Steve Bittenbender

Fishermen’s Finest will seek to sell a USD 75 million (EUR 60.8 million) catcher-processor vessel after the latest attempt for a necessary waiver to work in U.S. waters fell through.

Dennis Moran, company president, told National Fisherman that the waiver for America’s Finest did not get included in a Homeland Security spending bill. 

“I honestly don’t know whether that’s the last stop,” Moran said.

U.S. shrimp producers got a major victory from the omnibus spending bill that passed the Senate early Friday morning, 23 March.

The bill, which passed the House Thursday, 22 March, includes a long-sought after provision to lift the stay on when imported shrimp will be included in the Seafood Import Monitoring Program. 

However, President Donald Trump threatened to veto the bill for reasons unrelated to the new shrimp rules.

If and when

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross addressed U.S. fisheries regulations and his concern about the quality of seafood imports with the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, 20 March, and he said he’s looking for NOAA Fisheries officials to work harder to reduce the country’s seafood trade deficit.

Ross testified Tuesday 20 March before the House Appropriation Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies to

Two U.S. senators have reached out to the country’s top trade representative, asking him to support the repeal of a seafood inspection program at the heart of a Vietnamese complaint to the World Trade Organization.

Sens. John McCain (R-Arizona) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire) sent a letter to Robert Lighthizer on Monday, 19 March, saying the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Catfish Inspection Program threatens agricultural trade

The push to get a Jones Act waiver for America’s Finest will take a new tack in the U.S. Senate.

Earlier this week, the Senate Homeland Security Committee approved its own version of the Department of Homeland Security reauthorization bill. The Senate’s version did not include an amendment approved by the House of Representatives to grant a waiver for the USD 75 million (EUR 61 million) ship built by Dakota Creek at its Anacortes,

Trident Seafoods Corp. will pay a fine of nearly USD 300,000 (EUR 243,000) to settle a complaint levied by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that it violated Clean Water Act regulations at two Alaska plants.

The fine is just one measure the Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based company must take to resolve its issues with the EPA. In addition, Trident has agreed to remove more than three acres of waste from the sea floor near one facility,

A U.S. Senate committee passed a bill on Wednesday, 28 February that would increase access for recreational anglers. However, critics claim that it comes at a cost to both the environment and commercial fishermen.

The Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2017 now heads to the full body after the Senate Commerce Committee approved the measure by voice vote. The bill has bipartisan support, with U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker

Vietnam has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization against the United States, claiming the U.S. Department of Agriculture program targeting catfish inspections imposes illegal barriers to trade. The Southeast Asian nation is also seeking bilateral talks to resolve the issue.

Vietnam’s filing cites the newly implemented USDA inspection program, which imported pangasius now must pass through inspections performed by both the

A Louisiana congressman is calling on his state’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to establish a “bounty” program for Asian carp, an invasive species fish he said threatens the state’s fishing industry.

Rep. Clay Higgins likened the proposed program to one already in place for nutria. That program to curb the presence of the rodent has seen destruction of vegetation decrease by more than 90 percent over a 15-year