Saving Seafood

Trump pays more offshore wind farm developers to switch to fossil fuel production

May 1, 2026 — Despite his struggles with the courts, U.S. President Donald Trump is continuing his push to block offshore wind power development with all the tools at his disposal – including buying out the developers.

Trump has made blocking offshore wind projects a priority during his second term, immediately issuing an executive order pausing federal approval of wind projects on the Outer Continental Shelf after resuming office in January 2025. He followed up that order by issuing stop work orders for two of the larger wind farms developments on the East Coast, although those orders were ultimately rescinded.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Proposed NOAA cuts get bipartisan pushback

April 30, 2026 — NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs on Tuesday argued that proposed budget cuts would not curtail his agency’s research projects, as he sought to assuage members of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee over the Trump administration’s fiscal 2027 request.

The Subcommittee on Environment reviewed the proposed $4.4 billion budget, a reduction of $1.6 billion over the current year. The White House said the cuts would target climate work.

Lawmakers on both sides raised concerns about forecasting for weather incidents specific to their districts — like flooding, wildfires and hurricanes — as well as broader reductions, like the elimination of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR).

Read the full article at E&E News

ALASKA: Alaskan officials renew calls for better transboundary salmon protections

April 29, 2026 — Officials in the U.S. state of Alaska are again asking for better protections for salmon in the state’s transboundary rivers.

Data compiled by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) shows that salmon traveling from Canada into Southeast Alaska yield harvests of millions of salmon, valued at over USD 225 million (EUR 192.6 million) and making up roughly one-third of all North Pacific salmon runs.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Trump administration to pay 2 more companies to walk away from US offshore wind leases

April 28, 2026 — The Trump administration announced two more payouts Monday for energy companies to walk away from U.S. offshore wind projects under development.

Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind have agreed to end their offshore wind leases in exchange for reimbursements totaling nearly $900 million. Both companies have decided not to pursue any new offshore wind projects in the United States, the Interior Department announced Monday.

Bluepoint Wind is an offshore wind project in the early stages of development off the coasts of New Jersey and New York, while Golden State Wind is a floating offshore wind project proposed off California’s central coast.

Interior said it’s following the model of its recent deal with the French energy company TotalEnergies, which is getting a $1 billion payout to walk away from projects off the coasts of North Carolina and New York. TotalEnergies agreed in March to what’s essentially a refund of its leases, and will invest the money in fossil fuel projects instead.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

US lawmakers attempt to attach several seafood amendments to Farm Bill

April 28, 2026 — U.S. lawmakers are pushing to attach several seafood amendments to the forthcoming Farm Bill renewal as part of an ongoing effort to grow the seafood industry’s presence within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“We urge Members of the House to support these amendments and deliver a Farm Bill that recognizes America’s commercial fishing families as the food producers they are,” Southern Shrimp Alliance Director Blake Price said in a release.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

New Jersey ratepayers are on the hook for canceled projects amid Trump’s war on wind

April 27, 2026 — New Jersey ratepayers will foot the bill for unfinished construction as the state abandons massive offshore wind energy plans as a result of President Donald Trump’s attacks on the industry.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) on Wednesday officially ended an agreement with grid operator PJM to create infrastructure for offshore wind farms that have no future after Trump’s policy changes.

Brian Lipman, director of the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel, which serves as a public advocate for ratepayers, said in an interview that ratepayers will be on the hook for reimbursing companies that began construction for projects to prepare the grid for offshore wind energy. He said the price tag could be between $400 million and $500 million.

“My intention is to fight it. I just don’t know how successful I’ll be,” he said.

The BPU argues its decision is saving money for New Jerseyans since the price tag of actually completing the projects would have been much higher. The board’s commissioners blame the Trump administration for the downfall of the offshore wind industry in the state.

Trump has long detested offshore wind, and in January, Trump signed an executive order pausing federal leases for wind projects — which are required for offshore construction — though federal courts rejected his efforts to stop projects underway.

But the damage had already been done in Jersey, where offshore wind projects were still in their early stages, said Allison McLeod, the interim executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters.

“Here, it just made the environment really difficult for offshore wind to proceed because we were not at the stage of any projects that were delivering power,” she said.

Read the full article at The Philadelphia Inquirer 

Another offshore wind firm is seeking a payout as Trump stifles sector

April 27, 2026 — A second French energy firm is pursuing a refund on its U.S. offshore wind leases — and analysts say the trend could spread further, despite major legal questions about the Trump administration’s approach.

Engie, which had been planning three U.S. projects, is in talks with the administration about forfeiting the company’s offshore wind leases in exchange for reimbursement. Engie CEO Catherine MacGregor disclosed the development on April 21, a month after the French oil giant TotalEnergies struck a similar deal for nearly $1 billion with the U.S. Department of the Interior.

“Discussions are ongoing, and we’ll see if an agreement is possible,” MacGregor told reporters at a press meeting in Paris.

“Economically and also in terms of public acceptance, I strongly believe in offshore wind power,” she added. However, ​“One must be able to say that energy policy is stable enough whatever the political color of the government” to continue investing in the clean energy resource.

Read the full article at Canary Media

Offshore wind farms take shape along Rhode Island’s coast, even as Trump wants to stop them

April 24, 2026 — Offshore wind turbines roughly three times the height of the Statue of Liberty were spinning far off the coast of Rhode Island on Thursday, sending clean electricity to the region.

Wind farms are taking shape and operating along the East Coast, even as President Donald Trump seeks to end the U.S. offshore wind industry. He often talks about his hatred of wind power and calls turbines ugly.

The Associated Press traveled roughly 100 miles (161 kilometers) and saw three of the five wind farms in the area. Two of the five are fully operational, two are nearly done, and one is about halfway built.

The first turbines from the Revolution Wind project were clearly visible from about 5 nautical miles away, and can be seen from farther away on clear days. They stretched across the horizon, massive structures evenly spaced in rows, some spinning in the light winds.

Read the full article at WPRI

US secretary of commerce testifies before Senate on Maine lobster, fishery disaster requests, surveys

April 24, 2026 — U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick commented on a handful of fisheries issues under questioning by lawmakers on the Senate Appropriations Committee during an 22 April hearing.

Senators demanded answers from the Trump administration official on regulations surrounding Maine lobster, the backlog of fishery disaster determination requests, and NOAA Fisheries’ capacity to conduct surveys in the face of budget and staffing cuts during a hearing ostensibly about the Department of Commerce’s fiscal year 2027 budget.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

 

U.S. is Negotiating to Cancel More Offshore Wind Leases

April 22, 2026 — Executives at the French company Engie confirmed today that they are in discussions with U.S. officials about possibly canceling their offshore wind farm leases. Last month, the administration agreed to reimburse TotalEnergies for its offshore wind leases and hinted it might use the same technique with others, although advocates and lawmakers are questioning the legal authority.

The Trump administration said in March that it had agreed to reimburse TotalEnergies nearly $1 billion it had paid to acquire a large lease in the New York Bight, which was to host two large wind farms, as well as a small property off North Carolina. The administration called it a win, saying the company had agreed to reinvest the money in the U.S. LNG sector, where it has a project underway.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive