WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R) on Thursday welcomed the creation of the new USDA Office of Seafood, calling it a long-overdue move that will expand federal support for fishermen, seafood harvesters, small businesses, and coastal communities in Maine and across the country.
In a statement announcing the new office, Collins said Maine’s fishing industry remains central to the state’s economy, identity, and way of life.
“Fishing is the very foundation of Maine’s heritage. Today, the seafood industry in our region generates more than $5 billion in income and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, in addition to providing a nutritious food supply, delicious restaurant meals, and sustaining entire coastal communities,” Collins said.
She added that the USDA’s decision reflects the importance of the industry and the families who depend on it.
“I appreciate that USDA is recognizing our fishermen as farmers of the sea and establishing the Office of Seafood. The creation of this office is a long-overdue, essential step to expanding seats at the table for our hardworking fishing families, who are a key piece of our nation’s history and our future as well,” Collins said.
According to the announcement, the USDA Office of Seafood will work to expand access to federal programs for America’s fishermen, seafood cultivators, producers, and processors. The office will also coordinate across USDA agencies and help ensure fishermen can work more directly with the U.S. Department of Commerce and other federal partners as part of a broader effort to revitalize the American seafood industry.
Collins’ office also pointed to her longstanding work on behalf of Maine’s seafood sector.
That includes leading the Maine delegation in securing a provision in the Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations legislation that protected the Maine lobster fishery from what her office described as unfair federal regulation for six years. Since that provision was enacted, Collins has also secured more than $80 million in funding for North Atlantic Right Whale research and monitoring through her role on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Her office said that research is intended to support Maine’s lobster industry by improving the data used to shape federal regulations.
Collins has also pushed to rebuild Maine’s working waterfronts. After back-to-back storms in January 2024 caused major damage along the Maine coast, she secured $15 million in the Fiscal Year 2024 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Act to help communities recover from coastal infrastructure damage.
That funding included $10 million, administered through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, to repair and renovate infrastructure damaged by the storms, along with $5 million to establish a new Economic Development Administration program focused on working waterfronts.
The USDA announcement came during the week of the fiftieth anniversary of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary law governing marine fisheries in U.S. federal waters.
Fishing industry? We are being regulated to death, Susie. we do not need a federal USDA office to do what we are already doing. What we need is for the government to get rid of the stupid regulations. No trackers on our boats, no foolish ropeless gear, no offshore wind etc. We have been marketing our seafood for decades, we do not need or want any more Federal government interference.