WASHINGTON — The federal government is taking steps to ease regulations on the nation’s fishing industry, including unlocking the northern edge of Georges Bank — a well-known fishing ground off New England — for scallop fishing, according to White House trade and manufacturing adviser Peter Navarro.
Navarro announced the two actions on Thursday, saying they grew out of a meeting held in the Oval Office between President Donald Trump and scallop fishermen. He described the moves as part of a wider initiative to breathe new life into the U.S. seafood sector.
The announcements build on an executive order Trump signed in April 2025, which directed the Commerce Department to roll back fishing regulations and open marine monuments to commercial fishing operations — all with the goal of boosting American seafood production.
The U.S. fishing industry, valued at $320 billion, is overseen in large part by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a federal agency responsible for managing coastal fisheries.
Under a law passed in 1976, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service is tasked with creating management plans for 45 different fisheries. That includes setting catch quotas and determining when fishing seasons begin and end, a process that involves input from federal scientists and local fishermen.
