in effect
Executive Order 14276, signed April 17, 2025, directs multiple federal agencies to reduce regulatory burdens on the U.S. commercial fishing industry and take steps to counter foreign trade practices the order characterizes as unfair. It builds on a prior 2020 executive order (EO 13921) that remains in effect, adding new deadlines and assignments across commerce, trade, and food-safety agencies.
Within 30 days, the Secretary of Commerce must identify the most heavily regulated fisheries and begin reducing their regulatory burden. Within 60 days, Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative must jointly produce a comprehensive seafood trade strategy addressing foreign market access, illegal fishing, and forced labor in supply chains. Within 180 days, Regional Fishery Management Councils must submit updated recommendations for increasing domestic fishing production, and the Secretary of Commerce must review all marine national monuments and recommend to the President which, if any, should be opened to commercial fishing. The National Marine Fisheries Service is directed to adopt newer, lower-cost technologies for stock assessments and expand exempted fishing permit programs. The Seafood Import Monitoring Program is to be refocused away from lower-risk species toward high-risk shipments from countries that routinely violate international fishing rules.
U.S. commercial fishermen, aquaculture operations, and seafood processors may see relaxed catch and operational regulations and expanded fishing access, including potentially in areas currently protected as marine national monuments. Foreign seafood exporters — particularly those from countries flagged for illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing or use of forced labor — face increased scrutiny at U.S. ports and possible trade enforcement actions. Federal agencies including NOAA, the FDA, CBP, USDA, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative take on new reporting and rulemaking workloads under specific deadlines set by the order.