Saving Seafood

NOAA nominee pledges ‘scientific integrity’ in fisheries regulation

October 23, 2025 — Lawmakers representing the nation’s fishing communities pressed President Donald Trump’s nominee to oversee oceans and fisheries to prioritize baseline surveys and stock assessments that undergird the nation’s $320 billion dollar seafood economy.

In a Wednesday hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Timothy Petty pledged to kick-start stalled surveys and other research necessary to set fundamental fishing regulations — including annual catch limits, the length of fishing seasons, fishing area closures, and restrictions on activities that could harm the overall health of fish and other marine life.

“Our seafood industry needs two things from the federal government: surveys and timely promulgation of regulations to open fisheries,” Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan told Petty, who awaits confirmation for assistant secretary of Commerce for oceans and atmosphere.

Read the full article at E&E News

Advancement of Young Fishermen’s Development Act reauthorization

October 21, 2025 — The Fishing Communities Coalition (FCC) commends the Senate Commerce, Science, and Technology Committee for marking up S.2357, the Young Fishermen’s Development Extension Act, which reauthorizes the Young Fishermen’s Development Act (YFDA) program for a second five-year period. By advancing this legislation, Congress is recommitting to America’s fishing industry, supporting workforce development, and promoting the safety, prosperity, and ingenuity of our nation’s early-career commercial fishermen.

“The YFDA is a true example of policy responding to and supporting community needs,” said Michelle Stratton, Executive Director of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council. “Workforce development programs like the Young Fishermen’s Development Grant are more than symbolic investments. They are lifelines to sustaining working waterfronts, nurturing the next generation of stewards, and maintaining resilient local economies. In the first five years of the program, we’ve seen how targeted training, mentorship, and technical assistance help bridge the gap for early-career harvesters struggling with volatile markets and ever-increasing barriers to success. By reauthorizing this program, Congress sends a clear signal that the United States values its fishing heritage and is committed to securing seafood supply chains, thriving coastal communities, and opportunities for young, dedicated fishermen. We thank Senators Sullivan and Murkowski and the bill’s cosponsors for their leadership and urge swift advancement of this legislation.”

Five years ago Congress passed and President Trump signed the original YFDA and launched the program. The success of the YFDA hinges upon a strong alliance between elected officials, our National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) partners, and organizations like commercial fishing associations and universities to fund, develop, and advance these innovative workforce development and retention efforts. We are deeply grateful that Senator Sullivan and the bill’s co-sponsors, Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) are committed to reauthorizing the YFDA.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Lawmakers to question NOAA, energy nominees

October 21 2025 — Senate committees will question nominees to NOAA and the Tennessee Valley Authority this week as the administration looks to reform operations there.

As assistant secretary of Commerce for oceans and atmosphere, Timothy Petty would oversee NOAA Fisheries, whose role in regulating commercial and recreational fisheries has become a major policy focus for the administration.

In April, President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for the Commerce Department to restore America’s seafood competitiveness, including by rolling back environmental restrictions on commercial fishing fleets and stepping up enforcement of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing that has harmed the U.S. seafood industry.

Read the full article at E&E News

Trump’s latest tariff proposal threatens year-end deals for Chinese exporters

October 21, 2025 — U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent threat of instituting a 100 percent tariff on all Chinese goods from 1 November onward has generated yet more uncertainty for Chinese seafood exporters.

“Although we don’t know whether this will be implemented in the end, this has definitely disturbed all of our shipment plans,” said Josephine Wang, the head of export sales at Hainan, China-based tilapia producer Hainan Golden Spring Foods. “We do have some U.S. orders in hand right now, but nobody knows how to deal with it.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Lawmakers propose changes to US government’s artificial reef program

October 20, 2025 — A group of United States lawmakers have proposed tweaking federal law that allows offshore oil and gas operators to transform decommissioned rigs into artificial reefs, claiming the marine habitats support the domestic fishing industry.

According to the bill’s sponsors, offshore oil and gas platforms are already “thriving habitats for marine life,” and the Marine Fisheries Habitat Protection program would provide a pathway for companies to work with the state and federal governments to turn platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, currently referred to as the Gulf of America by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, into “permanent artificial reefs,” instead of fully removing them as required under current law.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Oregon takes salmon protections back to court after Trump-era reversal

October 20, 2025 — Oregon and environmental groups filed an emergency injunction in federal court Tuesday seeking to restore protections for Columbia River salmon after the Trump administration reversed a 2023 agreement aimed at helping the fish population recover.

The State of Oregon, along with organizations including the National Wildlife Federation, filed the preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court, arguing the Trump administration’s reversal of the previous agreement puts salmon at risk of extinction.

Read the full article at KTVB

Fisheries councils respond to Trump’s executive order on restoring American seafood competitiveness

October 14, 2025 – Regional fishery management councils across the U.S. are submitting a laundry list of items they claim to be tackling or considering in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order on “restoring American seafood competitiveness.”

Issued in April, the executive order instructed government officials to identify ways to improve the commercial fishing and aquaculture sectors while reducing their regulatory burden. The directive follows an executive order issued in Trump’s first term that claimed commercial fishing was heavily regulated, and encouraged the removal of “unnecessary regulatory burdens” such as “restrictive catch limits.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Trump reignites tariff threats, proposes 100 percent duties against Chinese goods

October 14, 2025 — U.S. President Donald Trump has reignited trade uncertainty with a new threat that the U.S. was considering a 100 percent tariff on Chinese goods as of 1 November.

Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social that China took an “extraordinarily aggressive position on Trade” and that the U.S. would respond with 100 percent tariffs on China, over and above any current tariff, as of 1 November. Trump said the move was in response to a letter sent by China saying that it would impose export controls on its products.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Neil Jacobs confirmed as NOAA head

October 9, 2025 — The United States Senate has confirmed the nomination of former NOAA Acting Administrator Neil Jacobs to lead the agency once again as the undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere.

U.S. President Donald Trump nominated Jacobs in February, but the Republican-controlled Senate lacked the Democrat votes needed to clear many of the president’s nominations. In September, Senate Republicans changed the legislative body’s rules to allow them to confirm multiple nominees at a time in bloc votes after accusing their Democrat colleagues of slowing the confirmation process with procedural motions.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Troubled Wind Developer Orsted to Cut 25% of Staff

October 9, 2025 — Orsted, the Danish renewable energy developer, said on Thursday that it would cut about 2,000 jobs, or around 25 percent of its work force, over the next two years.

The move was the latest sign of the diminished prospects for offshore wind, a low-emissions technology that Orsted helped pioneer.

“We’ll be saying goodbye to many skilled and valued colleagues,” Rasmus Errboe, Orsted’s chief executive, said in a statement.

Not long ago, Orsted looked on its way to becoming a global giant in the renewable energy industry, with a portfolio that includes high-profile projects in the United States. Now, the company suggested that it would dial back those aspirations and hunker down in its home base of Europe.

Read the full article on The New York Times