Saving Seafood

Canadian-Led Operation Reveals Scope of Illegal Fishing in North Pacific

August 7, 2026 — A Canadian-led operation aimed at cracking down on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing has again exposed how the vast North Pacific continues to be a hotspot for criminal activity that poses a major threat to fish populations, marine environments and global seafood supply chains.

Following the completion of the annual multinational mission known as Operation North Pacific Guard (Op. NPG), which involved more than two months of patrolling North Pacific waters at sea, in the air and by satellite, the reality is that IUU fishing remains a deeply rooted menace.

The mission, which is led by Canada and brings together a range of partners including the U.S., Japan and Korea, saw Canadian fishery officers and crew aboard the multipurpose coast guard ship Sir Wilfrid Laurier patrol more than 23,000 kilometers of North Pacific waters.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

Coalition of 25 US states sue Trump administration over tariffs

August 5, 2026 — A coalition of 25 U.S. states have launched lawsuits against the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump over the latest round of tariffs.

The Trump administration launched sweeping Section 301 tariffs on 60 economies in July, comprising 59 countries and every country in the European Union. The United States Trade Representative (USTR) launched the tariffs following investigations into all 60 economies, and said the tariffs are related to those economies failures to “impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US consumers buying less beef, shifting to seafood, other proteins instead

July 31, 2026 — Over half of Americans are buying less beef or have stopped buying it entirely due to high prices, according to supply chain management firm Blue Yonder’s 2026 Consumer Grocery and Protein Trends survey.

Forty percent of beef buyers said they are purchasing beef less frequently, 11 percent have largely stopped buying beef, and 4 percent have completely stopped buying beef. Meanwhile, 17 percent have switched to cheaper cuts due to higher prices.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Industry groups launch US Shrimp Coalition to defend imports

July 31, 2026 — Multiple groups representing U.S. industries including the National Retail Federation and National Fisheries Institute have formed the U.S. Shrimp Coalition to advocate for retaining access to shrimp imports.

Announced on 31 July, the coalition said it was formed in response to increased effort to restrict shrimp imports in the U.S., though it did not name any specific effort.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Trump administration took funding dedicated to fighting IUU fishing and used it for the World Cup

July 31, 2026 — The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump took funding set aside for combatting illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and spent it on other priorities, including the 2026 FIFA World Cup, according to a report from Washington D.C.-focused news outlet Punchbowl News.

The outlet reported that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) diverted most of the USD 170 million (EUR 147 million) set aside in the One Big Beautiful Bill for the U.S. Coast Guard to spend on maritime domain awareness, which would support the government’s anti-IUU fishing enforcement efforts.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Here’s where Trump has canceled wind farms – and how states are pushing back

July 31, 2026 — President Donald Trump’s opposition to offshore wind farms is well-documented. In the early 2010s, he sued the Scottish government when it gave permission for a company to build turbines in sight of one of his resorts. In public testimony over the years, the president has called wind turbines “monstrosities.” He has fretted about their environmental impact, decried their noise, and lamented their impact on tourism.

He lost his case in Scotland. Now, as U.S. president, he has more leverage.

Over the past year, the Trump administration has gone to great lengths to undo his predecessor’s efforts to establish a wind power industry off the coast of the United States. Since March, he’s struck five agreements with private companies to cancel at least nine offshore wind leases – a strategy that rings of Mr. Trump’s tendency toward dealmaking and that environmental policy analysts say no president has employed before.

Read the full article at The Christian Science Monitor 

US representatives introduce bipartisan bill to undo Trump’s ESA rollback

July 29, 2026 — A pair of U.S. lawmakers has introduced a bill that would reverse the federal government’s decision to roll back the definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to exclude habitat destruction.

“Congress enacted the Endangered Species Act to prevent extinction – not to document it after the damage has already been done,” U.S. Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania) said in a release. “For more than 50 years, our nation’s protections have reflected a basic legal, scientific, and commonsense truth: When habitat destruction actually kills or injures protected wildlife, that destruction is harm. The administration’s rule would erase that longstanding safeguard through regulatory action and leave vulnerable species exposed at the precise moment the law is intended to protect them.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US senators call for sanctions on vessels that support China’s distant water fishing fleet

July 28, 2026 — A handful of U.S. senators have asked the Department of the Treasury to issue sanctions on vessels that support China’s distant water fishing fleet, continuing a push from U.S. lawmakers to limit China’s commercial fishing and seafood sectors.

“The Chinese Communist Party is using its global distant-water fleet to conduct ecocide across at least three continents in both hemispheres. They kill endangered species by the hundreds and sharks, whales, and dolphins by the thousands, and have destroyed tens of thousands of acres of coral reefs,” U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said in a statement. “Their fleet uses coerced laborers, who are subjected to physical abuse, malnutrition, overwork, and withheld pay. They could not conduct these activities without supply ships, including reefers, tankers, and floating bases. The U.S. should bolster our Maritime Domain Awareness capabilities to identify these vessels, and then we should use every available option to sanction and disrupt them.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Legal group that won IEEPA lawsuits takes aim at latest Section 301 tariffs

July 28, 2026 — The legal team that successfully challenged U.S. President Donald Trump’s International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)-backed tariffs is now pursuing a case against the administration’s latest Section 301 tariffs.

The Liberty Justice Center filed V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump in April 2025, just days after Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs. That lawsuit ultimately ended up in a 6-3 ruling at the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year that invalidated the tariffs and kicked off a lengthy refund process that is still ongoing.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Trump administration launches sweeping tariffs on 59 countries, entire EU

July 24, 2026 — The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has launched sweeping tariffs on 59 different countries and the entire E.U. following Section 301 investigations.

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) began 60 investigations in March 2026 related to the “failure of various economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.” In June, the USTR said it was planning to target those countries with tariff rates of between 10 and 12.5 percent, depending on the commitments the countries made to oppose forced labor.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource