Executive Order 14276 of April 17, 2025

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and outdated fisheries data, and delayed adoption of modern technology.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 fisheryspecific

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.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

April 17, 2025.