Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness

The order seeks to increase domestic fishing, aquaculture, processing, and seafood exports while blocking illegally sourced imports and challenging foreign trade barriers.

What the order does ​

• Directs Commerce to identify heavily regulated fisheries within 30 days and consider suspending, revising, or rescinding burdensome rules.
• Requires regional fishery councils to recommend production-boosting changes within 180 days and commit to implementation schedules.
• Expands industry and public input, lower-cost technology, cooperative research, real-time data collection, and exempted fishing permits.
• Orders Commerce and Agriculture to develop an America First Seafood Strategy covering production, marketing, exports, processing, consumer education, and nutrition-program purchases.
• Requires Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative to produce a seafood trade strategy within 60 days and examine unfair trade practices, illegal fishing, forced labor, and foreign market barriers.
• Directs agencies to improve risk-based import checks and technology aimed at keeping illegally caught seafood out of U.S. markets.
• Requires a review of marine national monuments within 180 days for possible opening to commercial fishing consistent with protecting identified historic and scientific resources.

Who it affects ​

• Commercial fishermen, aquaculture operators, seafood processors, exporters, and coastal communities.
• Foreign seafood producers and importers, especially those linked to illegal fishing, forced labor, or trade barriers.
• Marine scientists, fisheries technology providers, regional fishery councils, and conservation stakeholders.
• Consumers and participants in federal nutrition programs that purchase seafood.