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I have spent my life working on the water as a commercial fisherman. Today, I serve as the chairman and chief strategist of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association, (NEFSA) representing fishermen who fish the waters of the North Atlantic and the New York Bight, along with their families, business and industry associations and members of the public who support wild-caught American seafood. I speak for people who work these waters every day and for communities that depend on them.
We see ocean conditions as they exist, not months later in reports. Yet policy too often prioritizes theory over experience and paperwork over outcomes. Commercial fishermen are not line items. We live with the consequences of every decision made in Washington. On the water, those decisions can make fishing less safe, manage fish poorly and drive American commercial fishermen out of business.
AMERICAN SEAFOOD IS AMERICAN FOOD SECURITY
In 2026, it is time to clearly recognize that U.S. wild-caught seafood is U.S. food security. America controls one of the largest and most productive ocean food resources in the world, and commercial fishermen make it possible to feed this country under some of the highest standards anywhere.
At the same time, we are forced to compete against cheap imported seafood flooding U.S. markets and undercutting American harvesters. Much of this product comes from overseas operations with weak or nonexistent environmental and labor standards, yet it is marketed as fresh or sustainable. Meanwhile, American fishermen following the rules are slowly being pushed out.
American farmers know this problem well. Domestic food producers who follow strict regulations are routinely undercut by imports that do not. Commercial fishermen, like farmers, are a pillar of national resilience. Any new food policy must rebuild and protect domestic seafood production, so American fishermen can feed American consumers under American standards.
OFFSHORE WIND EQUALS FOREIGN INDUSTRIAL TAKEOVER OF OUR OCEANS
We cannot credibly claim to support domestic seafood or food security while allowing the industrial takeover of our ocean. Offshore wind destroys habitat, displaces fishing from historic grounds and embeds permanent industrial hazards into working waters. It would be like setting our farm fields on fire and calling it progress.
Commercial fishermen warned from the beginning that these projects would compromise offshore safety. Offshore wind degrades marine radar, interferes with search-and-rescue capability and disrupts military and homeland defense systems. When radar and rescue systems fail offshore, lives are put at risk. Infrastructure that causes those failures has no place in working waters or national security zones.
Once built, the damage is permanent. Taxpayer dollars should not be used to eliminate American commercial fishing jobs so foreign energy companies and private equity firms can industrialize the waters that feed this country.
FIXING GROUNDFISH FROM THE GROUND UP
Our New England groundfish fishery is in turmoil. Fishermen face quota swings that shift from feast to famine, often driven by incomplete surveys or outdated data. A stock can be abundant one year and effectively unavailable the next, not because the fish disappeared, but because the survey failed to capture reality.
When that happens, fishermen cannot simply pivot. If the fishery they depend on is suddenly closed and they do not hold permits for others, boats tie up, crews are sent home and coastal businesses suffer despite healthy fish in the water.
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Restoring confidence starts with better assessments. Better science does not mean more models divorced from reality. It means cooperative, industry-based research, with fishermen working alongside scientists over time. On the West Coast, industry-chartered vessels and fishing crews have partnered with scientists for decades to improve surveys, reduce uncertainty and produce more reliable management outcomes.
A COMMON-SENSE PATH FORWARD
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The choice before the nation is clear. We can continue policies that push American commercial fishermen aside and replace domestic seafood with imports and industrial ocean uses, or we can follow the direction set by the president’s executive order and put America’s food producers first. Through President Trump’s leadership, the federal government has recognized that domestic seafood production is a matter of national interest, economic resilience and food security.
Commercial fishermen stand ready to meet that call. With a clear vision from the White House and policies grounded in real-world experience, we can protect and strengthen fisheries that are already sustainable, restore working waterfronts, and once again make American seafood a backbone of our national food supply. We are a nation of fishermen ready to roll up our sleeves, do the work and get the job done with the president’s help, feeding America first and leading the world by example.
Dustin Delano is the Chairman and Chief Strategist of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association.
