23-04-2025
Trump Fisheries Order May Be A First Step Toward Global Reforms
The American fisheries sector is the beneficiary of an April 17 Trump executive order. The order's implementation could result in reduced regulatory burdens and a procompetitive, economically efficient expansions of U.S. fisheries output. It might also inspire U.S. consideration of additional efforts to improve global fisheries management.
The Fisheries Executive Order
Overregulation is a serious problem afflicting U.S. fisheries. While federal regulations are designed to promote sustainable fishing and protect marine ecosystems, some badly designed rules impose economic harm on fishermen and communities that rely on fishing. These regulatory design flaws can generate excessive costs and job losses in the American fishing industry.
An April 17 presidential Executive Order on 'Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness' seeks to 'promote the productive harvest of our seafood resources; unburden our commercial fishermen from costly and inefficient regulation; combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; and protect our seafood markets from the unfair trade practices of foreign nations.'
In sum, the Fisheries Order seeks to strengthen the U.S. fishing industry and support American fishermen by reducing regulatory burdens, combating unfair foreign trade practices, and enhancing domestic seafood production and exports. In context, the Order is part of the President's broad agenda to promote U.S.-based industries and domestic production.
Key Fisheries Order provisions include multiple directives to federal agencies:
Additional Fisheries Reforms
Implementation of the Fisheries Order would be an excellent first step toward promoting the growth of American fisheries in a more efficient, less regulatory manner.
Additional international reforms, led by the U.S., could further enhance the effectiveness of fisheries reforms. The Trump Administration might wish to consider four initiatives:
More generally, the Mercatus Center, a non-profit university affiliated research center that advances knowledge about how markets solve problems, co-hosted a symposium of fisheries experts in 2023, focused on possible solutions to global fisheries problems. Research papers generated by that symposium explore a variety of market-oriented solutions to fisheries problems that may merit study by the Administration.
In sum, the Fisheries Order may prove to a catalyst not just for strengthening the U.S. fisheries sector, but also for market-oriented changes that improve global fisheries.
