Executive Order Threatens Future of America’s Fisheries and Fishing Families

On Thursday May 7, the White House issued an Executive Order  “Promoting American Seafood and Economic Growth,” which the Trump Administration claims to protect America’s seafood supply chain. Despite its intentions, the Executive Order is raising concerns amongst Alaska and the nation’s fishing and conservation communities due to its emphasis on increasing farmed fish production in U.S. waters.

In response to the Executive Order, Tim Bristol, Executive Director of SalmonState said:

“While we agree with the need to maximize the value of our country’s seafood industry and ensure that Americans have access to healthy, domestic sources of seafood, this Executive Order is the wrong approach. It ignores the fact that America already has healthy wild fisheries generating billions of dollars in revenue and providing hundreds of thousands of jobs. We should be investing our resources in what we already have and better maximizing the value of our fisheries to American communities rather than displacing hard-working fishing families with open-water feedlots and fooling ourselves into believing that farmed fish will solve all of our problems.”

“If President Trump is serious about helping boost America’s economy right now, then he should support more COVID-19 funding relief for our country’s fishing industry and rural coastal communities. He should also be adopting measures that protect critical fish habitat to ensure that wild fish populations remain healthy. This means not allowing irresponsible development projects to move forward in our country’s most productive wild salmon watersheds, including Alaska’s Bristol Bay. Protecting fish habitat is the most efficient – and least expensive – way to make sure that Americans continue to have access to healthy, affordable seafood.”