The week of April 14th was a busy one in the White House for coastal fishing interests. First came the Trump administration’s April 16th order to cease construction on the Empire Wind 1 industrial wind project in the NY Bight. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directed his Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to put a pause on the project, saying “Approval for the project was rushed through by the prior administration without sufficient analysis or consultation among the relevant agencies as relates to the potential effects from the project.”
The very next day, President Trump issued an executive order on Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness aimed at bolstering U.S. seafood production. “The United States controls one of the largest and most abundant ocean resources in the world, with over 4 million square miles of prime fishing grounds,” the president said in his April 17th order, adding “With this vast resource and centuries of hard work from American fishermen, our Nation has the greatest seafood in the world.”
The president’s order requires the Commerce Secretary to consider suspending, revising, or rescinding regulations that overly burden America’s commercial fishing, aquaculture, and fish processing industries. “Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Commerce shall identify the most heavily overregulated fisheries requiring action and take appropriate action to reduce the regulatory burden on them,” the president said.
Some actions required under the presidential order include soliciting recommendations from regional fishery management councils to reduce burdens on domestic fishing and to increase production, while soliciting direct public comments – including from fishing industry members, technology experts, marine scientists, and other relevant parties – to develop “innovative ideas to improve fisheries management and science within the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.”
“Most American fish stocks are healthy and have viable markets. Despite these opportunities, seafood is one of the most heavily regulated sectors in the United States,” the president said, explaining how federal overregulation restricts fishermen from productively harvesting American seafood due to restrictive catch limits, the selling of fishing grounds to foreign offshore wind companies, inaccurate and outdated fisheries data, and delayed adoption of modern technology.
In all, the word “commercial” was used by the president four times in his executive order, while “recreational” didn’t appear once. The president called this “A New Era of Seafood Policy,” one which considers, quote, “suspending, revising, or rescinding regulations that overly burden America’s commercial fishing, aquaculture, and fish processing industries.” That said, and with all due respect Mr. President, we the recreational fishermen of America catch seafood too!
During his first term in 2020, President Trump issued a similar executive order aimed at promoting American seafood competitiveness. The Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) was still around at the time, and the president’s order prompted Jim Donofrio to write a letter to the president’s Seafood Trade Task Force as a reminder that anglers also produce seafood. “RFA sees absolutely no reason that recreationally landed fish should not be considered seafood,” Donofrio wrote, adding “Based on every definition we have reviewed, seafood is not a term that can be assigned exclusively to the commercial fishing industry.”
A year later under the Biden administration, the word “seafood” was still causing confusion at NOAA Fisheries. During the summer of 2021, I’d sent an email to Russ Dunn, National Policy Advisor for Recreational Fisheries at NOAA Fisheries, asking for a subtle reminder to the folks at NOAA that anglers also exist in the world of fisheries and seafood harvest. Dunn followed up with NOAA’s communications staff and emailed me back to say “It was recognized that rec is often overlooked when seafood is discussed.” In October, NOAA Fisheries included a “rec-centric seafood piece” in celebration of National Seafood month.
Our recreational pursuit of seafood represents jobs and commerce, and it’s important that government agencies and elected officials remember that.
