The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Seafood is responsible for providing leadership, expertise, management, and advice to the Secretary of Agriculture on matters impacting the seafood industry. One of the primary roles of this office will be coordinating across USDA agencies to ensure fishermen are integrated into USDA programs and working alongside the U.S. Department of Commerce and other Federal partners to revitalize the American seafood industry.
Additionally, the USDA Office of Seafood will play an important role in USDA’s implementation of President Trump’s Executive Order 14276, Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness, including the development of the American First Seafood Strategy to promote production, marketing, sale, and export of U.S. fishery and aquaculture products and strengthen domestic processing capacity.
There is a strong consumer demand for seafood in America with the per capita consumption of seafood in 2023 being 19.1 pounds; however, it is estimated that 80 percent of the seafood Americans ate that year came from foreign imports. The United States should be the world’s dominant seafood leader, but overregulation and unfair trade practices have put our seafood markets at a competitive disadvantage.
From Maine’s lobstering communities to Alaska’s salmon fisheries to Louisiana’s shrimpers and crawfish farmers, USDA programming should recognize that the U.S. seafood industry is a vital part of the U.S. food supply and should adequately support their operations.
If you are a fisherman or part of the seafood industry looking to utilize USDA programs—whether it be grants and loans to support infrastructure and workforce development, procurement of U.S. seafood products, marketing and promotion of seafood products in both domestic and foreign markets, or risk management and disaster assistance—the USDA Office of Seafood stands ready to help navigate these processes.
Contact Us
For more information, please see available resources listed below or reach out to our team at seafood@usda.gov.
USDA and NOAA Collaborations
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) play an important role in building a resilient seafood sector. They have complementary legislative and statutory authorities that guide marine and fisheries management, conservation, research, grading standards, procurement, production, market development, and more. There are extensive opportunities for further partnership in support of U.S. seafood competitiveness.
