporters of Velella Epsilon say it represents a new kind of open-ocean system that is designed specifically to eliminate the negative impacts of the offshore aquaculture operations of the past. This group has the support of powerful seafood corporations, grocers, restaurant chains, and their lobbyists.
May 29, 2025 — A local grassroots organization is asking the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts to reject a lawsuit challenging President Donald J. Trump’s wind-energy directive brought against his administration earlier this month by multiple states, including New Jersey.
Saying Trump’s directive does not violate any environmental statute and falls within the president’s supervisory authority laid out in the U.S. Constitution, Save LBI filed an amicus curiae brief (literally, friend of the court), the nonprofit said in a May 22 statement.
“While demonstrating that the state’s plaintiffs have no legal leg to stand on, Save LBI’s amicus brief also illuminates how recent sharp increases in marine mammal mortalities are attributable to offshore wind vessel survey activities,” said Bob Stern, president and co-founder of Save LBI. “… (It) shows that the serious harm foundation pile driving and long-term operation of wind turbines have on marine mammals far outweighs the minuscule benefits of these projects.”
In its filing, the bipartisan group of Long Beach Island residents and business owners also note no final agency action has taken to date that would justify court intervention, and the appropriate agencies retain lawful discretion to pause or reassess permitting decisions at any stage pending additional review under the law.
May 28, 2025 — The European Union is open to extending a deal which allows the duty-free import of U.S. lobsters as part of a broader package aimed at removing U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing two officials.
The EU’s current regulation eliminating customs duties for fresh and frozen lobsters from the U.S. expires on July 31. The lobster deal between the U.S. and EU was struck in 2020 during Trump’s first term.
May 21, 2025 — The Trump administration is allowing work on a major offshore wind project for New York to resume.
The developer, the Norwegian energy company Equinor, said Monday it was told by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that a stop-work order has been lifted for the Empire Wind project, allowing construction to resume.
Work has been paused since Interior Secretary Doug Burgum last month directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to halt construction and review the permits. Burgum said at the time that it appeared former President Joe Biden’s administration had “rushed through” the approvals. Equinor spent seven years obtaining permits and has spent more than $2.5 billion so far on a project that is one-third complete.
May 20, 2025 — Equinor said Monday that the Interior Department has lifted a stop work order on Empire Wind 1, a dramatic reversal by the Trump administration that breathed life into the 54-turbine project that had been on the brink of cancellation.
The reason for the turnaround wasn’t immediately clear. In a statement, Equinor CEO Anders Opedal thanked President Donald Trump for “finding a solution that saves thousands of American jobs and provides for continued investments in energy infrastructure in the U.S.”
Empire Wind 1 is central to New York’s climate and energy plans. The $5 billion project would connect directly into New York City’s power grid, providing enough electricity to supply 500,000 homes. It has been the focus of an intense international lobbying effort in recent weeks. Opedal and Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg met with White House officials to discuss the project last month.
May 20, 2025 — As the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump works to reduce staff and resources at NOAA Fisheries, a government watchdog has suggested more staff may be needed to improve the nation’s fisheries disaster assistance program.
The federal government’s fisheries disaster program was established to provide financial relief to the commercial fishing sector when it suffers a qualifying disaster, such as a sudden drop in population or the closure of a fishery for ecological reasons. However, the program has been frequently criticized by both commercial fishers and U.S. lawmakers for its lack of transparency and how long it takes the government to award disaster relief. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a Congressional watchdog organization, it took NOAA Fisheries between 1.3 years and 4.8 years to distribute funding for the 56 most recent fishery disaster determination requests.
May 20, 2025 — The Trump administration on Monday allowed construction to restart on a huge wind farm off the coast of Long Island, a month after federal officials had issued a highly unusual stop-work order that had pushed the $5 billion project to the brink of collapse.
In a statement, Gov. Kathy Hochul, Democrat of New York, said she had spent weeks pressing President Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to lift the government’s hold on the wind farm.
The project, known as Empire Wind, is being built by the Norwegian energy giant Equinor and when finished is expected to deliver enough electricity to power 500,000 New York homes.
“After countless conversations with Equinor and White House officials, bringing labor and business to the table to emphasize the importance of this project, I’m pleased that President Trump and Secretary Burgum have agreed to lift the stop work order and allow this project to move forward,” Ms. Hochul said on Monday evening.
When the Trump administration halted work on Empire Wind last month, it stunned observers and sent shock waves through the wind industry.
May 14, 2025 — Atlantic striped bass season begins on the Chesapeake Bay May 16 amid mounting tensions between fishing industry groups and regulatory agencies.
A federal lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by fishing industry organizations bordering the Atlantic Ocean and its inland waterways, including the Chesapeake Bay and Hudson River Estuary.
The suit targets the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), which coordinates conservation and management of coastal fish species shared by 15 states along the Atlantic coast, along with several other federal agencies.
Captain Rob Newberry, chair of Delmarva Fisheries Association (DFA), and Brian Hardman, chair of the Maryland Charter Boats Association, are leading the challenge against current Maryland state regulations, particularly those concerning striped bass.
May 13, 2025 — The developer of a major U.S. offshore wind project warned that it will cancel the Empire Wind facility off the coast of New York if it cannot in the coming days reach a resolution over a month-old stop-work order issued by the Trump administration.
Molly Morris, president of the U.S. renewable energy arm of Norway’s Equinor, said the company was spending $50 million a week to keep the project afloat.
“The situation is now unsustainable,” Morris said in an interview.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered Equinor to halt construction on the project on April 17, saying information suggested the administration of former President Joe Biden may have approved it without a thorough environmental analysis.