- Title: Trump’s regulatory freeze throws US fishing industry into chaos
- Date: 22nd March 2025
- Summary: POINT JUDITH, RHODE ISLAND, UNITED STATES (RECENT - MARCH 13, 2025) (REUTERS) VIEW OVER FISHING BOATS DOCK (MUTE) GENERAL OF FISHING BOAT DOCKED (MUTE) SARAH SCHUMANN, WALKING ON DOCK (SOUNDBITE) (English) COMMERICAL VESSEL CREW MEMBER, SARAH SCHUMANN, SAYING: "For me it means that the fisheries stakeholders across the US have lost a voice. We've lost our access to the age
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- Keywords: Doge Elon Musk NOAA Point Judith Rhode Island Trump cuts fishing layoffs
- Location: POINT JUDITH, RHODE ISLAND, UNITED STATES
- City: POINT JUDITH, RHODE ISLAND, UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: Environment,North America,Nature/Wildlife
- Reuters ID: LVA001012319032025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: President Donald Trump’s regulatory freeze has injected chaos and uncertainty into a number of lucrative American fisheries, raising the risk of a delayed start to the fishing season for some East Coast cod and haddock fleets and leading to overfishing of Atlantic bluefin tuna, according to Reuters interviews with industry groups and federal government employees.
America’s $320 billion fishing industry relies on a branch of the federal government, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to manage coastal fisheries. Under a 1976 law, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service develops management plans for 45 fisheries, setting quotas and determining the start and close of fishing seasons, in consultation with federal government scientists and local fishermen.
Trump’s January 20 declaration of a 60-day freeze on regulations disrupted this process for several of those fisheries, delaying key meetings and causing confusion over the issuance of new rules, according to Reuters interviews.
And according to one commercial vessel crew member, policy change couldn't come at a worse time.
"We've got these really fast changing fishery ecosystems," the crew member, Sarah Schumann, said. "Where we are right now used to be the hotspot for the lobster resource. Back in the 90s, people were making money hand over fist. And now you know that stock has migrated up to Downeast Maine and it's on its way to Canada. We've had an influx of all kinds of new species on the boat I work on here....So this is probably the worst time to shut down, you know, any capacity at NOAA, especially in the science and of what they do. We just need as many, you know, eyes on the ecosystem as we can get."
The freeze allowed overfishing in waters off North Carolina of Atlantic bluefin tuna which could mean reduced quotas for New York and New England fishermen when the fish migrate further north this summer, according to a Massachusetts lawmaker as well as industry groups and the federal government employees.
Some 163 probationary employees - or about 5% of the NOAA workforce dealing with fisheries - were fired last month including administrative support staff, fish biologists and fisheries management specialists, a senior NOAA employee who was among those fired told Reuters. Those roles are involved in the regulatory process, from monitoring the health of stocks to consulting on regulations for annual catch.
The agency confirmed the freeze in an email, but said that it would not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on management and personnel issues. “NOAA Fisheries is complying with the Presidential Memorandum ‘Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,’ NOAA spokesperson Rachel Hager said.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Even if new regulations can be issued once the freeze lifts, delays in openings can have an impact on the industry, especially fishermen who rely on migratory fish or operate smaller vessels.
Reuters spoke to two industry groups, 13 staff at NOAA, who described impacts from Alaska to the Atlantic because of regulatory delays and job cuts.
Twelve of the NOAA staff were fired and reinstated on March 17 in response to a court order, though they were placed on administrative leave.
The Trump administration has told all federal agencies to submit plans for further staff cuts.
The effects of the regulatory freeze on the fishing season and the scope of job cuts at NOAA’s fisheries arm have not been previously reported.
The impact on the U.S. fishing fleet, which employs 39,000 commercial fishermen, is one example of how suspending federal government regulations and job cuts can impact broad swathes of the U.S. economy.
Bluefish tuna were overfished in the mid-Atlantic this month because NOAA did not issue the regulation to close the fishery after fishermen filled the quota in mid-January, according to two letters sent to NOAA from Bill Keating, a Democratic representative from Massachusetts.
Keating’s initial attempt to reach NOAA’s congressional liaison failed because that person had been fired, and his second attempt to warn the interim administrator went unanswered, his office said.
NOAA eventually closed the mid-Atlantic fishery on February 28 after 125% of the catch quota had been taken.
Trump exempted fishing and hunting from a regulatory freeze during his first term, but no such exception has been announced during his current administration.
The White House has said that reducing regulation will help combat inflation and drive job growth.
John Ainsworth, a commercial fisherman who has been fishing squid and other fish off of Rhode Island since 1990, said he fears a chaotic approach to the catch could wipe out fishing stocks.
“The federal managers for the squid fishery are supposed to be slashed and without them, when do we know when the seasons open? When will they decide how much of the quota is caught?” he asked.
Some New England fisheries are expected to open late because of delays in the regulatory process, according to the New England Fishery Management Council, an advisory group.
The Northeast’s $41 million groundfish fishery, which includes cod, haddock, and flounder, is on track to miss its traditional May 1 opening date unless NOAA or the Secretary of Commerce take emergency action, Martens, from the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, told Reuters.
A small fraction of New England’s $400 million scallop industry also faces only a partial opening on April 1. At this point, publishing new regulations could take until late April, Martens said.
Alaska’s black cod (or sablefish) and halibut fisheries will open on time on March 20, but only after Republican Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski spoke directly with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, she said on X. NOAA staff worked through the weekend to complete the rule-making process so the season could open, said Behnken, who was involved in the effort.
Preparations for the Pacific coast salmon fishing season are also behind schedule, because of disruptions to the fishery management council meeting, one NOAA employee said.
Rebecca Howard, a fish biologist, was preparing population surveys of shellfish and pollock, cod and groundfish when she was fired from her job at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center on Feb. 27. The data helps to set fish and crab quotas to ensure a sustainable take.
Such stock assessments are essential to fishermen like Christopher Willi. Fishermen are not able to regulate on their own, he said.
"The work that they do regulates our industry and that what we can and cannot fish for what times a year, how many we can take, how many you know, the quota, how many pounds per state or how many pounds per fishery? That's all important data that they supply, which is necessary to actually have a sustainable fishery."
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