Cuts to NOAA and Coast Guard will impact fishing jobs, safety at sea, and efforts to crack down on illegal fisheries 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, condemned the impacts of illegal, unreported and unregulated fisheries and the impacts of the Trump Administration’s unprecedented cuts to NOAA on America’s fishing families at a hearing of the Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Coast Guard, Maritime and Fisheries.

Sen. Cantwell stressed that when bad actors fish illegally, they disadvantage honest commercial fishing families. Illegal fishing directly harms fish stocks and habitat and poses a seafood safety risk to American consumers. While Russia and China are two of the worst actors in the illegal fishing space, Russia in particular poses a direct threat to the livelihoods of U.S. fishermen, including in the State of Washington.

“One study found that one third of fish imported from China was actually Russian fish, and we need to keep up the pressure to stop this illegal Russian seafood from disrupting the markets here in the United States,” said Sen. Cantwell.   

The impacts of cheap, illegally caught product flooding the markets are felt in Washington, where commercial and recreational fisheries support nearly 88,000 jobs and generate almost $4.5 billion in value-added impacts for the economy. Senator Cantwell was quick to call out the Trump Administration for the disconnect between their words and their actions.

“So, the Administration, though, is calling for us to be seafood dominant,” said Sen. Cantwell. “That's great. They say they care about stopping illegal fishing and yet they are gutting the core of NOAA programs and staffing. And that could have disastrous effects to our fisheries management, science,and enforcement.”

Instead of investing in an agency that’s driving efforts to combat illegal fishing, the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request proposes cutting the National Marine Fisheries Service budget by 27 percent from 2025 levels. 

“So far, the administration's action[s] have led to 576 employees at the National Marine Fisheries Service being lost,” continued Sen. Cantwell. That's an 18 percent reduction staff from January, and a 36 percent vacancy rate of normal staffing levels. NOAA told fishery managers not to expect basic survey data that they need to manage fisheries. This is unacceptable.”

And NOAA cuts are not just a problem for fishermen at home. When it comes to cracking down on illegal fishing, the U.S. depends on NOAA, the State Department, the Coast Guard, and other agencies to advocate at regional fishery management organization meetings, treaty negotiations, and other critical diplomatic engagements. Currently, the Administration won’t let NOAA career employees travel to most international fisheries management meetings. When they are allowed to go, the Administration will not let career NOAA employees speak.

Sen. Cantwell also voiced concerns about the Coast Guard’s recent announcements that they will not fly critical IUU missions in the Bering Sea.

“And I'm concerned that the Coast Guard has temporary reassigned ships and aircraft away from those core missions without a concrete plan,” said Sen. Cantwell. “So, for example, a C130, based in Kodiak, is now being used to fly, ‘alien expulsion missions,’ on behalf of ICE. We need them to do the search and rescue and to deter illegal fishing in the Bering Sea.”

Senator Cantwell’s concern was echoed by Gabriel Prout, President of the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers:

“When you start losing necessary infrastructure and pieces of equipment that are dedicated for those search and rescue efforts, the IUU efforts - to deter IUU - and they start being allocated to different areas, and then, when they originally intended, it makes it extremely difficult for fishermen to make safe and sound decisions when you know there's going to be less assets available for one of the most primary functions, which is search and rescue and protection of the fleet.”

Video of the hearing can be found HERE and a full transcript can be found HERE.