The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee voted to advance the nomination of Neil Jacobs – a former NOAA acting administrator and U.S. President Donald Trump’s current pick to lead the agency once more.
Jacobs was first named acting administrator of NOAA in 2018 during Trump’s first administration, but his nomination was never approved by the full Senate. When Trump was succeeded by President Joe Biden, Jacobs was replaced by Richard Spinrad.
Now, Trump is looking to put Jacobs back in charge of NOAA – this time with the approval of the Senate. Jacobs was nominated in February, and both the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association and the Fishing Communities Coalition have backed Trump’s pick.
On 9 July, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on Jacobs' nomination, where he laid out his top priorities if confirmed, touching on several key fisheries issues.
“Reducing the seafood trade deficit is also a top priority. The U.S. has an estimated USD 20 billion (EUR 17.5 billion) trade deficit in seafood, much of it due to unfair trade practices, import of aquaculture seafood – which is often mislabeled – and the lack of domestic processing capacity,” Jacobs told lawmakers. “In addition to promoting the production, sale, and trade of U.S. fishery and aquaculture products, embracing new technologies and science-based approaches to stock assessments will benefit both the U.S. commercial fishing industry and the recreational fishing community. Leveling the playing field will also require cracking down on illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.”
Jacobs also expressed interest in “beefing up” the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP), which requires detailed information on 13 species or species groups in an effort to limit IUU fishing and prevent illegal imports. The U.S. seafood industry has criticized the program as ineffective, pointing out NOAA Fisheries’ own conclusion that SIMP doesn’t stop illegal products from entering the U.S. market. NOAA Fisheries is currently considering changes as part of an update to SIMP.
Under questioning, Jacobs also said commercial fishery stock assessments would be a huge priority.
“If confirmed, I will do everything I can to get them back on track,” Jacobs said.
During a 30 July executive session, the Senate Commerce Committee voted to advance Jacobs' nomination. It will need to be approved by the full Senate in order for him to be confirmed as head of NOAA.
