Nathan Strout

The European Commission has approved Croatia’s plan to provide EUR 8 million (USD 9.3 million) in financial support to its commercial fishing fleet, which like many is suffering from higher fuel costs caused by the Iran War. Attacks by Israel and the United States on Iran have led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, denying substantial amounts of oil from reaching global consumers and leading to a spike in fuel prices. While U.S. President… Read More

The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) has sent a response to U.S. senators’ inquiry into foreign shrimp, rejecting any effort to pin the blame on the ASC for tainted Indonesian shrimp that was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol last year. In a detailed 12-page letter, the seafood certification and labeling body explained its process to the lawmakers, emphasizing that no products with its label were involved in recalls related to the… Read More

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed legislation requiring commingled seafood to be labeled as such, preventing wholesalers and retailers from mixing imported shrimp with domestic product and selling it as locally sourced. “I was down in Lafitte today with ... our local shrimpers to sign HB 857 into law. This bill finally puts teeth behind the rules by penalizing the sale of unlabeled and commingled seafood,” Landry said in a Facebook post… Read More

Mexico’s National Aquaculture and Fisheries Commission (Conapesca) has established three new fishing refuge zones (ZRP) to help fish populations recover. Last year, the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRICULTURA) announced its intent to triple the number of ZRPs across nine coastal states, expanding from 28 ZRPs to 83 and protecting 2.2 million marine hectares. “The new ZRPs are developed through the active… Read More

U.S. President Donald Trump issued a proclamation opening roughly 500,000 square miles of Pacific marine national monuments to commercial fishing, continuing his push to roll back protections unilaterally enacted by his predecessors. “President Trump is once again delivering for American fishermen by opening prized Pacific fishing grounds with this Executive Proclamation,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a release. “By… Read More

U.S. lawmakers seem largely uninterested in carrying out U.S. President Donald Trump’s request to integrate NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Protected Resources into the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS), opting to keep the office within NOAA. Trump has pushed to reduce or eliminate conservation funding within NOAA Fisheries, and part of that effort has included moving the agency’s responsibilities for administrating both the Endangered… Read More

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Certified Group’s new method of testing for polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) – popularly known as “forever chemicals” – in frozen clams. The Melville, New York, U.S.A.-based laboratory testing company said it developed its validated method for the analysis of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in frozen clams with direct guidance from FDA. The… Read More

The European Commission has voted to adopt OceanEye, an initiative to improve Europe’s ocean intelligence and a major deliverable of the European Ocean Pact adopted last summer, with an initial investment of EUR 92 million (USD 106 million). “With OceanEye, Europe will lead the race to understand our ocean, to protect it, and to sustainably harness its potential,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a release.… Read More

U.S. Representative Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) has introduced legislation that would require NOAA to establish a portable chemical test that can reveal the origins of shrimp. “South Carolina shrimpers have been undercut for years by foreign imports with no accountability and no transparency,” Mace said in a social media post. “Our SHRIMP Act puts an end to this. They have earned a level playing field. We are delivering it.” The… Read More

Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives included another year’s worth of money for the new Office of Seafood within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in a fiscal year 2027 appropriations bill funding the department, along with other seafood provisions. The bill includes several of the priorities and stipulations outlined in the fiscal year 2026 agriculture appropriations legislation, which was passed by Congress in November… Read More