“Through these priorities, the agency is taking actionable steps to fulfill the president’s vision of making the United States the world’s dominant seafood leader,” said Neil Jacobs, Ph.D., NOAA Administrator. “NOAA is proud to deliver real-world results to the American public through innovative solutions that streamline regulations.”
“These priorities represent NOAA Fisheries’ commitment to ensuring that federal fisheries management boosts domestic harvesters,” said Eugenio Piñeiro Soler, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “We are proud to empower hard-working American fishermen to produce more seafood for American plates.”
After considering input from more than 700 individuals and organizations, including from councils, the fishing industry, and the public, NOAA Fisheries is advancing a science-based approach to fisheries management that supports sustainable fishing opportunities while ensuring responsible conservation practices and improving regulatory efficiency. These efforts touch on all aspects of the agency’s mission from protected resources and science to national policies and improving fishing opportunities.
The complete list of priority actions is available on the NOAA Fisheries website.
While this announcement outlines the immediate internal priorities for the agency, it also serves as a bridge toward a broader, interagency transformation of federal seafood policy. In the coming months, the agency will unveil future actions toward this goal to strengthen national seafood markets, rebuild US fisheries infrastructure and processing capacity, and tackle illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing issues to ensure American seafood dominance.
