The U.S. government is soliciting recommendations from the seafood and fishing sectors on what name Sebastes – a group of species collectively referred to as rockfish – should be marketed under moving forward.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has published a request for information in the Federal Register “to help make an evidence-based determination that balances food safety, regulatory clarity, and industry interest regarding a potential update to the acceptable market name” for more than a dozen Sebastes species.
The FDA said it has received multiple requests from industry to change the acceptable market name for rockfish to something more consumer-friendly in the hopes of “increasing economic value for the Sebastes species.” When Congress approved a temporary spending bill to reopen the federal government in November 2025, lawmakers included a provision directing the FDA to work with industry on updating the fishes’ marketing name.
U.S. commercial fishers landed 77,501 metric tons (MT) of nearly 60 listed rockfish species in 2024 for a total value of USD 35.9 million (EUR 31 million), down slightly from the 81,333 MT landed in 2023 for USD 37.8 million (EUR 32.7 million)
If a new name is agreed upon, the FDA will update it in both “The Seafood List—FDA's Guide to Determine Acceptable Seafood Names” and its “Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance.”
Responses are due 1 May 2026.
