Saving Seafood

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

NEW JERSEY: Officials make ‘tough’ decision on offshore power project: ‘Has created significant uncertainty’

August 26, 2025 — Despite a strong desire to install a massive offshore wind farm, New Jersey is hitting pause on future wind energy projects.

What’s happening?

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has decided to delay the implementation of certain offshore wind energy infrastructure projects due to “significant uncertainty” stemming from federal policy changes. This decision also included canceling the Atlantic Shores wind project, an offshore wind energy initiative aimed at generating renewable energy for New Jersey.

“The Board finds that, due to the significant federal uncertainty in the offshore wind market, and Atlantic Shores inability to complete Project under the terms of the OREC Order, it is in the public interest to vacate the OREC Order and the Project’s status as a [Qualified Offshore Wind Project],” the board’s ruling reads.

In January 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that would effectively pave the way to cancel plans for new offshore wind energy development. The move also rescinded previously designated areas for offshore wind farms. The Trump administration then froze new or renewed permits, approvals, and loans for wind projects.

Read the full article at TCD

Trump administration strikes at Revolution Wind project

August 25, 2025 — The Trump administration issued a stop-work order Friday on Ørsted’s Revolution Wind project, a 65-turbine, 704-megawatt array already almost complete off southern New England. The order followed an announcement Thursday that the administration will investigate “national security” issues around offshore wind power projects.

In a letter to Denmark-based Ørsted the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management cited national security as the reason for the agency’s sudden decision to review the project despite previous approvals under the Biden administration.

“Ørsted is evaluating all options to resolve the matter expeditiously,” including court action, the company said in a statement.

Revolution Wind, under construction off Rhode Island, has been vigorously opposed by the commercial fishing industry for its siting near Cox Ledge, an important habitat for cod. In 2023 fishermen’s fierce opposition led to the mass resignation of  the Rhode Island Fishermen’s Advisory Board, whose members charged the state Coastal Resource Management Council is too deferential to wind development interests at the expense of habitat and fisheries impacts.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

New trade framework gives US seafood preferential access to EU markets

August 21, 2025 — The U.S. and the European Commission have released a joint framework covering the recent trade deal between the two sides, which will see preferential market access for a range of products, including seafood.

The E.U. agreed to a trade deal with the U.S. on 28 July, just days before the 1 August deadline that U.S. President Donald Trump set for achieving some form of agreement. Without the deal, goods from the E.U. entering the U.S. would have faced tariffs as high as 30 percent.

Read the full article at Seafood Source

Future Of Commercial Fishing In Protected Pacific Waters In Courts’ Hands

August 20, 2025 — Hawaiʻi-based longliners have logged more than 900 hours pursuing tuna in previously protected parts of the Pacific Ocean, online tracking data shows, since President Donald Trump lifted a commercial fishing ban in late April.

That new fishing opportunity disappeared recently when a district court judge ruled that U.S. fishery officials didn’t follow proper procedures before opening up the vast waters that form the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.

The remote area has become the latest flashpoint between conservationists who want more of the Pacific placed off-limits to better protect tuna stocks and sensitive marine environments and regional fishing leaders who say they need access to more fishing grounds — who now have Trump’s ear.

Those leaders have already stated they’d like to see the waters around the Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary opened up as well.

For the monument, Judge Micah Smith found that officials should have sought public input before enacting Trump’s order, which ultimately aims to reopen more than 400,000 square miles of deep ocean. Smith said they also need to publish new, proposed fishing rules in the Federal Register.

Read the full article at Civil Beats