March 11, 2026 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is predicting seafood prices will rise faster than their historical average in 2026.
The USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS)’s February 2026 Forecast is predicting overall food prices will increase 3.1 percent this year. That average is split between food-at-home prices, which are projected to increase 2.5 percent, and food-away-from-home prices, which are projected to increase up to 3.7 percent.
February 18, 2026 — New Farm Bill renewal legislation introduced by Republicans in the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture would establish an aquaculture advisory committee.
The committee is based on a concept introduced in the Sustaining Healthy Ecosystems, Livelihoods, and Local Seafood (SHELLS) Act, introduced in 2023 to create an office of aquaculture within USDA. The bill also provided for the establishment of an aquaculture advisory committee to help develop best practices and provide technical assistance.
December 15, 2025 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded USD 13,694,519 (EUR 11,666,316) in contracts for catfish, pollock, and salmon products for use in federal domestic food programs.
Sitka, Alaska, U.S.A.-based Silver Bay Seafoods was the biggest winner of the announcement, securing roughly half of the funding by value. The company was awarded USD 7,077,272 (EUR 6,028,959) to provide more than 88,000 cases of canned pink salmon.
November 21, 2025 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded a total of USD 1.7 million (EUR 1.5 million) in funding for six aquaculture research projects.
The competitive grants were issued through USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), a body created to consolidate the federal government’s funding for agriculture research. According to NIFA’s website, global seafood demand is expected to increase 70 percent over the next three decades, and a “dramatic increase” in aquaculture production will need to take place to meet that demand.
November 18, 2025 — Commercial fishing groups are praising U.S. lawmakers for establishing a new seafood liaison position within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) – a long-held goal for the industry.
“American seafood is a heart-healthy protein, and our fisheries are managed for sustainable harvest. Support from USDA will provide well-deserved support to U.S. fishermen to ensure Americans have ready and continued access to domestic and locally harvested seafood,” Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association Executive Director Linda Behnken said in a release.
November 13, 2025 — The longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history has ended, with Republicans garnering enough support in the Senate to pass a continuing resolution that will keep the government funded into January.
The legislation largely continues funding at fiscal year 2025 levels, but lawmakers were able to add a few provisions into the appropriations bill through a last minute amendment in the Senate, including passing a major priority for the U.S. seafood industry: the establishment of a new seafood liaison position within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
November 10, 2025 — Foreign food inspections conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have plummeted under U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, according to an investigation by news outlet ProPublica.
“Basic regulatory oversight functions have been decimated,” Consumer Reports Food Policy Director Brian Ronholm told ProPublica. “There’s an enhanced risk of more outbreaks.”
October 3, 2025 — On the heels of back-to-back radioactive shrimp recalls, and in the midst of a federal government shutdown. Seafood safety is a question for many who enjoy flavors from the coast.
There are multiple federal agencies, including the FDA, USDA, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Customs and Border Protection, to inspect various imports and domestic products, like the hundreds of thousands of recalled shrimp from Indonesia over the past two months.
But one organization stands out, the National Marine Fisheries Service, under the U-S Department of Commerce.
September 26, 2025 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced contracts for USD 84 million (EUR 72 million) worth of Alaska pollock products and USD 14 million (EUR 12 million) worth of catfish products.
In August, the department announced its intention to purchase USD 100 million (EUR 86 million) worth of Alaska pollock and USD 20 million (EUR 17 million) of catfish as part of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Great American Farmers Market, an event in Washington, D.C., U.S.A., held as part of National Farmers Market Week last month.
September 16, 2025 — In 1787, Alexander Hamilton stressed the need for a united national effort to protect America’s ocean resources from stagnation and unfair foreign trade practices. Absent vigorous federal action to free our fisheries from barriers to growth and trade, “that unequalled spirit of enterprise, which signalises the genius of the American Merchants and Navigators, and which is in itself an inexhaustible mine of national wealth, would be stifled and lost.”
Since Hamilton wrote those words, Alaska became first a territory, then the 49th state in the Union, cementing itself as a linchpin of the nation’s food supply, economy and national security.
Alaska has the largest federal fisheries in the nation—roughly 60% of America’s harvest by volume. The Alaska seafood industry produces roughly $6 billion in economic output for the state and employs 48,000 Alaskans.
In addition to feeding our own citizens, fisheries products are among the top three U.S. food, agriculture and related product export categories, and there is soaring global demand for these high-quality, high-value commodities.