Saving Seafood

US Fish and Wildlife Service reclassifies squid and other cephalopods as shellfish

June 30, 2026 —  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has finalized a rule reclassifying cephalopods as shellfish, a move advocates claim will reduce red tape and unnecessary fees around squid harvesting.

“On behalf of Lund’s Fisheries, we would like to thank the Trump administration for a solution to a burdensome requirement that will save us time, money and administrative difficulties,” Wayne Reichle, president of Cape May, New Jersey, U.S.A.-based squid harvester Lund’s Fisheries, said in a release. “This is a perfect example of numerous federal agencies working in cooperation with the U.S. commercial fishing industry to make our seafood competitive on a global scale and creating thriving business here at home.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

On eve of USMCA deadline, reports indicate Trump administration plans to deny extension

June 30, 2026 — Multiple media reports indicate that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump will decline to extend the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) agreement, triggering a process that could see it leave the trade deal in a decade barring a new decision.

The USMCA was set in motion in 2018 as the previous trade agreement for the three countries – the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – was replaced under the prior Trump administration after two decades of use. The revised version of the agreement initially included just Mexico but later confirmed the participation of Canada and formed the USMCA, which came into force on 1 July 2020.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Trump defends Biden’s Alaska mine veto in court

June 29, 2026 — The Trump administration defended a Biden-era decision to block a massive mine in Alaska before a federal judge Thursday, arguing the move was justified even in light of recent blockbuster rulings that have weakened the Clean Water Act and agency authority.

In a notable departure for an administration that has vowed to unleash “energy dominance” in Alaska, EPA attorney Laura Brown argued that the proposed Pebble mine would devastate the world’s largest salmon fishery and destroy thousands of acres of fish streams and wetlands.

Brown rejected claims made by developer Pebble Partnership that the mine should be reevaluated in light of a 2023 Supreme Court ruling shrinking federal jurisdiction over wetlands and streams. And she invoked another major recent case that ended a longstanding practice of courts deferring to agencies to interpret regulations, saying that courts still “must respect” agencies’ authority to make expert determinations.

Read the full article at E&E News

Environmental group sues federal government to boost protections for Pacific coast sunflower sea stars

June 29, 2026 — The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, pushing to finalize long‑delayed protections for the imperiled sunflower sea star.

Sunflower sea stars (Pycnopodia helianthoides) are enormous compared to their counterparts, about 3 feet wide with up to 24 arms. They display a wide range of colors, often in combinations including bright orange, yellow-red, brown, purple, pink and occasionally blue. They occur throughout intertidal and subtidal coastal waters of the Northeast Pacific Ocean from the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, to at least northern Baja California, Mexico.

The animals used to be abundant along Oregon’s coast — but nearly 90% of the entire population has been lost due to a gruesome disease known as Sea Star Wasting Syndrome. It causes their arms to twist, melt away and fall off, ultimately resulting in death.

Read the full article at KLCC

Court dismisses lawsuit over Gulf oil and gas analysis after ‘God Squad’ ruling

June 26, 2026 — A federal judge has ruled a lawsuit seeking more analysis of the effect of oil and gas activities on endangered species in the Gulf of Mexico is moot after the “God Squad” handed down an exemption from federal protections in the region earlier this year.

In a decision issued from the bench Wednesday, Judge Deborah Boardman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland dismissed a challenge to NOAA Fisheries’ 2025 biological opinion. Environmental groups claimed the analysis was arbitrary and capricious and repeated errors of an earlier biological opinion.

Boardman, a Biden appointee, has yet to issue an order publicly explaining her rationale for the decision.

Read the full article at E&E News

South Atlantic states cancel planned recreational red snapper seasons over lawsuit, push for fall dates instead

June 25, 2026 — South Atlantic states have canceled planned extended recreational red snapper seasons after a lawsuit by commercial fishermen, but officials hope to reopen the fishery with new recreational seasons this fall.

States bordering the federal Southeast Atlantic red snapper fishery have long demanded longer recreational seasons with larger catch limits, arguing that the fish population is far more abundant than official numbers suggest. NOAA Fisheries determined the red snapper fishery was subject to overfishing in 2021, and recreational fishing seasons have been limited to as few as two days as managers wait for the stock to recover more.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Scallop Boss Takes His Fight To Trump Over Georges Bank Access

June 23, 2026 — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell on June 22, 2026, rolled out final consumer-protection regulations for assisted living residences, targeting misleading fees, murky billing and shaky eviction practices. The rules cap a multi-year public process that AG staff say is designed to give residents clearer service agreements and formal channels to complain when things go sideways. The regulations are scheduled to kick in when they are published in the Massachusetts Register on July 17, 2026.

In a press release on Mass.gov, Campbell said, “I am proud to announce the AGO’s first‑ever regulations for assisted living residences, which will strengthen accountability and protect older adults from unfair and deceptive practices under the state’s consumer protection law.” The Attorney General’s Elder Justice Unit led the project, with Assistant Attorney General Andrew Musgrave at the helm alongside Director Mary Freeley and Deputy Director Valerie Frias. The release also names Allie Zuliani as the deputy press secretary and media contact for the rollout.

Read the full article at Hoodline

Guam, CNMI weigh in as Trump opens monument waters to commercial fishing

June 22, 2026 — President Donald Trump’s proclamation this month restoring commercial fishing in Pacific marine national monuments, including the Islands Unit of the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument, has drawn measured but watchful responses from Guam officials and island legislators, who say the move is neither the windfall nor the threat it might appear.

Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said the question of balancing natural preservation with food security and the right of a people to live off the ocean as their ancestors did is complex, and that no one should represent the views of an entire people without meaningful community discussion and study.

“Yes, our political status may give the federal government the power to make these decisions without consulting us, but having the power to do it that way doesn’t mean it should be done,” Leon Guerrero told The Guam Daily Post. “The ocean knows no political boundaries and just as preservation efforts can help protect reefs and fish stock far beyond an area outlined on a map, activities such as overfishing or deep-sea mining or others can have impacts beyond those same political boundaries.”

The administration said it remains informed and involved through its participation in the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, known as the Westpac Council, and is still working through the implications of the proclamation, including whether it reverts to prior regulations that may have limited entry permits for specific fisheries.

Read the full article at The Guam Daily Post

Northwest’s yanked observatories to return to ocean after Trump administration backs down

June 19, 2026 — The Trump administration has reversed course on its effort to shut down a network of ocean research stations in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

The National Science Foundation on Thursday announced a halt to the dismantling of floating scientific observatories off Alaska, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, and Greenland.

Researchers were offloading the last of the Ocean Observatories Initiative’s six high-tech data buoys from Pacific Northwest waters onto a flatbed truck in Newport, Oregon, Thursday morning when they got the word: The science foundation was turning the dismantling ship around.

“The U.S. National Science Foundation appreciates the concerns raised by the range of stakeholders that have informed us they rely on data from the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI),” the agency’s statement reads. “Effective immediately, NSF will not proceed with further removal or descoping of equipment from the remaining arrays and will continue operations including planned maintenance.”

Read the full article at KUOW

U.S. scientific instruments in oceans off Alaska and elsewhere to remain in place

June 19, 2026 — Hundreds of sophisticated monitoring instruments will remain in place in the nation’s oceans, thanks to a National Science Foundation reversal of its plan to partially dismantle the system.

The federal agency announced on Thursday that it is dropping its plan to remove hundreds of instruments from the Ocean Observatories Initiative program.

The program encompasses more than 900 instruments monitoring ocean currents, temperatures, sea life and other conditions. Information gathered is used to analyze weather and prepare for extreme weather events, manage fisheries, record climate change and other functions. The $386 million system was installed a decade ago and was intended to last for three decades.

News that the Trump administration planned to pull out hundreds of the instruments – including those positioned in Alaska’s ocean waters – triggered outrage from scientists, the fishing industry, members of Congress from coastal states and others.

Read the full article at Alaska Beacon