Comment on Recommendations for Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness

Staff from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future submitted a public comment to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) regarding the Executive Order on restoring and strengthening U.S. seafood competitiveness. They recommended maintaining and properly funding proven fisheries management tools, cultivating an industry-wide conservation ethic, and investing in small- and medium-scale fishers alongside working waterfront communities. The comment supports modernizing data collection and analytical practices to make resource management more responsive to real-time ocean conditions but warns this will require upfront investment and broad stakeholder engagement. Staff also recommend proceeding cautiously with any widespread deregulation, including cuts to the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP), NOAA staffing, research, data sharing, and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). It also emphasizes that hastily overturning effective programs risks economic, community, and food‑security harms. CLF staff called for thoughtful, inclusive improvements rather than quick rollbacks. The comment concludes by urging NMFS to trust and build upon existing tools, solicit input from industry, fishers, scientists, and communities, and avoid policies that could undermine long-term fishery sustainability and community resilience.