Trump is loosening red tape to help America’s $20 billion seafood trade deficit. Conservation groups worry overfishing could unravel the ocean’s ‘safety net’

President Donald Trump's executive order to boost the U.S. commercial fishing industry drew praise from commercial fishing groups and condemnation from environmental organizations who said they fear cutting regulations will harm fish populations that have already dwindled in some areas of the oceans.

The order represents a dramatic shift in federal policy on fishing in U.S. waters by prioritizing commercial fishing interests over efforts to allow the fish supply to increase.

The president described his decision as “an easy one” that will improve the U.S. commercial fishing industry by peeling back regulations and opening up harvesting in previously protected areas.

“The United States should be the world’s dominant seafood leader,” he said Thursday, citing the nation’s seafood trade deficit, which is more than $20 billion.

Some environmental groups cited the importance of relying on the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which has guided U.S. fishery management for nearly 50 years and was intended to combat overfishing. The number of fish stocks on the federal overfished list grew from 40 in 2013 to 47 in 2023; conservationists said they fear that number will grow with weakened regulations.

“These executive orders don’t loosen red tape - they unravel the very safety net that protects our oceans, our economy, and our seafood dinners,” said Beth Lowell, vice president of Oceana, a conservation group. “For decades, the U.S. science-based approach to fisheries management has rebuilt declining stocks, kept American fishers on the water, and protected important places and wildlife.”

Some sectors of the fishing industry have been hit hard by environmental changes and overfishing, including in the Northeast, where once-lucrative industries for Maine shrimp and Atlantic cod long ago dried up. West Coast species, including some kinds of salmon, have also been depleted.

There have also been successes. The federal government said last year it was able to remove Atlantic coast bluefish and a Washington coast stock of coho salmon from the overfished list.

Fishermen said they see a brighter future thanks to the Trump executive order. The changes represent a “thoughtful, strategic approach” that could be a lifeline to America’s fishermen, said Lisa Wallenda Picard, president and chief executive officer of the National Fisheries Institute in Virginia.

“The EO outlines key actions to benefit every link in the supply chain — from hardworking fishermen to parents who serve their family this nutritious and sustainable protein at home,” Wallenda Picard said. “Importantly, the order calls for reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens on fishermen and seafood producers while also promoting the many benefits of eating seafood as part of a healthy, balanced diet.”

Trump's order came on the same day he issued a proclamation allowing commercial fishing in Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument. The monument was created by President George W. Bush in early 2009 and consists of about 495,189 square miles (1,282,534 square kilometers) in the central Pacific Ocean.

Environmental groups, some of whom vowed to challenge attempts to weaken protections in certain areas, also criticized that move.

“This is one of the most pristine tropical marine environments in the world that already faces dire threats from climate change and ocean acidification,” said David Henkin, an attorney with conservation group Earthjustice. “We will do everything in our power to protect the monument.”

Countering conservation groups, the Trump administration argues that restrictions such as catch limits and competition with wind power companies for fishing grounds have held back one of the country’s oldest enterprises.

"In addition to overregulation, unfair trade practices have put our seafood markets at a competitive disadvantage,” Trump's executive order stated.

The order order gives Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick a month to identify “the most heavily overregulated fisheries requiring action and take appropriate action to reduce the regulatory burden on them.” It also calls on regional fishing managers to find ways to reduce burdens on domestic fishing and increase fishing production.

The order also calls for the development of a comprehensive seafood trade strategy. It charges Lutnick with reviewing existing marine monuments, which are underwater protected areas, and providing recommendations of any that should be opened to commercial fishing. Trump also targeted marine monuments in his first term.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com