U.S. Seafood Producers Request a Section 301 Investigation on Seafood

Twenty-three American seafood organizations – representing fishermen, shrimpers, dockside facilities, and processors – have formally asked the United States Trade Representative (USTR), Ambassador Jamieson Greer, to launch a broad investigation into unfair seafood trade practices.  The letter, sent on May 19, 2026, emphasizes the need for quick action.

By the Numbers

Foreign seafood already dominates the U.S. market and its market share in increasing:

• Seafood imports grew 10% in volume between 2019 and 2025 (from 5.8 billion to 6.4 billion pounds).
• U.S. commercial landings dropped almost 18% in volume over the same period (from 9.4 billion to 7.72 billion pounds in 2024).
• Between 2021 and 2024, the value of edible seafood imports rose by $3.1 billion, while the value of U.S. commercial landings fell by $1.6 billion—a nearly 25% decline.

In short, unfairly traded foreign seafood is not simply growing U.S. demand for seafood—it’s forcing American fishermen and aquaculturists out of business, substantially reducing U.S. seafood production and devastating rural communities throughout the country.

The Ask

Domestic seafood producers want the USTR to investigate unfair practices in seafood trade under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a law that allows the U.S. to implement trade measures to respond to discriminatory practices by our trading partners.  By addressing unfair trade – including dumping, subsidies, environmental harm, reliance on banned veterinary drugs, false labeling and species designations, utilization of fishing gear banned in the U.S., structural excess capacity, and labor abuse – American seafood production can increase significantly and quickly.  

“The U.S. market for seafood is dominated by cheap, unfairly traded imports,” said Blake Price, Director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance.  “It is rapidly forcing American fishermen and fish farmers out of business, eliminating our country’s ability to produce healthy, high-quality protein.  Domestic seafood producers urgently need the Trump Administration to use Section 301 authority to give us a fighting chance.”

Industry Groups on the May 19th Letter

The May 19th letter was signed by a broad spectrum of organizations across the country representing or supporting American seafood producers, commercial fishermen, shrimpers, dockside facilities, and processing plants:

1. American Shrimp Association; 
2. American Shrimp Processors Association; 
3. Apostleship of the Sea – Diocese of Beaumont; 
4. Apostleship of the Sea of the United States of America; 
5. California Sea Urchin Commission; 
6. California Pelagic Fisheries Association; 
7. Chesapeake Bay Seafood Industries Association; 
8. Fishing Communities Coalition; 
9. Gulf of America Reef Shareholders’ Alliance; 
10. Hawaii Longline Association; 
11. Louisiana Shrimp Association; 
12. Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United, Inc..;  
13. North American Marine Alliance; 
14. North Carolina Fisheries Association;  
15. Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission; 
16. Oregon Trawl Commission; 
17. Port Arthur International Seafarers’ Center; 
18. Port Arthur Area Shrimper’s Association; 
19. Shrimp Producers Marketing Cooperative (SPMC); 
20. Southeastern Fisheries Association; 
21. South Carolina Shrimpers Association; 
22. Southern Shrimp Alliance; 
23. Texas Shrimp Association

Increasing Calls for a Section 301 Investigation on Seafood

The May 19th letter from industry representatives to the USTR followed a May 11th letter from 20 members of Congress making the same request.  Last summer, the Oregon Trawl Commission was joined by the Southern Shrimp Alliance and several members of the crawfish industry (Riceland Crawfish Inc.; Bieber Farms Crawfish, Inc.; Acadia Crawfish Co., LLC; and Deshotels Crawfish Farms, LLC), in a request to the USTR for the initiation of a Section 301 investigation focused on the use of veterinary drugs in farm-raised seafood production in China, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

The requests to utilize Section 301 authority to address issues with seafood trade stem from President Trump’s April 2025 Executive Order, Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness, directing the USTR to “examine the relevant trade practices of major seafood-producing nations, including with regard to IUU fishing and the use of forced labor in the seafood supply chain, and consider appropriate responses, including pursuing solutions through negotiations or trade enforcement authorities, such as under section 301.”  More recently, Ambassador Greer issued a statement in February indicating that the USTR expects to initiate several Section 301 investigations, including an inquiry into “practices related to the trade in seafood.”

Review the May 19, 2026 letter from twenty-three U.S. seafood industry groups to Ambassador Jameison Greer, United States Trade Representative, here: https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Industry-Letter-Section-301-Seafood-Investigation-5-19-2026.pdf