Saving Seafood

US Senate committee advances Young Fishermen’s Development Act extension

October 22, 2025 — The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation has approved legislation that would extend the Young Fishermen’s Development Act for another five years, clearing a path to a vote by the full Senate.

Initially signed into law in 2021, the Young Fishermen’s Development Act has provided competitive federal grants for training a new generation of workers to join the commercial fishing industry. The USD 2 million (EUR 1.7 million) in annual grant funding can be used to fund mentorship programs, workforce training, and education initiatives. The program has been widely supported by commercial fishing groups.

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Senate pushes forward FISH Act to combat illegal global fishing

October 20, 2025 — U.S. senators voted to attach legislation designed to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing to the Senate’s annual military spending legislation just before it passed.

If passed, the Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvest (FISH) Act would require the U.S. government to establish a blacklist of vessels involved in IUU activities. Vessels on the list would be banned from U.S. waters. The legislation would also require the U.S. Coast Guard to increase at-sea inspections to combat IUU fishing. The bill also requires reports to be submitted on how new technologies can help combat IUU fishing and on how Russian and Chinese fishing affects the U.S. market.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

US Senate passes military funding bill with FISH Act attached

October 13, 2025 — U.S. senators voted to attach legislation designed to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing to the Senate’s annual military spending legislation just before it passed.

If passed, the Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvest (FISH) Act would require the U.S. government to establish a blacklist of vessels involved in IUU activities. Vessels on the list would be banned from U.S. waters. The legislation would also require the U.S. Coast Guard to increase at-sea inspections to combat IUU fishing. The bill also requires reports to be submitted on how new technologies can help combat IUU fishing and on how Russian and Chinese fishing affects the U.S. market.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US Senate passes algal bloom legislation, sends to House

September 17, 2025 —  The U.S. Senate has passed legislation reauthorizing and strengthening the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act (HABHRCA), a law designed to coordinate a government response to harmful algal blooms (HABs).

“Unchecked HABs can threaten our marine life and coastal ecosystems, the livelihoods of our commercial fisheries and coastal communities, and the health and well-being of Alaskans,” U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said in a release. “Alaska is our country’s leading seafood producer and home to more coastline than the contiguous lower 48 states combined, making our response to HABs critically important. I want to thank all of my Senate colleagues for unanimously approving this important legislation, which will develop and coordinate effective responses to harmful algal blooms and improve the monitoring of the health of our oceans for the sake of coastal communities, especially those that rely on subsistence.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US senators propose industry-backed permitting structure to enable offshore fish farming

August 5, 2025 — Legislators have introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate that would establish a new permitting framework for offshore fish farming in U.S. waters – a long-term goal of the domestic aquaculture sector.

“This growing bipartisan consensus in Congress to advance open ocean aquaculture in America comes with strong support from leading environmental groups, seafood industry businesses, chefs, and academics who all agree: We can responsibly grow more of our own seafood here at home,” Stronger America Through Seafood (SATS) Campaign Manager Drue Banta Winters said in a statement. “With today’s advanced technology, the responsible farming of seafood can sustainably complement our nation’s wild-capture harvesting to meet the growing demand for fresh, American-raised seafood, create new job opportunities, and encourage investment in working waterfront communities.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US Senate could ban Chinese seafood from military commissaries, dining facilities

July 17, 2025 — The U.S. Senate is considering legislation that would ban the U.S. Department of Defense from purchasing Chinese seafood for its commissaries and military dining facilities.

The Senate version of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act – annual legislation authorizing funding for the U.S. military – includes a provision that would, if passed, prohibit the military from serving or selling Chinese seafood and aquaculture products.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US senators lambast IUU fishing and abuse in foreign fleets during hearing

June 18, 2025 — U.S. senators used a subcommittee hearing to heavily criticize illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing practices – an activity they claimed reduces revenue for America’s seafood sector and poses a direct national security threat to the country.

“It is estimated that IUU fishing accounts for up to 20 percent of the global catch, which translates to global losses between USD 10 billion and USD 50 billion [EUR 8.7 billion to EUR 43.4 billion] annually for fishing fleets that actually fish legally like ours in America,” U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said in the recent Senate Subcommittee on Coast Guard, Maritime, and Fisheries hearing.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US Senate committee recommends passage of IUU fishing bill

May 1, 2025 — U.S. Senate committee has approved legislation that would increase restrictions on vessels engaged in harmful fishing practices, recommending that the full Senate pass the bill.

“This is another measure in a long line of bipartisan comprehensive bills that [U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island)] and I have been introducing and passing over the last several years,” U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said after the committee voted in favor of his bill, pointing to the 2020 Save Our Seas Act. “President Trump has been a big supporter of these clean ocean legislation initiatives, and now we have the FISH Act, which is focused on illegal, unreported, and unregulated [IUU] fishing, which is both a challenge globally, it’s a challenge for our country, and it’s certainly a challenge in Alaska.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US lawmakers reintroduce MAPOceans Act to digitize federal fishing restrictions

March 3, 2025 — Lawmakers in the U.S. Senate have reintroduced the Modernizing Access to Our Public Oceans (MAPOceans) Act, legislation that would create a digital map of fishing restrictions in federal waters.

First introduced in 2024, the legislation mirrors the 2022 Modernizing Access to our Public Lands (MAPLand) Act, which enhanced access to public lands by digitizing maps and records and allowing users to easily discover hunting and fishing boundaries. The MAPOceans would apply that approach to mapping fishing restrictions in federal waters.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource