Saying he wants to expand U.S. seafood production, President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to streamline federal review and approval of aquaculture sites. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department announced $300 million in coronavirus relief funds for the seafood industry.
“It is critical that America take steps to strengthen our seafood supply and bring our nation’s seafood supply chain back home,” said the White House in a fact sheet. Most of the seafood consumed by Americans is imported.
The executive order directs federal agencies “to reduce burdens on domestic fishing and to increase production with sustainable fisheries,” to toughen U.S. measures against illegal trafficking of seafood, and to identify a series of “aquaculture opportunity zones” — two a year for five years — and complete an environmental assessment of the sites within two years.
“It’s super favorable for the entire seafood production sector, wild-capture and aquaculture,” lobbyist Margaret Henderson told IntraFish. Henderson leads Stronger America Through Seafood, which promotes aquaculture development.
The environmental group Friends of the Earth said Trump was using the coronavirus health emergency as a shield for “this polluting [aquaculture] industry and its floating factory farms.”
The Commerce Department said commercial fishing operations, charter-for-hire businesses, qualified aquaculture operations, processors, and parts of the seafood sector in coastal states and territories as well as tribes were eligible to apply for a share of the $300 million.
The executive order is available here.