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Fishers celebrate Trump's seafood order while conservation groups fear overfishing
National

Fishers celebrate Trump's seafood order while conservation groups fear overfishing

  • By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press

President Donald Trump's executive order to boost the U.S. commercial fishing industry drew praise from commercial fishing groups and condemnation from environmental organizations. Those critics say they fear cutting regulations will harm fish populations that have already dwindled in some areas of the oceans. Trump says his Thursday order will help the U.S. commercial fishing industry by peeling back regulations and opening up harvesting in previously protected areas, starting with a broad swath of the Pacific Ocean. The order represents a dramatic shift in federal policy regulating fishing in U.S. waters, putting the priorities of commercial fishing interests ahead of federal efforts to allow the supply of fish to make a comeback.