The Trump administration is pressuring regional officials to roll back a monitoring program for Atlantic herring fisheries, reversing course on regulations that sparked the legal battle that upended the Chevron doctrine.
NOAA Fisheries chief Eugenio Piñeiro Soler outlined the directive in a May 1 letter to the New England Fishery Management Council, the regional agency charged with creating management plans and setting catch limits.
Pointing to an executive order on “seafood competitiveness” issued by President Donald Trump in 2025, Soler directed the council to reverse an earlier decision to leave the monitoring program in place. He warned that failing to do so might spur involvement by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
“We respectfully request that the Council reconsider this decision and agree to proceed with a Council action to revise and potentially withdraw the [industry-funded monitoring] provisions for the herring fishery,” Soler wrote.
