Saving Seafood

Reports indicate Trump planning to gut NOAA, transfer fisheries functions to US Fish and Wildlife Service

April 11, 2025 — The Trump administration is planning to make severe cuts to NOAA Fisheries, transferring most fisheries services to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS), according to internal documents obtained by CNN.

“This is ludicrous! Whether you live on a coast or in the heartland, these proposed cuts to NOAA will impact you,” Oceana Vice President for the United States Beth Lowell said in a statement. “Eliminating funding and staffing won’t just cause chaos and confusion within NOAA – it would undermine people and businesses across the country.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Lawmakers, officials debate pros and cons of tariffs on the seafood sector

April 10, 2025 — Lawmakers in Congress are debating the impact of the Trump administration’s ever-fluctuating tariffs on the seafood sector, with a handful of Republicans crossing the aisle in favor of curtailing the president’s authority to implement tariffs without review.

U.S. President Donald Trump has moved swiftly in the first few months of his second administration to improve the nation’s trade deficit by implementing wide-ranging tariffs on foreign goods – though he’s walked many of the tariffs back just as quickly.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

The White House: Executive Order to restore American maritime dominance

April 9, 2025 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by the White House today:

REVITALIZING U.S. MARITIME POWER: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a historic Executive Order to restore American maritime dominance

  • The Order directs the creation of a Maritime Action Plan (MAP) to revitalize U.S. maritime industries.
    • The MAP will provide a strategy with specific actions to restore and create sustained resiliency for the American maritime industry.
  • Up until now, government procurement processes and over-regulation have hindered private industry’s ability to build vessels on time and on budget—this Order reverses that trend.
  • It instructs the Secretary of Defense to assess options, including the Defense Production Act Title III authorities, to invest in and expand the Maritime Industrial Base.
    • Such an action will help better utilize and leverage existing authorities to spur public and private investment in the Maritime Industrial Base.
  • The Order directs the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to make recommendations regarding China’s anticompetitive actions within the shipbuilding industry.
  • It also directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to enforce collection of the Harbor Maintenance Fee and other charges on foreign cargo entering the United States to prevent circumvention via Canada or Mexico.
    • This will put an end to a longstanding unfair practice, ensuring all cargoes entering the United States are assessed the proper applicable fees and generating additional revenue for investment into the maritime industry.
  • The U.S. government will work with our allies and partners to align trade policies to disrupt China’s non-market practices in the international supply chain and logistics sectors.
  • The Order establishes a Maritime Security Trust Fund to provide consistent funding for maritime programs in addition to a shipbuilding financial incentives program to boost private investment in U.S. shipbuilding.
  • It develops Maritime Prosperity Zones to incentivize investment in waterfront communities and is to be modeled on President Trump’s highly successful Opportunity Zone concept.
  • It expands Mariner training and education through an investment in the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and a plan for expanding training opportunities.
  • To ensure national economic security, the U.S. government will increase the fleet of commercial vessels trading internationally under U.S. flag as well as domestically between our ports.
  • The MAP will develop a strategy to ensure security and leadership of arctic waterways to address the growing presence of foreign nations in the region and the need for the United States to reestablish itself in the area.
  • The Administration will review ways to improve competition within the private sector for government projects and reduce costs to ensure taxpayer funds are being utilized most efficiently.
  • The Order directs the Secretary of Defense to conduct a review and issue guidance on the funding, retention, support, and mobilization of a robust inactive reserve fleet, to ensure we have adequate assured access to sealift capacity whenever needed for military operations.

Read the full text of the executive order here

Trump pauses tariffs on most countries, but raises tariffs on China to 125 percent

April 9, 2025 — U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for most countries targeted by his “reciprocal” tariff action but raised tariffs on Chinese exports to 125 percent after the country promised retaliatory tariffs of its own.

Both China and Europe have announced retaliatory tariffs on goods from the U.S. as sweeping tariffs announced on 2 April by U.S. President Donald Trump were set to take effect on 9 April.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Experts see impact of U.S. tariffs in cargo level and container booking forecasts

April 9, 2025 —  Retail, shipping, and logistics industry stakeholders are already seeing the impacts of U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff program and warn of more to come.

Trump first announced a set of sweeping tariffs on 2 April that were going to hit every country with tariffs ranging from 10 percent to 50 percent. A later announcement on 9 April paused those tariffs for most countries, while raising tariffs against China to 125 percent.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US federal funding cuts eliminating traditionally steady purchases of seafood

April 9, 2025 — Massive funding cuts that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has made to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Cooperative Program are cutting off traditionally reliable buyers of the nation’s seafood.

The LFPA cuts amount to an estimated USD 1.13 billion (EUR 1 billion) and are hampering the ability of food banks across the nation to feed local populations with safe, fresh food options, including local seafood.

Read the full article at SeadfoodSource

NEW YORK: New York’s wind farms on Long Island face uncertainty after President Trump halts lease sales, permits

April 8, 2025 — Smith Point’s Park Beach is where offshore wind energy will soon come ashore. Crews there are laying cables for New York’s second wind farm with 84 turbines 30 miles off Montauk.

“We have this untapped renewable resource, the wind… this is going to power millions of homes… with almost zero fossil fuel use,” Melissa Parrot, executive director of Renewable Energy Long Island said. “The planet is at stake. We see the glaciers melting… you see the storms, you see the floods… and the number one way to curb climate change is to stop our CO2 output, which is fossil fuel use.”

Hope has turned to uncertainty. On his first day in office, President Trump halted ocean wind lease sales and permits, ordering a full review. His strategy prioritizes oil, gas and coal to lower prices, he said.

“We have more energy than anybody and we are going to be unleashing it,” Mr. Trump said.

On the other end of of Long Island and on the flip side of the debate, Christina Kramer of Protect Our Coast – LINY applauds Mr. Trump’s decision. She turned against offshore wind when a transmission line was proposed on her Long Beach block. Her group argues wind energy is unreliable, costly and environmentally harmful.

Read the full article at CBS News

Customs guidance on Trump tariffs appears to give domestic seafood a slight break

April 7, 2025 — A bulletin issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) providing additional guidance on U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs has revealed importers have until 27 May to bring goods onshore to avoid additional fees – and that U.S.-origin seafood will be given a break on tariffed value when re-imported.

Trump issued sweeping tariffs hitting virtually every country on 2 April – a move that will affect billions of dollars of seafood imports. The U.S. imports far more seafood than it produces; according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the country imported USD 25.3 billion (EUR 23.1 billion) worth of seafood products in 2023, resulting in a trade deficit of USD 20.3 billion (EUR 18.6 billion).

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US offshore wind farm projects slow as Trump opposition adds to hurdles

April 7, 2025 —  Energy firms have slowed construction of offshore wind farms in the U.S. for various reasons in recent years, including, most recently, opposition from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.

Offshore wind was a key pillar of former President Joe Biden’s promise that fighting climate change will create jobs and invigorate the economy. In 2023 and 2024, however, several offshore wind companies took billions in write-offs, impairments and other cancellation fees after determining they could no longer complete projects profitably due to rocketing construction costs, higher interest rates and supply chain snags.

After Trump suspended new offshore wind leasing on his first day back in the Oval Office in January, several energy analysts said they did not expect any new offshore wind projects other than those already under construction to move forward over the next few years.

There are four offshore wind farms in service and producing power in the U.S., and another four projects under construction that are expected to enter service from 2025-2027. There are also several projects in advanced development.

Recently, some analysts have warned that projects already under construction may not be safe from attacks by the Trump administration.

Read the full article at Reuters

Plenty of fish: Gov. DeSantis says Donald Trump ‘supportive’ of Atlantic snapper harvest

April 7, 2025 — Florida’s Governor says the federal government may come through in expanding the red snapper season in the Atlantic.

“I think the administration is supportive of it,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said.

“I have mentioned it to the President, but I definitely mentioned it also to the Secretary of the Commerce. And I know they’re still filling out NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and they’re doing, still, all that. And there’s a lot of irons in the fire, but returning this to state management would be a home run.”

Recreational anglers got just one day in 2024, though commercial operations had from July until the end of the year.

Read the full article at Florida Politics