Experts Say Seafood Deregulation Could Impact Sustainability and Supply
July 28, 2025 | 1 min to read
A new executive order, "Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness," threatens decades of scientific and environmental progress in the U.S. seafood sector, according to experts from UC Santa Barbara and the University of Washington. Professors Halley Froehlich and Jessica Gephart assert that instead of reforming the industry, the order undermines sustainable seafood systems by dismantling crucial regulations and weakening scientific authority. The policy focuses on addressing overregulation and market competitiveness, but risks compromising seafood sustainability.
A sweeping new executive order to deregulate the U.S. seafood sector risks unraveling decades of scientific progress and environmental protections, according to aquaculture and fishery scientists writing in a new paper published in the journal Marine Policy. Rather than strengthening the industry, they argue, the policy threatens the very systems that support sustainable seafood.
“(It’s) a significant escalation in undoing federal regulatory frameworks, weakening scientific authority and deemphasizing aquaculture development,” state professors Halley Froehlich of UC Santa Barbara and Jessica Gephart at the University of Washington. “Instead of reform, it’s dismantling regulations in a very short amount of time,” added Froehlich, the paper’s lead author.
Enacted in April 2025, “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness” states that “in addition to overregulation, unfair trade practices have put our seafood markets at a competitive disadvantage.” The executive order calls for actions to ensure the integrity of the seafood supply chain, eliminate unsafe imports and reduce regulatory burdens, among other things.
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