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NOAA Fisheries Releases Three Flagship Reports: 2025 Status of Stocks, 2024 Fisheries of the United States, and 2024 Fisheries Economics of the United States

October 30, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries is pleased to share three of our flagship reports: Status of Stocks 2025 Annual Report to Congress on the Status of U.S. Fisheries, 2024 Fisheries of the United States, and 2024 Fisheries Economics of the United States. Each of these reports is a crucial part of how we track and monitor the state of United States marine fisheries.

2025 Status of Stocks

The 2025 Status of Stocks is an annual report to Congress on the status of U.S. fisheries. We track 522 stocks or stock complexes to determine their status:

Overfished: population size is too small
Subject to overfishing: harvest rate is too high
Rebuilt: target level supports maximum sustainable yield

In fiscal year 2025, NOAA Fisheries conducted 173 stock assessments and had two first-time stock status determinations as the result of improved or new scientific endeavors.

The 2025 Status of Stocks report shows positive trends: The number of stocks on the overfishing list decreased to an all-time low and another stock was added to the rebuilt list. That brings the number of rebuilt stocks to 52 since 2000. The number of stocks on the overfishing list dropped from 23 to 15 stocks. Of the 372 stocks with a known overfishing status, 96 percent are not subject to overfishing. The number of stocks on the overfished list remained the same at 42 stocks. Of the 265 stocks with a known overfished status, 84 percent are not overfished.

Notably, Atlantic blue marlin was removed from the overfishing list for the first time since 1998 and Quillback rockfish (California) was added to the rebuilt list in 2025.

Managing fisheries sustainably is an adaptive process that relies on sound science, innovative management approaches, effective enforcement, meaningful partnerships, and robust public participation. Partnerships with the regional fishery management councils, state and international partners, and interstate fisheries commissions are also key to the success of ending overfishing and rebuilding stocks.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

Fish is food: Opening USDA doors for commercial fishermen

October 30, 2026 — When the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) were established in 1970, it was recommended that they become part of their own oceans department or the Department of the Interior. But the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, which preceded NOAA, focused on marine resources as economic assets, so the Nixon Administration put the new agencies in the Department of Commerce, and that’s where they have remained for the last 56 years.

But many people in the industry have noticed the limitations of looking at fish strictly as economic assets, and they will be talking about it on the Fish is Food: Opening Doors for Seafood in Federal Programs Panel at the 2026 Pacific Marine Expo. “For years seafood has been treated as a commodity rather than part of the food system,” says Linda Behnken, executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA). “With Mike Illenberg leading the USDA’s [United States Department of Agriculture] new office of seafood, we have someone who knows the industry and can help fishermen access the programs we need.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

US State Department launches university-led Fish Innovation Lab

October 30, 2026 — The U.S. Department of State has launched a new Fish Innovation Lab led by Mississippi State University’s (MSU) Global Center for Aquatic Health and Food Security (GCAHFS).

Starting with USD 8 million (EUR 7.2 million) in federal funding for the first year of the five-year award, the lab will focus on developing and scaling research-based solutions for improving aquatic food systems.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

The Permitting Bill Fishermen Can’t Afford to Ignore

October 29, 2026 — On November 9, the Senate is scheduled to take up the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026, known as BAAJA (S. 5653). This legislation is not about Mexican sheep; instead, the dense 400-page bill rewrites how the federal government approves energy, mining, and infrastructure projects. Its sponsors, Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Mike Lee (R-UT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), call it a historic compromise. I call it a historic risk for fishing communities.

The coalition behind BAAJA is unusual. The American Petroleum Institute (oil and gas), the American Clean Power Association (wind and other renewables), and major organized labor groups support it. Tribal nations, historic preservation groups, and ocean conservation organizations oppose it.

Commercial fishermen have been mostly absent from this fight, and that needs to change. BAAJA rewrites the rules for offshore wind farms, export cables, offshore oil and gas, and seabed mining. It changes how those projects are approved, how long the approvals last, and how hard they are to challenge. Nearly every change reduces the leverage fishermen have used to protect fishing grounds historically, and that’s not a coincidence.

The Senate outcome is close to being settled. The House is a different story, and that is where fishermen still have a real opening. But we must make our voices heard, and soon.

What this issue is about

Fishermen have spent more than a decade fighting for a real voice in offshore wind decisions. Lease areas have been granted on productive fishing grounds over industry objections, and project layouts have been set with little regard for how fleets actually fish or what they need for safe transit. Too often, fishermen’s concerns have been treated as a box to check rather than a reason to change course.

BAAJA would shrink what voice fishermen have left in the regulatory process for energy permitting. Its supporters pitch it as protection for clean energy, pointing to the 2025 federal stop-work orders that halted offshore wind projects already holding permits. The bill delivers that protection by making permits nearly impossible to revisit once they are issued, and much harder to challenge before then during the planning process.

The bill doesn’t stop at wind. Its “protections” for energy projects from public scrutiny and challenge cover any federally permitted project with a private sector sponsor, including offshore oil and gas wells and mines. The same rules that would wall off a wind farm from fishermen’s objections would wall off an offshore drilling lease or a seabed mining permit.

Federal government’s new America-First Seafood Strategy offers hope for Gulf shrimpers

October 28, 2026 — The Southern Shrimp Alliance welcomes the Trump Administration’s announcement of the America First Seafood Strategy.

The Friday announcement was accompanied by a 33-page report and website, seafood.gov, focused on the revitalization of the U.S. seafood industry that clearly identified the challenge confronting the federal government: “Rich Waters. Rising Imports.”

The United States has some of the richest fishery resources in the world and the hardest working commercial fishermen on Earth. Yet America imports an overwhelming majority of its seafood supply while domestic seafood businesses and fishing communities struggle to survive. President Trump is fixing this, and putting America’s fisheries and American consumers first.

“President Trump has prioritized getting fishermen back to work to supply Americans with healthy, sustainable, domestically-sourced seafood. The U.S. shrimp industry is thrilled to see a detailed America First Seafood Strategy and looks forward to assisting federal agencies in the implementation of its objectives,” said Blake Price, Executive Director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “At the same time, American shrimpers ask that the Administration take meaningful action to combat the unfair trade practices that have allowed foreign seafood to dominate our market and provide immediate relief from high diesel costs that have forced our boats to tie up.”

Read the full article at The Houma Times

USDA announces USD 5 billion in loans available for seafood and meat processors

October 28, 2026 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it will be making USD 5 billion (EUR 4.5 billion) in loans available to expand and improve processing capacity for the nation’s seafood, meat, and poultry industries.

“From our crabbers in Alaska, to the lobstermen in Maine, to the great shrimpers in the Gulf of America, our nation is blessed with incredible men and women who work to bring this bounty to our plates. The Trump administration has recognized their incredible efforts and is working to provide all the necessary tools for them to succeed with our America First Seafood Strategy,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a release.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

U.S. Shrimpers Petition to Stop Imports of Indian Shrimp Using Forced Labor

October 28, 2026 — The following was released by the Southern Shrimp Alliance:

U.S. commercial shrimp fishermen, supported by the Southern Shrimp Alliance, filed a trade action today to end imports of Indian shrimp produced through the reprehensible use of forced labor. The Section 337 complaint asks the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to determine whether forced labor in the supply chains of major seafood producer Nekkanti Sea Foods constitutes an unfair trade practice that harms domestic shrimp producers.

“Forced labor is not a competitive advantage; it’s an inhumane practice that must end,” said Blake Price, executive director for the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “Multiple investigations find that Indian shrimp producers cut their costs by exploiting vulnerable populations, who are compelled by debt bondage, restricted movement, and abusive bosses to work in hazardous conditions to make shrimp that is exported to the United States. When the U.S. opens its market to Indian shrimp, we fail those vulnerable workers and allow immoral practices to push ethical producers out of the market.”

Growing Forced Labor Findings Unaddressed

In 2024, Corporate Accountability Lab, which is serving as co-counsel in the case, released a three-year studydocumenting widespread use of forced labor across all levels of India’s shrimp supply chain. The Associated Press, the Outlaw Ocean Project, and CNN have since corroborated the study, and the U.S. Department of Laboradded shrimp from India to the 2024 List of Goods Produced with Forced Labor (TVPRA List), officially notifying all U.S. buyers sourcing shrimp from India to exercise additional due diligence to combat forced labor.

The Tariff Act of 1930 grants the ITC authority under Section 337 to block the importation of goods involved in unfair acts or methods of competition that either injure or threaten to injure a U.S. industry.

Distorted Prices of Indian Shrimp Harm American Shrimpers

India is a leading supplier of shrimp to the U.S. market, accounting for over half of all peeled shrimp (52%) and 40% of all frozen warmwater shrimp imported into the United States in 2025. The ITC has repeatedly determined that the U.S. shrimp industry is harmed or threatened with injury by Indian shrimp companies due to dumping (selling below fair value) and subsidies from the Indian government that support shrimp production for export. However, these trade remedies do not fully address the unfair competition caused by forced labor, which undercuts U.S. shrimp producers and costs them sales in the U.S. market.

As Indian shrimp prices fell to record lows, they dragged down all shrimp prices, causing the U.S. shrimp industry to lose half of its value between 2021 and 2023. America’s multigenerational mom-and-pop shrimping businesses closed in staggering numbers. By 2024, state shrimping licenses reached their lowest levels on record, and the total number of commercial shrimp licenses for the Gulf of America dropped to less than one-third of what they were in 2000.

Additionally, studies have linked the pricing pressures resulting from the use of forced labor in India to increased worker exploitation in other major shrimp-producing countries, such as Indonesia and Vietnam. Meanwhile, America is quickly losing its ability to harvest sustainable shrimp from local waters because of uncompetitive practices, jeopardizing domestic food security.

“This case aims to pressure India’s shrimp aquaculture industry to remove forced labor from their supply chains to access the large U.S. market,” explained Price. “Unfairly traded shrimp undercut American shrimpers, who are leaving their cherished, multigenerational way of life to make ends meet. America is losing its ability to access the sustainable shrimp stocks that grow naturally in local waters.”

ITC Decision Coming Soon

The complaint offers a clear timeline and transparent plan for the U.S. shrimp industry, which for years has shown evidence of unfair practices and their damaging effects on American fishing families to the Department of Labor, the Food and Drug Administration, and other agencies without any resulting action.

The Section 337 complaint follows a strict legal process. The ITC Commissioners will decide within 30 calendar days (November 27, 2026) whether to initiate the case and announce how it will proceed. An eight-day public comment period will follow publication in the Federal Register.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Read the fact sheet: https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Section-337-Fact-Sheet-Final.pdf

Read the Corporate Accountability Lab’s (co-counsel) press release, blog, and landing page

Filed complaint: https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Sec-337-Complaint-PUBLIC.pdf

Investigation 337-3935

Class-action lawsuit accuses Walmart of inflating weight of frozen shrimp bags

October 27, 2026 — A class-action lawsuit filed by a shopper in the U.S. state of Illinois claims that bags of frozen shrimp sold by retail giant Walmart contain fewer shrimp than advertised.

The suit alleges that Walmart is counting the weight of the ice glaze utilized to prevent freezer burn on shrimp in its weight for the product, so when the bag is thawed out and drained, the product contains fewer shrimp than claimed. According to the lawsuit, the bags contain roughly 11 percent fewer shrimp than advertised.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Trump Administration releases America First Seafood Strategy

October 26, 2026 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, President Trump announced the America First Seafood Strategy, a key directive under the President’s Executive Order Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness. NOAA plays a key role in the Strategy, which details a coordinated federal plan to expand domestic seafood production, modernize infrastructure, improve market access for American harvesters and processors, and ensure fair competition in U.S. and international markets.

“The species managed in U.S. waters are American icons – from Maine lobster to Gulf shrimp, from Alaskan salmon to Florida stone crab, American seafood is a rich part of U.S. history and our vibrant coastal economy,” said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. “The America First Seafood Strategy ensures that the future of seafood in the United States will be built by American fishermen, American workers, and American industry—not by foreign imports.”

NOAA manages some of the world’s most productive and scientifically assessed fishery resources. American commercial fishermen operate under rigorous conservation and management standards. The Strategy builds on that foundation by aligning federal policy, science, and existing authorities to increase sustainable harvest opportunities, reduce unnecessary regulatory costs, rebuild domestic processing and shoreside capacity, and give American seafood a stronger competitive position at home and abroad.

Key elements of the Strategy include:

Expanding Domestic Production and Market Opportunities
NOAA is working with the Regional Fishery Management Councils and industry to ensure catch limits reflect the best scientific information available, restore access to productive fishing grounds where supported by data, and reduce compliance costs that do not advance conservation and management objectives. A voluntary “U.S.-Caught Seafood” designation, developed in coordination with the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), will give consumers a clear way to identify seafood caught in the United States (including the U.S. EEZ) or caught by U.S.-flagged vessels outside of the U.S. EEZ under the authority of U.S. laws. Federal agencies will also expand opportunities for American seafood in government procurement and launch a nationwide “Eat American Seafood” campaign highlighting jobs, coastal economies, food security, and nutrition benefits.

Rebuilding Infrastructure, Processing Capacity, and the Fishing Fleet
Federal agencies will streamline permitting and reduce barriers to private investment in cold storage, wet storage, working waterfronts, docks, shipyards, and processing facilities. Existing USDA, Small Business Administration, and NOAA financing tools will be leveraged to support modernization of processing plants, vessel replacement, and equipment upgrades. NOAA will review the Fisheries Finance Program and Capital Construction Fund to remove obstacles that discourage fishermen from reinvesting in safer, more efficient, American-built vessels. Success will be measured by increases in domestic production and processing, private capital deployed, American jobs supported, and reduced reliance on foreign supply chains.

Strengthening Fair Trade, Import Compliance, and Enforcement Against Illegal Fishing
NOAA will continue to implement and improve the Seafood Import Monitoring Program and related authorities, using advanced tools to target high-risk imports. The Strategy reinforces interagency efforts to combat seafood fraud, mislabeling, and illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing, while supporting reciprocal market access for U.S. exports through coordination with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and other agencies.

Regulatory Reform and Industry Partnership
Building on input already received under the Seafood Competitiveness Executive Order, NOAA is advancing targeted regulatory reforms in partnership with the Regional Fishery Management Councils. The agency will also work with permitting partners to establish clearer standards and guidance for marine aquaculture in federal waters, providing greater predictability for responsible expansion of domestic aquaculture that complements wild-capture fisheries.

Supporting Public Health Through Seafood
Federal health and nutrition agencies will align guidance and education with current science on the benefits of seafood consumption. NOAA will contribute accurate fisheries and aquaculture information to coordinated public messaging.

NOAA’s role centers on providing the scientific foundation, fisheries management expertise, and verification support necessary to implement these priorities while maintaining sustainable management of U.S. marine resources. The Strategy relies on existing statutory authorities and programs rather than new spending initiatives. It focuses federal effort on removing barriers, improving coordination, and delivering measurable results for American fishermen, processors, and coastal communities.

By prioritizing domestic production, infrastructure, fair competition, and science-based management, the America First Seafood Strategy positions the United States to strengthen its seafood industrial base, support coastal prosperity, and enhance national food security.

Trump announces America First Seafood Strategy with new label for domestic products

October 26, 2026 — U.S. President Donald Trump has issued an American First Seafood Strategy to boost the nation’s seafood, aquaculture, and commercial fishing policies, complete with a new voluntary “U.S.-Caught Seafood” for domestic products.

“The species managed in U.S. waters are American icons – from Maine lobster to Gulf shrimp, from Alaskan salmon to Florida stone crab, American seafood is a rich part of U.S. history and our vibrant coastal economy,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a release. “The America First Seafood Strategy ensures that the future of seafood in the United States will be built by American fishermen, American workers, and American industry – not by foreign imports.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource