February 20, 2026 — President Donald Trump signed a federal spending package in January that includes two-point-five million dollars for menhaden research, ending a two-year wait for state funding. Businesses, scientists, and anglers support the study, saying solid data is needed before imposing limits. Some environmental advocates however, argue reductions should happen now, but regulators are holding off pending the research. We reached out to Omega Protein for comment, and they told us that “Ocean Harvesters, headquartered locally in Reedville, has a long track record of supporting rigorous, independent science to better understand Atlantic menhaden and the broader Bay ecosystem. The Company believes that any funding for menhaden projects at NOAA-Fisheries is in good hands.”
Feds appeal ruling that voided Trump’s Day One anti-wind memo
February 19, 2026 — The Trump administration has appealed a December ruling that struck down a presidential memorandum barring offshore wind leasing and permitting.
Judge Patti B. Saris had declared the wind memo, issued by President Donald Trump on his first day back in office, unlawful. But on Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal.
It comes one week after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the administration would “absolutely” appeal other court rulings issued in January and February that lifted the federal suspension orders on five under-construction offshore wind projects, including Vineyard Wind.
Those suspensions were issued shortly after Saris’ ruling on the wind memo. At this time, the federal government has not appealed those project-specific lawsuits.
Legal tug-of-war over wind energy in Mass. continues with Trump admin challenge
February 19, 2026 — Lawyers for the Trump administration are challenging — in a Massachusetts court — a federal judge’s December ruling that struck down a freeze on all permitting for wind energy projects nationwide.
Issued in January 2025, the original presidential order temporarily halted all federal permitting while agencies reviewed wind energy leasing and permitting practices, according to court documents.
The December ruling overturning the order came after a coalition of 17 states — including Massachusetts — successfully argued that the administration’s permit pause violated federal law. U.S. District Court Judge Patti Saris ruled that the policy was “arbitrary and capricious.”
How EPA challenged Maryland offshore wind project
February 18, 2026 — EPA officials paid close attention to offshore wind opponents before the Trump administration questioned a state-issued permit for a planned Maryland offshore wind farm last summer, federal documents show.
The records, released by EPA following a public records request from POLITICO’s E&E News, outline how employees in the agency’s mid-Atlantic region met with national officials and rushed to respond to concerns from Maryland Republican Rep. Andy Harris, a prominent opponent of offshore wind.
The Maryland Offshore Wind Project has been in the spotlight since it slipped through the Trump administration’s blockade of offshore wind permits. State regulators issued the developer a final permit in June, leading the Interior Department to say in August that it planned to revoke the project’s federal permit.
US lawmakers ask government to provide financial aid for shellfish sector
February 19, 2026 — A group of U.S. lawmakers has asked the federal government to provide financial support to the nation’s struggling shellfish sector, which they claimed has been hit hard by increased tariffs.
“Tariffs and retaliatory tariffs have led to higher consumer prices, altered supply chains, reduced availability, higher equipment costs, and market instability for farmers of all kinds, including shellfish growers,” the lawmakers said in the joint letter dated 6 February. “In the last year, our strongest trade partners have launched retaliatory tariffs against the United States, causing uncertainty and hurting geoduck, oyster, and other shellfish industries many of our communities rely on as lifelines.”
NOAA claims steady progress was made on US aquaculture in 2025
February 18, 2026 — Following directives from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, NOAA’s Aquaculture Program said it made steady progress in 2025 on exploring new aquaculture projects in the U.S., inching closer to helping the country close its farmed seafood import gap.
“Currently, the U.S. imports USD 15 billion [EUR 12.7 billion] worth of farmed seafood. That’s billion with a ‘b.’ It is by far more than we produce here at home, which is less than USD 2 billion [EUR 1.7 billion], and that has the eyes of a lot of people across the government, not just people who focus on aquaculture,” NOAA Office of Aquaculture Director Danielle Blacklock said on 17 February during the 2026 Aquaculture America conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.
States could net control of red snapper season
February 17, 2026 — The Trump administration is taking steps toward shifting regulatory authority over red snapper in Atlantic Ocean federal waters to states, a move that some state leaders have argued is necessary to sustain their sportfishing economies.
NOAA Fisheries announced Wednesday it would open a 25-day comment period on “exempted fishing permits” for Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
The permits would allow the states to “test new data collection methods and strategies for state-led management of the recreational red snapper fishery,” the agency said.
US House votes to end Trump tariffs on Canada
February 12, 2026 — The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to block President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, setting the bill up for a vote in the Senate.
Trump has continuously threatened Canada with tariffs since taking office in January 2025, and recently threatened a 100 percent tariff on the country’s goods over its trade deal with China. The country currently faces a 35 percent “fentanyl” tariff on all goods from the country, with the caveat that any goods entered under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) – which is virtually all seafood goods – are not required to pay the tariff.
More Republicans buck Trump on offshore wind
February 12, 2026 — A growing number of House Republicans are openly questioning the Trump administration’s assertion that offshore wind projects pose a risk to national security.
Nine Republicans, led by House Homeland Security Chair Andrew Garbarino of New York, last month called on top Trump officials to brief lawmakers about their decision in December to halt construction of five nearly complete projects off the Atlantic coast.
Judges have ruled against the administration’s pause in all five cases, but many lawmakers see the stop-work orders as part of a concerted and ongoing attack on offshore wind and other renewable energy ventures.
US pushes AI funding, fisheries tech at APEC amid China rivalry
February 12, 2026 — The Trump administration is promoting artificial intelligence exports and maritime surveillance technology at Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in southern China this week, as Washington seeks to counter Beijing’s technological and maritime influence.
The United States is also using APEC to promote American private-sector technologies designed to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, which Washington says threatens food security and maritime sovereignty in parts of the Pacific.
Ruth Perry, Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, said on Tuesday China’s 18-million-strong distant-water fleet posed enforcement challenges for smaller coastal states.
“Many countries are negatively impacted and China is a perpetrator … the size of the fleet can’t be ignored across the Pacific,” Perry told Reuters, noting reports that suggest an unusual level of state coordination among its actions.
Illegal fishing is frequently linked to other transnational crimes including forced labour, trafficking and smuggling, Perry said.
Perry noted that China’s revised Fisheries Law is due to take effect from May. “They’re saying all the right things and we want to see if they’re going to follow through with those actions.”
Read the full article at Reuters
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