Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Sullivan, Peltola battle for Alaska fishing vote in Senate race

July 16, 2026 — Members of Congress routinely post news releases on legislation they introduce and cosponsor, including for Alaska’s delegation, a plethora of seafood legislation impacting the seafood industry.

Once in a while, one of these bills becomes law. The odds are 1-3 percent.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and former Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, who are both running for his current Senate seat, have issued news releases stating their priorities for federal regulations related to the nation’s federal fisheries. Many of their campaigns are focused on convincing Alaskans engaged in the fisheries industry that they can do the most to protect and improve benefits for Alaskans working in that industry.

Purchases of Russian seafood were blocked from federal school lunch programs by an amendment introduced by Sullivan, which passed the Senate in November 2023.  That amendment closed a loophole that had allowed Russian seafood processed in China to bypass the National School Lunch Program “Buy American” requirements.

In 2022, the Alaska Salmon Task Force Act, sponsored by Sullivan, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, and Rep. Don Young, Alaska’s all Republican delegation, was established as a federal task force. On July 12, 2024, the task force submitted its final science report on the complex biological, environmental and socioeconomic factors impacting Alaska salmon to the Secretary of Commerce, the Alaska Legislature and relevant congressional committees.

On June 25, Sullivan introduced the Bycatch Reduction Act, an updated version of bycatch legislation introduced by the Alaska congressional delegation in January of 2026, which remains in the introduced stage in the Senate and the House.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Trump hits Brazil with 25 percent tariffs, but seafood manages to win exceptions

July 16, 2026 — The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has announced new tariffs on Brazil, with several exceptions for certain seafood items.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced new 25 percent tariffs on imports from Brazil following a Section 301 investigation. The USTR said the tariff action follows an investigation it started in 2025, just days after Trump threatened 50 percent tariffs on the country claiming it was treating former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro unfairly. USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer said at the time the country’s unfair trade practices were documented in the National Trade Estimate Report, and a recent release by the USTR said it identified several practices by Brazil that gave it an unfair advantage over U.S. businesses.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Shipping rates still high; mixed signs of relief could be damaged by latest vessel attacks

July 15, 2026 — Global shipping rates continue to be high as the ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Iran drives up costs, and the latest attacks by Iran on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz could cause more issues.

Trans-Pacific shipping rates appeared to moderate in early July, as spot rates for certain major routes stayed relatively flat after months of steady increases, according to shipping rate indexing and analysis firm Xeneta.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Northeastern researchers want to help keep New England seafood from going to China and back

July 14, 2026 — The longfin squid that ends up on your plate as calamari may have been caught in Rhode Island, but it’s likely traveled to China and back again for processing before being served.

That example is illustrative of what’s known as the “seafood deficit,” a roughly $20 billion trade deficit due to the U.S. importing 80% to 90% of the seafood it consumes. For instance, more than 80% of squid caught in Rhode Island is frozen and shipped to China for processing, then refrozen and imported back to the United States, according to the Westerly Sun.

“It’s not because we don’t have seafood, it’s because we don’t have the capacity to process it,” said Taskin Padir, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Northeastern.

Read the full article at Northeastern Global News

Trump administration touts National Scallops Day designation, Georges Bank territory opening

July 13, 2026 – – The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is touting its designation of National Scallops Day, the opening of the Northern Edge of Georges Bank to scallop fishing, and permit stacking as a means of boosting the fishery.

The administration recently sent a deregulatory wish list to regional fishery management councils, which included a range of different recommendations like modernizing fleet capacity in the area managed by the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council and shifting the management of red snapper away from the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NOAA again cites Mexico for illegal fishing as Southern Shrimp Alliance calls for seafood import ban

July 13, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries has once again issued a negative certification to Mexico over illegal fishing in U.S. Gulf waters, marking the third consecutive report to do so.

Last week, NOAA Fisheries issued its most recent “biennial” report to Congress on Improving International Fisheries Management. The agency explained that despite the recent release, the report “was prepared in 2025.”

Six countries were identified for illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing: Costa Rica, Grenada, Mexico, Morocco, the People’s Republic of China, and the Russian Federation.

Two countries were identified for the production of seafood-related goods through forced labor: Burma and the People’s Republic of China.

The agency also updated “certification” determinations, providing this explanation:

“NOAA Fisheries issues a positive certification if the nation or entity has provided evidence of actions that address the activities for which it was identified. If sufficient action has not been taken, NOAA Fisheries issues a negative certification which results in U.S. port restrictions for fishing vessels of that nation or entity, and could result in import restrictions on certain fish or fish products.”

Read the full article at

White House Video on the Atlantic Scallop Fishery

July 10, 2026 — This afternoon, White House Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing Peter Navarro posted a video on X noting that “.@POTUS is protecting our scallop industry by opening up the Northern Edge of Georges Bank off the coast of New England.”

In the video, Mr. Navarro says:

President Trump is making American fishing great again. The latest example is scallops. America has the largest wild scallop fishery in the world. Atlantic scallops are a premium American protein, yet imports now supply roughly 85% of what Americans consume by weight. While the scallop trade deficit approaches 59 million pounds, $390 million. Only Washington could call that conservation. The insanity is clearest on Georges Bank. Canada lawfully harvests scallops on its side of the line, while American boats remain locked out of the adjacent U.S. northern edge by regulators.

In 2024, Canada landed more than 7 million pounds of scallops from Georges Bank, roughly the same amount America imported from Canada. That’s not a supply problem. That is a policy failure. President Trump and NOAA are moving to fix it by restoring lawful science-based access to the Northern Edge of Georges Bank. And they’re tackling another bad piece of scallop math: the one permit, one boat rule. Today, scallop boats can sit in ports for about 11 months a year. Permit stacking would let the same lawful harvest be taken with fewer idle boats, lower costs, and a stronger American fleet. No higher catch limit, no overfishing, just common sense.

More American scallops, more American jobs, less dependence on foreign seafood. How do you like them scallops?

Watch the video here

Sullivan reintroduces sweeping bill targeting bycatch, seafloor impacts

July 8, 2026 — U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) has reintroduced the Bycatch Reduction Act, legislation that would expand federal efforts to reduce bycatch, limit seafloor impacts from trawl gear, improve fisheries monitoring and increase transparency in fishery management.

According to Sullivan’s office, the bill builds on recommendations from the Alaska Salmon Task Force, which was created through legislation he authored and signed into law in 2022.

The proposal would establish new standards and monitoring requirements designed to keep both midwater and bottom trawl nets off the seafloor, require proven salmon excluder devices on pollock vessels, invest in salmon tagging and genetic sampling, expand ecosystem research, and create a new flume tank testing facility to evaluate fishing gear under simulated ocean conditions. The bill also would reauthorize NOAA’s Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program and encourage fishermen to test new gear and technologies aimed at reducing bycatch and habitat impacts.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Moody’s predicts decline of US port sector in 2026

November 24, 2025 — Financial services firm Moody’s Ratings has predicted declines for the U.S. port sector in its recently released 2026 outlook. 

“The 2026 outlook for the U.S. ports sector remains negative given the adverse effect of tariffs and policy uncertainty and as U.S. real GDP growth slows and consumer spending moderates,” Moody’s Ratings Assistant Vice President David Kamran said in the update.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Imports to the US expected to decline for the rest of 2025

October 14, 2025 — U.S. imports declined again in August and are likely, experts say, to continue to decline for the rest of the year. 

The National Retail Federation (NRF), which produces the Global Port Tracker with Hackett Associates, attributed the declines, both actual and projected, to the effect of tariff pauses, which caused shippers to move merchandise for the holiday season early, producing mid-summer shipping rushes.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource