April 17, 2026 – Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Thursday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has created the first Office of Seafood to integrate fishermen and other seafood producers into USDA programs.

“We are honoring decades of hard work on the water and opening the door to new opportunities, stronger support, and a brighter future for the seafood industry,” she said in a press release.

Under federal law, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) regulates and provides some services to fisheries, but NOAA does not operate programs that support the seafood industry in the same way that the USDA does for farmers. Advocates for the seafood industry have long pushed for better access to those programs.

In the release, the USDA said one of the new office’s primary roles would be to improve access for seafood producers and processors. The USDA will also collaborate with the Department of Commerce to develop an “America First Seafood Strategy” to promote U.S. fishery and aquaculture products and strengthen domestic processing.

Organizations including the National Fisheries Institute, a non-profit that supports the seafood industry, and the Southern Shrimp Alliance applauded the announcement.

“While the USDA offers loans, grants, and marketing programs to food producers, this support is generally not available to fishermen,” Blake Price, director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, said in a statement. “An Office of Seafood within the USDA is an essential first step in bringing shrimpers into the fold.” (Link to this post.)

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