Saving Seafood

Trump says trade negotiations with Canada terminated in response to television advertisement

October 24, 2025 — U.S. President Donald Trump announced he is terminating all trade negotiations with Canada, the U.S.’s largest seafood trading partner, in response to a television advertisement featuring a quote from former President Ronald Reagan.

Trump, in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, said he was terminating the trade negotiations and that the Ronald Reagan Foundation “announced that Canada fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about tariffs.” The foundation had posted an update online saying it was “reviewing its legal options” on the advertisement, which directly quotes a real address by Reagan publicly available online.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Facing a Hostile Administration, U.S. Offshore Wind Is in Retreat

October 23, 2025 –  Each year, the Sweeney Center for Public Policy at Rowan University in New Jersey hosts a conference on the state’s current and future energy landscape. In 2023 and 2024, the gatherings focused heavily on the rapidly accelerating development of offshore wind, which state officials then predicted would power some 2.5 million homes — about two-thirds of the state’s total housing units — by 2030. At this year’s event, however, the industry was barely mentioned, and when it was, its one-time advocates were subdued and almost eulogistic.

Tim Sullivan, the head of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, which had been closely involved with the state’s efforts to develop offshore wind, sounded wistful. “I remain optimistic and confident that it gets done sometime in our lifetime,” he told the conference.

Optimism about the future of U.S. offshore wind has collapsed since President Trump, a vehement critic of the industry, returned to office in January. In the ensuing nine months, his administration has accelerated the end of federal tax credits for wind development, imposed tariffs on turbines and other needed parts, and eliminated funds for building onshore port facilities for servicing wind farms.

Read the full article at the Yale Environment 360 

US senators demand NOAA Fisheries nominee address fisheries surveys

October 23, 2025 — U.S. senators used a hearing for U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead NOAA Fisheries to demand the administration improve the survey work necessary to manage the nation’s commercial fisheries.

On 22 October, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing for Congressional staffer Timothy Petty, the president’s nominee to be assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, where he would oversee NOAA Fisheries. After former President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the agency, Janet Coit, stepped down at the end of his administration, NOAA Fisheries was initially led by longtime NOAA employee Emily Menashes. She was replaced in April when the White House named former commercial fisherman and officeholder Eugenio Piñeiro Soler acting assistant administrator.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

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