Previous regulations on commercial fishing have been harmful to U.S. territorial industries like Samoa, according to the White House.
The Trump administration has turned its attention to commercial fishing and issued several executive orders to ease regulations and help American seafood companies compete.
The impact of first orders
On April 17, President Donald Trump signed an order to “unleash American commercial fisheries in the Pacific,” asking officials to change regulations from their previous administration and facilitate the burden of commercial fisheries at the Pacific Island Maritime National Monument.
The order says the Commerce Secretary will identify areas that have been over-adjusted and will expand the fishing areas to expand the areas.
Under previous orders, the US Fisheries Fleet was working further offshore, preventing it from accessing almost half of the US exclusive economic zone in the Pacific Islands’ fishing grounds, including a marine sanctuary about 750 miles southwest of Hawaii, a 400,000-square-mile marine sanctuary surrounding Baker, Howland and the Jalvis Islands. Johnston, Wake, Palmyra Atoll. Kingman Leaf.
The administration says that by supporting American fishermen, the need to compete with foreign fleets also reduces the need to compete with foreign fleets, which often operates under fewer regulations. According to the Trump administration, previous policies regarding commercial fishing on US territory, such as Samoa, have been detrimental to the private sector economy in those regions.
The president expressed confidence that other federal environmental protections, including legal and agency management designations, will continue to protect unique habitats such as the local natural resources, vulnerable marine species, and coral and vessel ecosystems.
Related Stories
Changes to the seafood industry
The “Restoring the Competitiveness of American Seafood” order, signed on April 17, outlines the administration’s concerns that overregulation places unfair restrictions on fishermen’s productivity in American seafood harvesting. The order also states that previous regulations and restrictive catch restrictions used outdated fishing data.
The new orders are seeking to establish an American First Seafood strategy to promote sales, exports and long-term growth in domestic industries.
The executive order notes that the US imports almost 90% of its seafood despite managing more than 4 million square miles of major fishing grounds. The imbalance created a trade imbalance of $20 billion, according to the order. This is based, at least in part, on the seafood industry, which has some of the heaviest regulations in any sector in the US.
Applause from some fishermen
According to the Southern Shrimp Alliance, presidential order is good in one or more ways for the American economy.
The group said Indian shrimp contain products containing antibiotics and veterinary medicines that have been denied by the US Food and Drug Administration.
According to the group, American shrimp follow the strictest regulations in the world.
“American shrimp harvests premium, sustainable products that provide Americans with healthy protein sources while supporting multi-generational shrimp families and their communities while providing Americans with healthy protein sources.”
Concerns and criticism
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) responded to the White House actions, citing concerns about marine life vulnerability.
“As the climate crisis threatens our fragile marine ecosystems and sacrifices our lives and livelihoods each year, President Trump’s response is to protecting the gut of our nation’s most important natural resources, including the Pacific Islands Heritage Marines National Memorial,” Schatz said.
“We need to protect the unparalleled ecology and biodiversity of the Pacific for future generations. This order does the opposite.”
The non-profit legal group Earthjustice responded with frustration with the president’s new order.
Previous Order
During his first term in office, Trump signed an executive order promoting seafood competitiveness. This followed the expansion of marine protection in areas like the Obama administration has backed up by Trump.
In addition to increasing access to fishing grounds, the Trump administration is also implementing foreign trade practices, including tariffs, to protect American fishermen.
