On September 2, NOAA Fisheries announced a sweeping set of agency-level reforms aimed at cutting regulatory burdens and restoring American seafood competitiveness under Executive Order 14276. The Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) views this announcement as another meaningful step by the Trump Administration toward rebuilding the U.S. shrimp industry that has been squeezed for years by low-priced, unfairly traded imports and a burdensome regulatory framework.
The news builds on the momentum celebrated by SSA in July, when NOAA sent Regional Priorities guidance to fisheries management councils committing to “defend the domestic shrimp fleet from trade imbalances.” The announcement complements that guidance by turning the same reform lens on NOAA’s own internal operations, regulatory processes, and scientific pipelines. Several of the commitments speak directly to priorities the shrimp industry has been raising.
What It Means for U.S. Shrimpers
Although housed in the Department of Commerce, NOAA Fisheries has long managed fisheries to support sustainable stocks, while neglecting the need for sustainable commercial fisheries. The agency’s stated plan tries to rebalance its directive. Several of NOAA’s highlighted actions are shrimp-specific or related directly to SSA’s priorities:
- Smalltooth Sawfish, Giant Manta Rays, and the Shrimp Fishery. NOAA has committed to gathering empirical data as part of a stakeholder-driven process before issuing any new Biological Opinion on the shrimp fishery’s interactions with smalltooth sawfish and giant manta rays. SSA has long argued that actions must be grounded in verified, current science rather than outdated, incomplete information or worst-case assumptions.
- Turtle Excluder Devices. NOAA will review and, where appropriate, revise turtle excluder device regulations to incorporate vessel-size exemptions and regional flexibility, particularly in the Gulf. The U.S. shrimp industry supports sea turtle conservation, using modified gear long before most foreign suppliers. But current one-size-fits-all rules don’t reflect the fleet’s diversity. Common-sense flexibility must ensure operational practicability and safety for small-vessel fleets, while mitigating adverse effects on sea turtle populations.
- Fleet Financing and Disaster Relief. NOAA will review the Fishery Finance Program and Capital Construction Fund, which support loan refinancing, deferred payments, and rebuilding aging vessels and infrastructure. In addition, NOAA will conduct a comprehensive review of the Magnuson-Stevens Act disaster determination and funding process to explore ways to expand access to existing government market and disaster support mechanisms.
- Seafood Import Monitoring Program Reform (SIMP). NOAA plans a line-by-line effectiveness review of SIMP to eliminate data that doesn’t help detect illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and automated, AI-driven screening to flag high-risk import shipments. However, SSA continues to be concerned about NOAA’s administration of SIMP and the agency’s failure to remove illegal foreign seafood from the U.S. market. SSA continues to support full traceability for seafood imports but believes any focus on SIMP must review enforcement measures under the program rather than easing importers’ reporting requirements.
The declared agency actions cover additional issues of interest as well, such as streamlining Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act and transforming fisheries science through cooperative partnerships, innovative technologies, and data pipelines.
“We’re encouraged that NOAA is listening and look forward to tangible action. American shrimpers compete every day against foreign suppliers that aren’t held to the same standards,” said Blake Price, Executive Director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “Lax environmental, food safety, and labor rules abroad let foreign shrimp producers undercut well-managed U.S. fishermen and push sustainable American shrimp off dinner plates. We look forward to working with NOAA on a more efficient management system at home, matched with real enforcement against unfairly traded imports.”
SSA looks forward to participating in the stakeholder processes, industry sessions, and rulemakings NOAA has committed to, and we’ll keep pressing agencies to finish the job on trade enforcement so that American shrimpers can compete and win on a fair playing field.
Read all of NOAA’s commitments: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/leadership-message/advancing-agency-level-reforms-restore-american-seafood-competitiveness