Trump Unveils America First Seafood Strategy with $5B in Loans and New Consumer Label

The White House on October 23 unveiled the historic America First Seafood Strategy and launched Seafood.gov, a new one-stop website for U.S. fishermen and consumers to access clear information about federal seafood initiatives and the science- and health-based reasons to choose American seafood.

A New Era for American Fisheries

The Strategy recognizes U.S. fishermen as essential to America’s economic strength, food security, coastal prosperity, and national resilience. It prioritizes rebuilding infrastructure by reducing regulatory barriers to expansion and modernization, thereby encouraging investment in processing jobs such as those that provide the primary source of income to hundreds of rural Alaska communities.

The Trump Administration is helping restore the profitability of U.S. fishermen — especially Maine lobster fisheries — and protecting them from unfair competition through strengthened import certification and compliance, regulatory reform, partnerships with industry, and expanded market access for American seafood abroad.

“U.S. Caught Seafood” Label Proposed

In another step forward for U.S. fishermen and America’s seafood industry, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing a voluntary “U.S. Caught Seafood” label so American consumers and those around the world can clearly identify seafood that is caught and harvested by American fishermen. The label is available for download on Seafood.gov.

$5 Billion in Guaranteed Loans

Additionally, the President is making available more than $5 billion in guaranteed loans through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to expand American dominance in modernized meat and seafood processing.

Reversing Decades of Overregulation

For too long, federal seafood policy focused on regulation and market contraction rather than production and growth. The America First Seafood Strategy reverses that approach.

American fishermen operate under the highest standards in the world, while compliance costs climb and fishing grounds narrow due to burdensome overregulation from states and previous administrations. In many waters outside the United States, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, mislabeled imports, and heavily subsidized foreign seafood produced under weak labor, environmental, and safety standards have undercut American businesses that play by the rules and deliver the best products.

Permitting barriers to private investment in working waterfronts, cold storage, and shoreside facilities have led to significant loss in U.S. seafood processing capacity.

Historic Wins Already Delivered

These actions build on President Trump’s earlier actions to revitalize the U.S. fishing industry:

• In April 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order restoring American seafood competitiveness through deregulation, combating unfair trade practices, enhancing domestic seafood production and exports, cooperative research, and creation of the America First Seafood Strategy.

• In April 2025, February 2026, and June 2026, President Trump issued proclamations restoring commercial fishing access in all Marine National Monuments, restoring hundreds of thousands of square miles in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to America’s fishermen.

• In April 2026, the USDA launched the Office of Seafood to help the American seafood industry navigate access to USDA programs and support.

• Through strategic use of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and executive action, NOAA has successfully removed red tape, reversed decades-old closures, and maximized harvest quotas.

Seafood.gov: A One-Stop Resource

The newly launched Seafood.gov serves as a central hub where fishermen can find information about federal programs, loan opportunities, and regulatory updates, while consumers can learn about the quality, sustainability, and safety of American-caught seafood.

Source: The White House Fact Sheet, October 23, 2026

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Kelvin Ikome

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