US President Donald Trump has signed a new Executive Order designed to promote American seafood competitiveness and economic growth, and calling for the expansion of sustainable US seafood production.
This development has been welcomed by the National Fisheries Institute, which states that the President has highlighted the importance of the US seafood community to America’s economy, heritage, and future.
“By issuing an Executive Order that recognises the benefits of American seafood trade and promotes the vital role it plays in the industry’s recovery, he underscored the significance of delicious, high quality US seafood exports,” said the National Fisheries Institute’s John Connolly.
“Continuing work to open essential markets, like the EU to our shellfish or Japan for our Alaska pollock, will help regain the seafood community’s financial footing and grow an industry eager to expand. The President’s order also recognised the importance of enforcing rules that ensure wild caught seafood is legally harvested. Enforcement of such ideas is a shared international responsibility.”
US Aquaculture
“What’s more, the order calls for a renewed focus on permitting for US aquaculture facilities that is both effective and efficient. This demonstrates a clear understanding that safe, authorised aquaculture can have a lasting impact that is not only beneficial to the viability of wild capture stocks but to the economic sustainability of the entire seafood community,” John Connolly said.
“Right now family-owned companies in remote coastal towns and large inland cities that catch, portion, ship and serve seafood are suffering. We applaud the President for acknowledging this important sector and the American workers it supports. We thank him for recognising the needs identified in today’s order and encourage him to continue to remember the entire seafood value chain, including processors and distributors, during America’s recovery.”
Expansion
According to NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Chris Oliver, the Executive Order calls for the expansion of sustainable US seafood production through more efficient and predictable aquaculture permitting, cutting-edge research and development, regulatory reform to maximise commercial fishing and enforcement of common-sense restrictions on seafood imports that do not meet American standards.
“As part of this effort, the Department of Commerce will co-chair a newly-established Seafood Trade Task Force. The agency will work closely with interagency partners to develop a comprehensive interagency seafood trade strategy. The strategy will identify opportunities to improve access to foreign markets through trade policy and negotiations; resolve technical barriers to US seafood exports; and otherwise support fair market access for US seafood products,” Chris Oliver said, commenting that the Secretary of Commerce has announced the allocation of $300 million in fisheries assistance funding.
The funding is provided by Sec. 12005 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also called the CARES Act. It will be allocated to states, Tribes, and territories with coastal and marine fishery participants who have been negatively affected by COVID–19.
“As we all know, the 2020 COVID-19 crisis has created a turning point in the way the seafood industry does business. In addition to other efforts and financial support, this Executive Order and the funding available through the CARES Act creates an exciting new opportunity to address long-term challenges to expanding the domestic seafood sector,” he said.
