White House and NOAA roll out the America First Seafood Strategy and a voluntary “U.S.-Caught” label

The seafood plan called for in President Trump's April 2025 executive order on seafood competitiveness is now public. NOAA says the America First Seafood Strategy, announced Oct. 23, lays out how agencies will try to grow U.S. harvest and processing, rebuild shoreside infrastructure and give domestic fishermen a better shot against imports.

For fishermen, the biggest items run through the Regional Fishery Management Councils. NOAA says it will work with the councils and industry so catch limits track the best available science, reopen productive grounds where the data support it, and pursue targeted regulatory reforms that cut compliance costs that don't serve conservation. The agency also plans clearer federal standards for offshore aquaculture permitting.

On the business side, the strategy points to streamlined permitting for cold storage, docks, shipyards and processing plants, and a review of NOAA's Fisheries Finance Program and Capital Construction Fund to make it easier to replace vessels. The White House fact sheet adds more than $5 billion in USDA guaranteed loans for meat and seafood processing and a new website, Seafood.gov.

Consumers may start to see a voluntary "U.S.-Caught Seafood" label for fish caught by American fishermen on U.S.-flagged boats under U.S. management. NOAA says the label was developed with the FDA and USDA, and the White House says it can already be downloaded from Seafood.gov. Agencies also plan to buy more American seafood for government programs and run a national "Eat American Seafood" campaign. NOAA also says it will keep sharpening the Seafood Import Monitoring Program against fraud, mislabeling and illegal fishing. The agency stresses that the strategy relies on existing laws and programs, not new spending, so the details will come out through council actions and rulemaking over the coming months.

Photo: A U.S. fishing boat with nets out on the water. Credit: NOAA Fisheries.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: NOAA — Trump Administration releases America First Seafood Strategy (Oct. 23, 2026). Also: The White House — Fact Sheet: America First Seafood Strategy and Seafood.gov (Oct. 23, 2026).