Nathan Strout

New Farm Bill renewal legislation introduced by Republicans in the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture would establish an aquaculture advisory committee. The committee is based on a concept introduced in the Sustaining Healthy Ecosystems, Livelihoods, and Local Seafood (SHELLS) Act, introduced in 2023 to create an office of aquaculture within USDA. The bill also provided for the establishment of an aquaculture advisory committee to help develop… Read More

The U.S. government has promised to take “deregulatory-focused action” in amending a vessel speed limit rule designed to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. The 2008 rule imposed a speed limit of 10 knots for vessels 65 feet or over traveling through right whale “seasonal management areas.” Vessel strikes and entanglements are the two biggest threats to the whales, according to NOAA Fisheries, and the agency has… Read More

Japan seized a China-flagged fishing vessel on 12 February, claiming the captain attempted to evade inspection while traversing the nation’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). “On February 12th, a Fisheries Agency patrol vessel discovered a Chinese fishing boat in Japan's exclusive economic zone west of Yakushima and ordered it to stop so that fisheries inspectors could conduct an on-site inspection,” Japan Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said… Read More

The Georgia state legislature has passed a bill requiring restaurants to clearly label imported shrimp on their menus or with a public placard, sending it to Governor Brian Kemp to be signed into law. “This bill simply requires that shrimp sold in foodservice establishments must be labeled as foreign imports IF they are not domestic,” State Representative Jesse Petrea, who sponsored House Bill 117, said in a social media post shortly after… Read More

Less than a year after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the federal government to prioritize blocking invasive Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes, his administration has paused the main project being built to block their northward progress. According to a January letter from Michigan’s Congressional delegation, the Brandon Road Interbasin Project (BRIP) has been paused by the government for an administrative review. “Moving this… Read More

A Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report estimates that up to 20 percent of seafood may be subject to fraud, but other studies estimate that number could be as high as 30 percent. The report, “Food fraud in the fisheries and aquaculture sector,” surmises that one-fifth of the global fisheries and aquaculture sector is subject to some type of fraud – far higher than the levels of fraud believed to take place in other food… Read More

More than 900 restaurants were cited in 2025 for violating Louisiana’s new seafood labeling law, according to the Louisiana Illuminator. First passed in 2019, the law requires restaurants to disclose either on their menu or with a clear public sign whether the crawfish and shrimp they sell is imported. First-time violations result in a fine of up to USD 500 (EUR 421), and repeat violations can increase fines up to USD 2,000 (EUR 1,685). In… Read More

New research from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) suggests that European consumers are eating more seafood with higher-than-average mercury content than government bodies recommend, and that such advice had limited influence. The survey, which was conducted at the behest of the European Commission, found that 20 percent of respondents eat fish that contain the highest maximum levels for mercury contamination three or more times per… Read More

NOAA Fisheries has opened a 25-day public comment period on four new state-led pilots for managing recreational red snapper, reigniting debate over how abundant the stock is in the South Atlantic. “As an avid fisherman, I understand the adventure and thrill of the catch,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Eugenio Piñeiro Soler said in a release. “The EFPs [Exempted Fishing Permits] propose to open up more opportunities for our… Read More

Agents with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries used an aerial drone to spot an individual illegally harvesting hundreds of pounds of oysters in February. While on an early morning patrol of the Sister Lake Oyster Seed Reservation 3 February, agents decided to fly an aerial drone overhead to observe an individual harvesting oysters from a vessel. Oyster season in the area had already been closed for more than a month. After making… Read More