https://crsreports.congress.gov
Updated September 2, 2025
President Trump’s April 2025 Executive Order on American
Seafood Competitiveness: Considerations for U.S. Fisheries
Introduction
On April 17, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order
(E.O.) 14276, “Restoring American Seafood
Competitiveness,” which required multiple federal agency
actions related to U.S. fisheries science and management,
the seafood trade, and commercial fishing in marine
national monuments (MNMs). President Trump directed the
Secretary of Commerce (hereinafter the Secretary), whose
authorities include administration of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), as
amended, to address U.S. seafood trade practices, including
the U.S. seafood supply chain and seafood imports, and the
regulation of domestic and foreign fishing in U.S. waters.
The Department of Commerce includes the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s)
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), which is the
primary federal agency responsible for the regulation and
management of U.S. fisheries and seafood. Congress,
through its enactment of MSA and other living marine
resource (LMR)-related statutes, has regularly shown
interest in U.S. fisheries and seafood production, including
their sustainable management and economic contributions.
Executive Order 14276
E.O. 14276 builds on elements of E.O. 13921, “Promoting
American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic
Growth,” issued on May 7, 2020, which included directives
related to U.S. fisheries, international seafood trade,
aquaculture production, and combating illegal, unreported,
and unregulated (IUU) fishing. E.O. 14276 identifies most
American fish stocks as healthy and having “viable
markets.” NMFS noted in its 2023 Report to Congress on
the Status of U.S. Fisheries, the most recent such report,
that 94% of the U.S. stocks and stock complexes for which
overfishing status was known at the time were not subject to
overfishing. Similarly, data in the report indicated that 82%
of stocks and stock complexes for which overfished status
was known at the time were not classified as overfished.
Additionally, the report noted that nearly 30% of U.S. fish
stocks and stock complexes have unknown overfishing
status and that overfished status is unknown for
approximately half of all U.S. fish stocks and stock
complexes. Further, 51 U.S. stocks had been rebuilt from
overfished conditions as of December 2024.
E.O. 14276 also notes concerns about the global
competitiveness of U.S. seafood and domestic seafood
markets as related to trade practices and regulation. The
E.O. states that the majority of seafood consumed by
Americans is imported and identifies a “seafood trade
deficit” of “over $20 billion.” According to NMFS annual
commercial landings statistics and fishery trade data, in
2023, 91.6% of the total edible U.S. supply of fishery
products were identified as imported. Additionally, the
volume of imported edible fishery products is
approximately double that of U.S. domestically caught
edible fishery products, with much of that domestic harvest
ultimately exported. From 2019 to 2023, the difference in
the total nominal value of imported and exported edible
fishery products ranged from approximately $17 billion to
$24.7 billion, with a difference of approximately $20.4
billion in 2023 (i.e., greater imported value).
Directives for Fisheries Science and Management
E.O. 14276 states a U.S. policy “to promote the productive
harvest of [U.S.] seafood resources” and to “unburden”
commercial fishers from “costly and inefficient regulation”
while also combatting IUU fishing and protecting U.S.
seafood markets. Several of these elements also were
identified in E.O. 13921. E.O. 14276 identifies U.S.
seafood as being “heavily regulated” and lists several
factors (e.g., “restrictive catch limits”) it identifies as
impediments to fisheries harvest. Similarly, E.O. 13921
emphasized removal of “unnecessary regulatory burdens”
to fishers. E.O. 14276 directs the Secretary—with input
from other parties, including the U.S. fishing industry—to
“immediately consider suspending, revising, or rescinding”
regulations perceived as burdensome to commercial fishing,
aquaculture, and fish processing industries. It further directs
the Secretary to “identify the most heavily overregulated
fisheries requiring action” and to “take appropriate action to
reduce the regulatory burden on them,” in cooperation with
U.S. Regional Fishery Management Councils (FMCs) and
other relevant federal and public-private partnerships.
E.O. 14276 directs the Secretary to request that each FMC,
within 180 days, provide updates to its recommendations
pursuant to E.O. 13921 regarding regulation of domestic
fishing practices and their management; such “identified
actions should stabilize markets, improve access, enhance
economic profitability, and prevent closures.” E.O. 13921
included that these recommendations are to be consistent
with MSA and other applicable laws (e.g., the Marine
Mammal Protection Act). FMCs are to commit to a work
plan and an implementation schedule for prioritization of
these actions. E.O. 14276 also directs the Secretary to
solicit public comments, including from industry members,
technology experts, marine scientists, and other relevant
parties, for ideas to improve fisheries management and
science within the requirements of MSA and other laws.
E.O. 14276 directs the Secretary to pursue additional public
engagement to ensure executive departments and agencies
“are focusing core fisheries management and science
functions” to support U.S. seafood supply chain priority
needs. With respect to fisheries science and technology, the
