Saving Seafood

Fishing council recommends rolling back fishing prohibitions in Pacific Ocean

September 18, 2025 — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council wants to undo fishing protections in the Pacific Ocean, which opponents say will hurt ocean ecosystems.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April to review regulations in U.S. marine monuments in an effort to promote domestic fishing.

As part of that review, WESPAC was asked to make recommendations to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce on what to do within Pacific monuments.

On Tuesday the council voted to endorse a July letter it drafted recommending the allowance of commercial fishing in three Pacific monuments — the Mariana Trench, Rose Atoll and Pāpahānaumokuākea marine national monuments.

The council also voted separately to repeal fishing prohibitions in the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, formerly known as the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.

Read the full article at Hawaii Public Radio

Federal judge skeptical of Massachusetts’ offshore wind lawsuit against Trump

September 8, 2025 — Massachusetts, and the wind projects that have invested millions to build off its coast, will have to wait a bit longer to see if a federal judge will provide any relief from President Donald Trump’s wind memorandum that has frozen offshore wind permitting for the last eight months.

Judge William G. Young, during a hearing on Thursday, again expressed some skepticism about the multistate lawsuit. In opening remarks, and during questioning to both parties, Young said that Trump has made his position against offshore wind very clear. So, if he were to rule in favor of the states (and against the memo), he asked what change it would make for the projects that have been stuck in permitting limbo.

“[Trump’s] view of the presidency is, those people who are subordinate to me are going to follow my instructions. That’s the presidency as we know it today,” Young said. “Given the president’s view, where does that get you? … He’ll tell [agencies] to deny [permits] and they will, because they have to follow orders.”

Massachusetts Deputy Attorney General Turner Smith in response said that although that may be true, the states will address it case by case and permit by permit, if necessary.

“They may decide to issue or deny a permit,” Smith said. “Our hope is that the agencies would take to heart that they are required to follow applicable law in processing and issuing these permits.”

U.S. Department of Justice attorney Michael Robertson, on behalf of the federal government, argued the states have not sufficiently proven violations of cited laws, and that if the judge were to rule in their favor, it should be on a permit by permit and project by project level.

Revolution Wind featured briefly in the hearing arguments. Late last month, the federal government issued a stop-work order on the under-construction project, citing Trump’s wind memo.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

US Wind asks federal court to deny Trump’s pending permit approval reversal

September 5, 2025 — Offshore wind developer US Wind has filed a cross claim against the Trump Administration in an ongoing legal battle over US Wind’s proposed project off the shores of Delmarva, according to court documents obtained by WBOC.

Filed on Sept. 3, US Wind’s cross claim against the federal government alleges the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Marine Fisheries Service are illegally seeking to vacate the Biden Administration’s previously approved permits that greenlit the US Wind offshore project.

As WBOC first reported, the Trump administration notified the US District Court in Delaware of its intention to withdraw federal approval of the permits on Aug. 22. Both the federal government and US Wind are listed as defendants in an ongoing lawsuit brought against them by Ocean City leaders, residents, businesses, and numerous other parties in an attempt to stop the offshore project. Because of their intent to reverse approval, the Trump Administration argues the lawsuit is about to be rendered moot.

Read the full article at WBOC

Trump Strikes Blow To New England Wind Project With Cancellation Of Federal Funding For Salem Port

September 3, 2025 — President Donald Trump’s administration cancelled almost $34 million intended to develop a vacant industrial facility in Salem into an offshore wind terminal, striking another blow against the already beleaguered New England Wind project slated for installation southwest of Nantucket and the struggling U.S. offshore wind industry at large.

Avangrid, the offshore wind developer behind both New England Wind and Vineyard Wind, planned to use Salem to stage the former project. It’s unclear how the loss of federal funding for the port project will impact New England Wind, or if the developers can complete the project under Trump’s regulatory regime.

New England Wind has already been substantially delayed as a result of previous federal efforts to curtail offshore wind development, which have held up power purchase agreements with Massachusetts’ utilities.

The lease areas for New England 1 and New England 2, located west of Vineyard Wind, would include 129 wind turbines that the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management estimates could power more than 900,000 homes each year.

Read the full article at the Nantucket Current

Feds move to vacate New England Wind permit as offshore wind rollback continues under Trump

September 3, 2025 — The federal government is now taking aim at New England Wind, asking a federal court to pause a lawsuit brought by island nonprofit ACK For Whales, saying it intends to seek remand and vacatur of the federal approval of the offshore wind project. It’s a move that, if granted, would effectively send the project back to square one and could make the case moot.

The announcement comes a week after the U.S. Department of Justice made a similar filing in the Town of Nantucket’s case against SouthCoast Wind. In that case, the DOJ asked the court to pause the suit while it reviewed SouthCoast’s permit.

Read the full article at The Inquirer and Mirror

US appeals court rules some Trump tariffs are illegal, but impacts will continue

September 2, 2025 — The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled a large swath of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs are illegal, but the tariffs will stay in place as the case awaits appeal.

The court ruled that the sweeping tariffs on almost every country in the world Trump announced in April were an overreach of his authority to impose tariffs under federal economic emergency laws. Trump had issued the “reciprocal” tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), but the appeals court ruling said that the IEEPA does not have a mechanism to impose tariffs.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Transportation Dept. Cancels $679 Million for Offshore Wind Projects

September 2, 2025 — The Transportation Department on Friday said it was terminating or withdrawing $679 million in federal funding for 12 projects around the country intended to support the development of offshore wind power, the latest of the Trump administration’s escalating attacks against the wind industry.

The funds, approved by the Biden administration, include $427 million awarded last year to upgrade a marine terminal in Humboldt County, Calif. The new terminal would be used to assemble and launch wind turbines capable of floating in the ocean, which the state of California had been planning to deploy to meet its renewable energy goals.

The list of targeted projects also includes $48 million for an offshore wind port on Staten Island, $39 million to upgrade a port near Norfolk, Va. and $20 million for a marine terminal in Paulsboro, N.J. Most of the projects were intended to be staging areas for the construction of giant wind turbines that would eventually be placed at sea.

“Wasteful wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go toward revitalizing America’s maritime industry,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement. He said that, where possible, the funding would be redirected toward upgrading other ports.

Read the full article at The New York Times

Murphy, other Democratic governors call on Trump to uphold wind permits

September 2, 2025 — Democratic governors are pushing back against President Donald Trump’s plans to halt offshore wind developments.

“We are looking for the Trump Administration to uphold all offshore wind permits already granted and allow these projects to be constructed,” said a statement issued Monday by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.

Trump has a deep, long-running dislike of wind farms he’s derided as ugly, bird-killing monstrosities. But his administration has moved more aggressively in recent weeks to restrict their construction, including by blocking projects from obtaining rural development business loans, halting construction of a nearly completed Ørsted A/S venture near Rhode Island and moving to invalidate the permit for another planned project off the Maryland coast.

Read the full article at Bloomberg News

Trump admin opens public comments on Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness

August 27, 2025 — NOAA Fisheries has opened a public comment period for feedback on how the agency should implement U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order on Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.

“Through our implementation of the President’s Executive Order, NOAA Fisheries is aiming to address the recent decline in fisheries landings and revenues,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Eugenio Piñeiro Soler said in a release. “We look forward to receiving input from the public.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Democratic governors demand Trump resume offshore wind project near Rhode Island

August 26, 2025 — A nearly complete wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut faces an uncertain future as the states’ Democratic governors, members of Congress and union workers are calling Monday for the Trump administration to let construction resume.

The administration halted construction on the Revolution Wind project last week, saying the federal government needs to review the project and address national security concerns. It did not specify what those concerns are. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said Monday it’s not commenting further at this time.

Read the full article at PBS