A recent executive order aimed at revitalizing the United States seafood industry has ignited significant concern among scientific experts who fear that its sweeping deregulation measures could dismantle decades of environmental safeguards and scientific advancements. This policy, officially introduced in April 2025 as "Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness," is intended to bolster the industry by reducing regulatory burdens, combating unfair trade practices, and safeguarding the supply chain’s integrity. However, aquaculture and fisheries scientists argue that these ambitions come at the cost of weakening the crucial frameworks underpinning sustainable seafood production throughout the nation.
The scientific community voices particular alarm over the rapid pace at which existing federal regulatory frameworks governing fisheries management are being rolled back. Halley Froehlich of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Jessica Gephart at the University of Washington emphasize that rather than reforming these policies to optimize seafood production, the executive order threatens to unravel the scientific authority that has been painstakingly developed over many years. Froehlich, the lead author of a detailed article recently published in the journal Marine Policy, suggests that this deregulation strategy amounts more to dismantling essential regulations than to constructive modernization.
Central to the debate is the role of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the federal agency charged with overseeing approximately 500 commercial fishery stocks across the United States. Due to significant budget cuts and workforce reductions mandated by the new executive order, NOAA’s ability to effectively monitor, collect data, and manage fisheries is severely compromised. Restrictions on communication and collaboration only exacerbate these challenges, posing a serious threat to the agency’s capacity to coordinate fishery management, especially for species that traverse international waters and require multilateral oversight.
NOAA’s pivotal role encompasses a range of functions such as continuous data gathering, stock assessments, ecosystem monitoring, and regulatory enforcement—all integral to maintaining sustainable harvest levels and preventing overfishing. With reduced personnel and diminished funding, these functions risk weakening, leading to less informed decision-making and potentially endangering marine biodiversity. Froehlich warns that "without the data, expertise, and capacity to study and understand these systems, we run the risk of fishery collapses becoming more common and long-lasting," a scenario that could cripple both ecological stability and the economic viability of U.S. seafood markets.
Moreover, the executive order’s attempt to drive competitiveness through deregulation runs counter to ecological realities. Wild fisheries in the U.S. and globally are already harvested near their maximum sustainable limits, often referred to as "peak fish." In such a context, major productivity gains are unlikely without jeopardizing stock recovery and resilience. Instead, scientists highlight aquaculture—the farming of fish, shellfish, and other aquatic organisms—as the sector with genuine potential for sustainable growth, economic development, and enhancing domestic food security.
Yet, paradoxically, the executive order neglects aquaculture’s critical role almost entirely. Compared to a 2020 executive order, which delineated more targeted strategies for aquaculture expansion, the current policy offers scant attention or funding for the infrastructure and scientific oversight necessary to grow this sector responsibly. Without adequate support and informed management, aquaculture development risks stagnation or even regression, undermining its capacity to compensate for limitations in wild fisheries output.
Compounding these concerns is the potential dismantling of numerous NOAA-supported databases, climate research programs, and online resources that are vital for tracking changes in marine ecosystems, fish population dynamics, and shifting environmental conditions such as ocean warming and acidification. The resulting knowledge gaps would deprive managers and industry stakeholders of the tools needed to anticipate emerging threats and adapt accordingly. This erosion of scientific capacity threatens long-term seafood resilience, especially under accelerating climate change pressures.
The executive order also introduces market disruptions that may paradoxically reduce the availability and affordability of popular seafood products in the U.S. For example, demand for certain species like shrimp far exceeds the domestic supply, with only about ten percent of shrimp consumed in the country produced locally. Trade measures such as increased tariffs on imported seafood or U.S.-caught but foreign-processed products could increase consumer prices for these high-demand items, hurting both consumers and segments of the seafood industry reliant on affordable imports.
Furthermore, the policy’s oversimplified assumptions about seafood production and trade ignore the complex realities of U.S. seafood markets. Domestic aquaculture production tends to focus on species that do not align with prevailing consumer preferences, thereby limiting the policy’s effectiveness in substituting imports with locally farmed alternatives. Scientists caution that disrupting existing trade relationships and market dynamics without a nuanced strategy risks destabilizing the sector and harming its competitiveness over the long term.
The scientific critique of the executive order extended into the political arena recently, with the paper by Froehlich and Gephart submitted as evidence before the House Natural Resources Committee’s Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee. This congressional body is responsible for shaping fisheries management policy, and the testimony underscored the substantial uncertainties and risks introduced by the rapid deregulation and funding cuts. "When it comes to any shifts in production, these high levels of uncertainty are not beneficial for the seafood sector," Froehlich noted, advocating for a measured and science-based approach.
It is clear from this unfolding controversy that reforming the U.S. seafood industry requires balancing economic competitiveness with environmental stewardship and scientific rigor. While the executive order aims to unleash the sector’s potential, it currently risks unmooring the very foundations of sustainable management built on robust research, careful regulation, and adaptive governance. Experts warn that without preserving and enhancing NOAA’s capacities and investing in sustainable aquaculture, these deregulation efforts may ultimately lead to diminished fisheries productivity, ecological degradation, and economic losses.
This policy conflict epitomizes broader global challenges faced in the era of climate change and resource scarcity, where pressure intensifies to increase food production while safeguarding natural ecosystems. As fisheries and aquaculture navigate these competing demands, the necessity for informed, collaborative, and transparent governance becomes paramount. The scientific community’s voice calls for caution, underscoring that shortcuts through deregulation frequently undermine long-term resilience and food security.
In summation, the new executive order’s ambition to restore American seafood’s competitiveness confronts a complex landscape shaped by ecological limits, market realities, and scientific imperatives. Its swift deregulation and funding reductions threaten to erode key scientific capacities, hinder effective management, and ultimately impair the sustainability goals essential to the industry’s future. Responsible stewardship of ocean resources demands that economic objectives and environmental protections advance in concert, supported by robust science, adequate funding, and strategic policymaking.
Subject of Research: Aquaculture and fisheries management in the United States, with emphasis on impacts of deregulation on seafood sustainability
Article Title: Uncertain United States seafood sustainability in a manufactured crisis
News Publication Date: April 2025
Web References: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X25002106
References: Marine Policy, article by Halley Froehlich and Jessica Gephart
Image Credits: Not specified
Keywords: Applied sciences and engineering, Aquaculture, Fisheries, Fisheries management, Mariculture
