WASHINGTON, July 2 (Reuters) – The United States is lowering regulatory burdens on fisheries including opening up the northern edge of New England’s Georges Bank to scallop fishing, White House trade and manufacturing adviser Peter Navarro said on Thursday.
The two actions came out of an Oval Office meeting between President Donald Trump and scallop fishermen and are part of a larger effort to revitalize the U.S. seafood sector, Navarro said.
The moves follow an April 2025 executive order from Trump aimed at increasing domestic seafood production by directing the Commerce Department to loosen regulations and by opening up marine monuments to commercial fishing.
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.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; editing by Costas Pitas and Michelle Nichols)
