(Bloomberg) —
Supply Lines is a daily newsletter that tracks global trade. Sign up here.
President Donald Trump signed directives aimed at bolstering the US seafood industry and expanding waters for fishing, offering support for a sector his administration says has been hampered by unfair foreign trading practices and domestic regulations.
Trump signed the measures on Thursday, April 17, in the Oval Office, joined by individuals who work in the fishing industry and touted his measures as critical to bolstering US exports abroad.
One of the actions Trump signed aims to ramp up American fishing in the Pacific Ocean by opening what the proclamation referred to as the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument to commercial fishing. It would allow US-flagged vessels to fish commercially within 50 to 200 nautical miles of the monument’s boundaries, according to a White House fact sheet, which said it would boost the economy of American Samoa and other Pacific islands.
“It’s so stupid. We’re talking about a massive ocean, and they’re forced to travel four to seven days to go and fish in an area that’s not as good, and it’s probably a little more dangerous the whole thing,” Trump said, bemoaning restrictions on the waters US fisherman can harvest.
The president also signed an executive order that aims to strengthen US fishing by directing the Secretary of Commerce to consider suspending, revising or rescinding regulations that burden commercial fishing, aquaculture and fish processing industries, according to a fact sheet.
The order directs the National Marine Fisheries Service to adopt better, cheaper and more reliable technologies to make fishery assessments, modernize data collection and analytical practices to improve fisheries management and expand exempted fishing permit programs.
The order also establishes an America First Seafood Strategy to boost exports and it calls for the development of a strategy to address what the administration casts as unfair competition, lower environmental or labor standards and illegally sourced seafood from abroad. The Seafood Import Monitoring Program is also being tasked with better detecting high-risk shipments from countries seen as violators of international laws.
Trump is also ordering a review of all existing marine national monuments to assess opening them to commercial fishing, a move that is likely to spark pushback from environmental groups.
© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.
