The Trump administration has launched the America First Seafood Strategy, a policy package aimed at rebuilding domestic seafood infrastructure, supporting U.S. fishermen, and giving consumers clearer information about where their seafood comes from. Details of the plan are posted at Seafood.gov.
The strategy focuses on cutting regulatory barriers to processing and plant modernization, a move administration officials say will encourage investment in jobs that serve as a primary income source for hundreds of rural Alaska communities.
The plan also targets the profitability of American fishermen, with particular attention to Maine’s lobster fleet. It calls for strengthening import certification and compliance standards to guard against unfair foreign competition, pursuing regulatory reform, forming industry partnerships, and seeking expanded access to overseas markets for American-caught seafood.
As part of the effort, the Food and Drug Administration has proposed a voluntary “U.S. Caught Seafood” label, intended to let consumers distinguish American-caught seafood from imports so they can choose to buy domestic product if they prefer.
The New England Fisherman’s Stewardship Association praised the labeling announcement in a statement posted on social media.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the labeling initiative alongside President Trump at a rally in Fort Myers, Florida, on Friday night. In a social media post, the administration said the label would “give consumers an easy way to identify American-caught seafood,” adding that “consumers deserve to know that their seafood is harvested safely and sustainably by American fishermen.”
The strategy also opens up $5 billion in guaranteed loans to help fishermen and processors expand and modernize meat and seafood processing operations.
Meat processing gets similar treatment
The seafood push builds on earlier action affecting meat producers. Earlier this year, President Trump signed Executive Order 14424, “Promoting Fair Competition in Livestock Markets and Expanding Market Access for American Meat Producers,” intended to support ranchers by reducing barriers to getting their products to consumers.
Under that order, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is establishing the SPUR Guaranteed Loan Program for small and regional beef processors, meant to help them continue operations, expand, and diversify the animal proteins they process. The seafood industry is now being added to the SPUR program as well, according to the administration.
The USDA says the loan program is a further step in supporting small, independent, and regional meat and poultry processing plants, building on the Rancher First Initiative announced last month, which the agency describes as putting American ranchers back at the center of the nation’s food supply.
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