Saving Seafood

MAINE: Vinalhaven lobsterman petitions Supreme Court over GPS tracking mandate

March 20, 2026 — A Maine lobsterman is continuing his fight against a GPS tracking mandate, hoping to bring the case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Frank Thompson, a fifth-generation lobsterman from Vinalhaven, and the Florida-based Pacific Legal Foundation jointly petitioned the Supreme Court this month to hear an appeal in his federal district court case.

Since late 2023, federally permitted lobster boats on the East Coast have been required to have a global positioning system (GPS) transmitter aboard at all times. The federal Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission enacted the mandate to collect data about fisheries stock and aid in conservation efforts, including for endangered whales.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources later adopted the mandate, which also collects data for “emerging ocean uses, and enforcement.”

Read the full article at Bangor Daily News

Trade lawyers predict tariff refunds will take months

February 24, 2026 — The U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs, setting up thousands of companies for a refund, but trade lawyers predict it will likely be months before importers see the money.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sent out a communication indicating as of 12 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on 24 February it stopped collecting duties related to seven different executive orders issued by Trump, all of which fell under the IEEPA. Even though the tariffs have ceased, acquiring a refund could take several months, according to trade lawyers contacted by SeafoodSource.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Trump vows to enact 15 percent global tariff following Supreme Court rebuke

February 23, 2026 — U.S. President Donald Trump said he plans to impose a new 15 percent tariff on all trade following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that invalidated his previous tariffs.

In a press conference following the Supreme Court decision on 20 February – and in a post on his social media site Truth Social that mirrored what he said at the conference – Trump said he plans to use Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose a 10 percent tariff “over and above our normal tariffs already being charged.” Section 122 was established to allow the U.S. president to impose duties on other countries related to “large and serious” balance of payments issues.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

New Jersey fishermen challenge monitoring rule again

January 23, 2026 — Following their victory before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2024, commercial fishers from New Jersey are asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to vacate a NOAA Fisheries rule requiring them to pay out of pocket for at-sea monitors.

“Forcing fishermen to pay the salaries of government regulators watching them conduct their work is backward,” New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) Senior Litigation Counsel Kara Rollins said in a statement. “The regulation unlawfully places the government’s financial responsibilities onto the governed and without congressional authorization.”

The lawsuit centers on the Industry-Funded Monitoring (IFM) rule introduced by NOAA Fisheries in 2020. The rule requires commercial fishers in multiple fisheries – Atlantic herring, squid, butterfish, and Atlantic mackerel – to pay out of pocket for at-sea monitors to be present on their vessels and observe their operations.

The fishers claimed the requirement would be devastating to their business, with monitors reportedly costing more than $700 per day. According to the NCLA, that cost can eat up any profit the fishers made in a day, and over a multi-day trip, costs could become exorbitant.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear case that could have upended Alaska subsistence fishing

January 15, 2026 — The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the state of Alaska’s latest attempt to alter Alaska’s decades-old system of subsistence fishing management.

In a one-sentence order Monday, the court said it will not review a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in August that Alaska cannot manage fishing on a stretch of the Kuskokwim River that flows through the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge.

If the Supreme Court had taken up the case, it could have redefined Alaska’s unique system of hunting and fishing management, which allows the federal government to restrict subsistence hunting and fishing on federal land to rural Alaskans. The state is forbidden by the Alaska Constitution from offering the same preference.

Alaska Native organizations, including the Alaska Federation of Natives, praised the court’s decision, but the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said by email that it would continue to work with the federal government on the issue.

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media

US Supreme Court rejects Alaska’s petition to overturn federal authority over subsistence fishing

January 12, 2026 — The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a petition from the state of Alaska seeking to limit federal authority over regulating subsistence fishing on federal lands in the state.

The Supreme Court’s decision to not take up the case leaves a prior ruling from the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals – which rejected Alaska’s arguments and kept the federal government’s regulatory authority intact – in place.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Op-ed: A momentous US Supreme Court decision

January 7, 2026 — When I was an economics major in the late 1960s, I was taught that tariffs, as well as non-tariff barriers, should be avoided as a burden on trade and a tax on the populace. However, because the world has not accepted that teaching and tariffs have become a major defensive tool for advancing the Trump administration’s policy objectives, the conventional wisdom should be reconsidered.

Today, there are over 180 nation-states trying to be competitive on the world markets for goods and services, 35 percent of which are represented by the United States. Consequently, access to our markets is extremely important. U.S. tariffs provide critical, indispensable leverage against unfair foreign trade practices, including tariffs and nontariff barriers to our exports, and unfair penetration of our markets to the detriment of domestic production and jobs. Lessons can be drawn from trade experiences with two of America’s closest allies: Japan and Canada.

Japan, over the last 40 months, has devalued its currency against the U.S. dollar by 50%, from 105 to 155 yen to the dollar. This means that Japan has effectively established the equivalent of a 50% tariff on all international imports.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Alaska, US government file briefs with Supreme Court in battle over preferential treatment for rural subsistence fishers

December 29, 2025 — The U.S. federal government, the state of Alaska, and the Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP) have filed briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court in their ongoing battle over a subsistence fishing system which prioritizes rural Alaskans.

“Subsistence is not just a word on paper. It is the heart of our communities, families, elders, and children,” AVCP CEO Vivian Korthuis said in a release. “The state’s continued attacks on these rights are a direct challenge to our traditions and values. Every salmon counts, and we hope that the United States Supreme Court will affirm what we already know to be true. We will continue to advocate for our people, our waters, and Our Way of Life for as long as it takes.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Chevron’s demise could snarl Trump environmental agenda

December 16, 2025 — A new slate of environmental rollbacks from the Trump administration are poised to serve as early tests of a recent Supreme Court ruling that limited federal agencies’ power to defend their rules against legal attack.

Over the last few weeks, EPA and the Interior Department have floated rescissions of protections for federal waters, vulnerable species and climate change.

Each proposal presents a dramatic change in position from earlier regulations, and in the absence of Chevron deference — which gave agencies the benefit of the doubt when statutes are unclear — the Trump administration will have to make the case that its approach is the best interpretation of federal law.

Read the full article at E&E News