Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness

               By the authority vested in me as President by the 
               Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
               America, it is hereby ordered:

               Section 1. Background. 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. With this vast resource and centuries 
               of hard work from American fishermen, our Nation has 
               the greatest seafood in the world.

               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. Federal overregulation has restricted fishermen 
               from productively harvesting American seafood including 
               through restrictive catch limits, selling our fishing 
               grounds to foreign offshore wind companies, inaccurate 
               and outdated fisheries data, and delayed adoption of 
               modern technology.

               The United States should be the world's dominant 
               seafood leader. But in addition to overregulation, 
               unfair trade practices have put our seafood markets at 
               a competitive disadvantage. Nearly 90 percent of 
               seafood on our shelves is now imported, and the seafood 
               trade deficit stands at over $20 billion. The erosion 
               of American seafood competitiveness at the hands of 
               unfair foreign trade practices must end.

               Sec. 2. Purpose. The United States must address unfair 
               trade practices, eliminate unsafe imports, level the 
               unfair playing field that has benefited foreign fishing 
               companies, promote ethical sourcing, reduce regulatory 
               burdens, and ensure the integrity of the seafood supply 
               chain. Previously, I signed Executive Order 13921 of 
               May 7, 2020 (Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness 
               and Economic Growth). That successful order--which 
               remains in effect--enhanced the competitiveness of 
               United States seafood, streamlined regulations, 
               supported maritime jobs and coastal economies, and 
               improved data collection. During the past 4 years, our 
               fishermen were once again crushed under the pressure of 
               unnecessary regulations and unfavorable policies. It is 
               vital that we now build upon our previous hard work 
               with new, additional measures to promote domestic 
               fishing.

               Sec. 3. Policy. It is the policy of the United States 
               to promote the productive harvest of our seafood 
               resources; unburden our commercial fishermen from 
               costly and inefficient regulation; combat illegal, 
               unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; and protect 
               our seafood markets from the unfair trade practices of 
               foreign nations.

               Sec. 4. A New Era of Seafood Policy. (a) The Secretary 
               of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of 
               Health and Human Services and with input from the 
               United States fishing industry, shall immediately 
               consider suspending, revising, or rescinding 
               regulations that overly burden America's commercial 
               fishing, aquaculture, and fish processing industries at 
               the fishery-specific level. 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, in cooperation with the 
               Regional Fishery Management Councils, interagency 
               partners, and through public-private partnerships, as 
               appropriate. This process shall include the following 
               actions:

(i) The Secretary of Commerce shall request that each Regional Fishery 
Management Council, within 180 days of the date of this order, provide the 
Secretary of Commerce with updates to their recommendations submitted 
pursuant to Executive Order 13921, to reduce burdens on domestic fishing 
and to increase production. Building upon the earlier goals, identified 
actions should stabilize markets, improve access, enhance economic 
profitability, and prevent closures. The Regional Fishery Management 
Councils will commit to a work plan and a schedule for implementation to 
ensure these actions are prioritized.

(ii) The Secretary of Commerce shall solicit direct public comments, 
including from fishing industry members, technology experts, marine 
scientists, and other relevant parties, for innovative ideas to improve 
fisheries management and science within the requirements of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.); 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); the Marine 
Mammal Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.); and other applicable laws.

(iii) The Secretary of Commerce shall pursue additional direct public 
engagement to ensure executive departments and agencies (agencies) are 
focusing core fisheries management and science functions to directly 
support priority needs that strengthen our Nation's seafood supply chain.

                   (b) Upon completion of the process described in 
               subsection (a) of this section, the Secretary of 
               Commerce shall consider updating the Department of 
               Commerce's contribution to the Unified Regulatory 
               Agenda. The Secretary of Commerce shall resume 
               submission of annual reports to the Director of the 
               Office of Management and Budget, the Assistant to the 
               President for Economic Policy, the Assistant to the 
               President for Domestic Policy, and the Chairman of the 
               Council on Environmental Quality pursuant to these 
               activities as described in Executive Order 13921.
                   (c) The Secretary of Commerce shall direct the 
               National Marine Fisheries Service to incorporate less 
               expensive and more reliable technologies and 
               cooperative research programs into fishery assessments 
               conducted pursuant to 16 U.S.C. 1867. As soon as 
               practicable, the Secretary of Commerce shall expand 
               exempted fishing permit programs to promote fishing 
               opportunities nationwide. Further, the Secretary of 
               Commerce shall take all appropriate action to modernize 
               data collection and analytical practices that will 
               improve the responsiveness of fisheries management to 
               real-time ocean conditions.
                   (d) The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with 
               the Secretary of Agriculture, shall develop and 
               implement an America First Seafood Strategy to promote 
               production, marketing, sale, and export of United 
               States fishery and aquaculture products and strengthen 
               domestic processing capacity. This program shall 
               accelerate the Department of Agriculture's efforts to 
               educate American consumers about the health benefits of 
               seafood and increase seafood purchases in nutrition 
               programs.
                   (e) Within 60 days of the date of this order, the 
               Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade 
               Representative, in consultation with members of the 
               Interagency Seafood Trade Task Force, shall assess 
               seafood competitiveness issues and jointly develop a 
               comprehensive seafood trade strategy. The strategy 
               shall be based upon the Seafood Trade Strategy of 
               November 3, 2020, that improves access to foreign 
               markets and addresses unfair trade practices--including 
               IUU fishing and unjustified non-tariff barriers--while 
               ensuring a fair and competitive domestic market for 
               United States seafood producers.
                   (f) The United States Trade Representative shall 
               examine the relevant trade practices of major seafood-
               producing nations, including with regard to IUU fishing 
               and the use of forced labor in the seafood supply 
               chain, and consider appropriate responses, including 
               pursuing solutions through negotiations or trade 
               enforcement authorities, such as under section 301 of 
               the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411).
                   (g) The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with 
               the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the 
               Secretary of Homeland Security, and other relevant 
               agencies, shall immediately consider revising or 
               rescinding recent expansions of the Seafood Import 
               Monitoring Program to unnecessary species and further 
               improve the program to more effectively target high-
               risk shipments from nations that routinely violate 
               international fishery regulations. The Secretary of 
               Commerce, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
               and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall use cost 
               savings to improve thorough checks at United States 
               ports to prevent IUU seafood from entering the market. 
               The Secretary of Commerce shall further consider 
               options to use improved technology to identify foreign 
               fishery-related violations.
                   (h) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the 
               Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the 
               Secretary of the Interior, shall review all existing 
               marine national monuments and provide recommendations 
               to the President of any that should be opened to 
               commercial fishing. In making these recommendations, 
               the Secretary of Commerce will consider whether the 
               opening of the monuments to commercial fishing would be 
               consistent with the preservation of the historic 
               landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and 
               other objects of historic or scientific interest 
               originally identified in the proclamations establishing 
               the marine national monuments.

               Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order 
               shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or 
the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

                   (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with 
               applicable law and subject to the availability of 
               appropriations.
                   (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, 
               create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
               enforceable at law or in equity by any party against 
               the United States, its departments, agencies, or 
               entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any 
               other person.
               
                DONALD J. TRUMP

               THE WHITE HOUSE,

                   April 17, 2025.