News and Updates

February 5, 2026

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT

Before beginning this report, I want to take a moment—on behalf of our members and the many individuals involved in the American Commercial Seafood Industry—to extend our sincere

condolences and prayers to the families and community of Gloucester for the tragic loss of the

crew of the Lily Jean. This heartbreaking accident reminds us of the courage, skill, and sacrifice of commercial fishers who work in dangerous conditions every day to feed the American public. Their dedication is deeply appreciated, and we honor all who continue this essential work.



We hope everyone is off to a strong start in 2026. SFA has been extremely active on multiple

fronts, and we are making steady progress across all major issues. We are currently focused on

what may be the most important initiative for the American Commercial Seafood Industry in

many years.

SFA is advancing what may be the most consequential initiative for the seafood sector in

decades: securing federal recognition of the American Commercial Seafood Industry as one of

the nation’s two primary food‑producing sectors—alongside Agriculture.

Several SFA Board members and regular members have generously funded two meeting rooms

at the Boston Seafood Show. The purpose is simple and long overdue: to elevate national

recognition that the United States has two primary food-producing sectors—Agriculture and

Seafood.

Seafood was the first food harvested by America’s founders, yet federal support for the seafood sector remains far below that provided to agriculture. This disparity affects marketing, branding, workforce development, equipment modernization, and economic resilience. Our goal is to close that gap.

Agriculture has long received far greater federal support through marketing, branding, financial assistance, and equipment programs. While the commercial seafood industry has received some help, it falls far short of what agriculture receives. Our goal is to change that and secure recognition and support for the American Commercial Seafood Industry as a co-equal food producer.

To support this effort, SFA has developed comprehensive comparison materials outlining the

nutritional, economic, environmental, and carbon‑impact advantages of seafood. These

materials demonstrate the industry’s value as a domestic protein source and its importance to

coastal economies. This edition of Hotlines includes a one-page summary of these comparisons,

along with our press release announcing our initiative and the location of our meeting rooms at

the show. The rooms are reserved by Water Street Seafood and signage at the rooms will

reference Water Street. We have invited several federal agency representatives to speak and share how their offices can help advance this effort.

As many know, we have worked closely with the U.S. Office of Advocacy on regulatory issues.

They have expressed strong interest in attending our event in Boston. For those unfamiliar, the

U.S. Office of Advocacy is housed in the SBA HQ but is part of the Executive Branch of the

White House. The Office of Advocacy is the voice of small business to the White House, Congress, and across all departments and agencies to identify rules and regulations that are burdensome to small businesses. When harmful regulations are identified, the Office works to modify or eliminate them—an important benefit for our industry. The Office of Advocacy Chief Counsel, Dr. Casey Mulligan, reports directly to the President.

The Office of Advocacy plans to send key staff to participate in panel discussions in our meeting rooms. They will listen, learn, and provide guidance on how they can assist the commercial seafood industry. The Office has already held numerous meetings with seafood industry members nationwide and understands many of the challenges we face. We will share more details soon regarding participating staff and panel schedules. Please watch your email for ongoing updates about the show and our broader efforts.

We also have several important fishery management updates. The South Atlantic Fishery

Management Council recently approved Coral Amendment 11/Shrimp 12, reopening part of the

Oculina Bank to the Rock Shrimp fishery for the first time since 2013. This long-awaited

progress is now before the Secretary of Commerce for implementation.

In another major win, the Gulf Fishery Management Council approved Red Grouper Amendment

62, restoring commercial and recreational quota allocations closer to historic levels prior to the flawed MRIP-FES adjustments. This Amendment is also headed to the SOC for implementation. The new allocation will be 68% commercial and 32% recreational. The amendment also increases the ABC to 8.28 million pounds, up from 4.96 million pounds.

Additionally, we successfully advocated for delaying action on Amendment 58A until the MRIP-

FES program review is completed and presented to the Council and SSC. This delay prevents

premature reallocation of shallow-water grouper based on outdated data. Many other issues

remain active, and we are monitoring all of them closely.

Upcoming council and FWC meeting dates are included in this Hotlines. The SAFMC will soon

consider Exempted Fishing Permit requests from the four South Atlantic states seeking

additional recreational red snapper days. The Gulf Council will address the proposal to shift

federal for-hire permitted vessels to state management—a move overwhelmingly opposed by the federally permitted fleet. Their agenda should be released next month.

We continue to make strong progress on USCG/FCC regulations regarding approved

communication devices. Since last August, we have participated in multiple meetings and two

webinars with the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), providing detailed

information on how commercial and passenger vessels use Starlink and other web-based systems for offshore communication. There is now broad agreement among USCG, FCC, and other officials that approving these systems will significantly improve emergency voice

communication. We are optimistic that approval is forthcoming, which will greatly ease

compliance and improve safety for vessel owners. We look forward to sharing good news soon.

Planning is underway for the SFA 69th Annual Meeting, scheduled for September 8–11 at the

Reef House Resort and Marina in Key Largo. We are inviting speakers on topics relevant to

commercial fishing and small business operations. Sponsorship opportunities are available for

industry partners and supporters. Please contact us for details on sponsorship levels. For those

planning to attend, please reserve the dates—hotel and meeting registration information will be available soon. Our last annual meeting last May was a tremendous success, and we are working to make this year’s event even better.

SFA continues to deliver meaningful results by reducing regulatory burdens and improving

conditions for your businesses. Progress can be slow, but persistence pays off, and your support

makes these achievements possible. We encourage you to share our work with others in the

industry and invite them to join SFA. With expanded membership and resources, we can

accomplish even more. All fishers, businesses, and supporters are welcome, and we are always

available to discuss the benefits of membership.



As always, thank you for your continued membership and support.

Save The Date:



2026 SFA Annual Meeting

September 8-11, 2026

Reefhouse Resort & Marina

Key Largo, Florida

My Suggestions for Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness

NOAA Fisheries recently had an open comment period on Regulatory Reform, Seafood Industry Challenges, and Innovative Approaches in Response to the Executive Order Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness. The comment period was related to the Executive Order, "Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness;" and sought suggestions to enhance the economic viability and competitiveness of American seafood. I provided input on several

measures that I believe would benefit southeastern fishermen and U.S. fishermen more broadly.

Below are the suggestions I shared. This list was not exhaustive; there are more changes that could improve American seafood competitiveness. I focused on several changes that I believe would be extremely beneficial to SFA members and the U.S. industry. If you’ve read my other

Hotlines articles, you will recognize these suggestions.



JANUARY 2026 WASHINGTON, D.C. UPDATE

BY ROMEA’S RICK MARKS FOR

FL COMMERCIAL FISHING CLIENTS

Rick E. Marks has nearly 30 years of experience in science and advocacy 

related to the U.S. commercial fishing and seafood industry. His expertise includes serving various coastal and tribal communities across states 

such as Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Florida, New Jersey, and

Rhode Island.



Click for full story



Menhaden research receives federal funding, but advocates want action now

President Donald Trump signed a three-bill spending package on Jan. 23 that will fund multiple departments — and it provides $2.5 million for research on menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay.

After waiting two years for legislators to fund menhaden research at the state level, businesses, scientists and anglers' welcome federal dollars for the study. But some advocates say precautionary action to protect the fish is needed now instead of waiting even longer to get answers on the state of the population in the Bay.

Click for full story

Learning Marine Science By Listening to Fishing Communities

Growing up in Massachusetts, Dana Grieco spent all her summers on Cape Cod and gravitated toward a career in marine science. That led naturally to a post-grad internship at the Center for Coastal Studies. It was there where she learned the importance of listening to, and working with, local community members.

“It’s this very co-created research in terms of figuring out what’s going on for Cape Cod fisheries,” she explains. “It was about listening to folks and hearing how much knowledge they had about where they were working every day on the water, at the docks or by the coast.” The experience shaped how she thought about expertise, research and who holds knowledge.

Click for full story

On Jan. 30, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) jointly announced a temporary final rule increasing the numerical limit (or cap) on H-2B nonimmigrant visas by up to 64,716 additional visas for fiscal year 2026.



These supplemental visas are available only to U.S. businesses that are suffering irreparable harm or will suffer impending irreparable harm without the ability to employ all the H-2B workers requested in their petition, as attested by the employer on a new attestation form.

Click for more information

Georgia Senate Resoundingly Passes Shrimp Transparency Bill

Bill Joins Multi-State Movement to Address Misleading Marketing of Shrimp

Yesterday, the Georgia Senate voted 43-8 to pass legislation requiring food service establishments to disclose imported shrimp on menus, making Georgia the latest state forwarding legislation to combat false advertising that has devastated U.S. shrimpers across the South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.

Blake Price, deputy director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) welcomed the vote, stating, “This bill adds transparency that benefits consumers, the local restaurants supporting U.S. shrimpers, and hardworking fishing families that are the economic backbone of coastal communities. We thank Senator Ben Watson and Representative Jesse Petrea for acting to help consumers make informed choices when ordering seafood at restaurants.”

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Upcoming Fishery Management Council Meetings

2026 Meetings

SAFMC

Gulf Fisheries Management Council

Other Important Meetings

• March 2-6, 2026 - SAFMC - Jekyll Island GA
• April 7 to 10 at The Battle House Renaissance, Mobile, AL
• FWC meets May 13 & 14 -Location TBA

SFA's 2026 Activities and Achievements

Representation on Fishery Management Councils and Panels

• 2025 68^th SFA Annual Meeting: The Annual Meeting was a great success. We had a good attendance and had informative speakers providing information on a wide array of tropics. After the presentations there was good one on one exchange of information during the round table discussions. Plans are already in the works for our 69^th Annual Meeting and we are already looking for dates in September 2026.
• South Atlantic Fishery Management Council: SFA was instrumental in helping Capt. Dewey Hemilright to be appointed as the North Carolina Commercial Representative on the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. Dewey will use his commercial fishing experience in his efforts to enhance the commercial seafood industry in the South Atlantic.
• Gulf Fishery Council: SFA was instrumental in helping Dr. Mike Allen to be appointed as the Florida Academic Representative on the Gulf Fishery Council. Mike will use his scientific and business knowledge in his efforts to provide advice on the management of Gulf fisheries.
• NMFS Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel: Board member Jimmy Hull and ED Bob Zales represent SFA and at a recent web meeting both provided information and comments on the increasing shark predation issues affecting all fishers.
• International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas Advisory Panel: ED Bob Zales, newly appointed member, attended his first ICCAT meeting the week of June 2. Working with commercial and recreational representatives he was able to have language drafted that proposes the United States work to expand the shark fishery and recommends the U.S. allow the sale of shark fins. He was also able to have language included that would require other member nations to begin to research shark predation on other fisheries and look for ways to deter sharks.
• Merritt Island Refuge Commercial Fishing Permits: ED Bob Zales met with the Refuge Superintendent the week of June 9 about the current scheduled non-renewal of commercial fishing permits to access the refuge. The elimination of commercial fishing in the refuge is contrary to President Trump’s EO 14276 which directs all government agencies to restore the American Seafood Industry. The Superintendent is considering options.
• Space Coast Rocket Launches issues with restricted fishing and hazardous debris damaging fishing gear: Over the past 6 months, ED Bob Zales has met with members in the Cape Canaveral area along with members of Launch on Demand to provide information to the LOD folks to develop an app that will provide real time launch data to fishers to help reduce the restricted time to access fishing grounds. Bob has also been in discussions with legislators to contact FAA and NASA agencies to set a meeting with members from the Cape to consider various ways to mitigate gear damage and restricted fishing time and to consider establishment of a financial fund to compensate fishers for damage and loss of fishing time.  
• President Trump Executive Order 14276, Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness: SFA is working with several governmental agencies and legislators to move this effort forward in order to seek deregulation of many regulations and increase commercial fishing activity.
• NOAA Ocean Week National Fish Fry: SFA participated with Greg Abrams Seafood and Ariel Seafood to provide and prepare fresh Gulf tuna, shrimp, red snapper and tuna dip and served to all attendees at the Fish Fry. Those in attendance were Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, NMFS AA Eugenio Soler, future NOAA AA Neal Jacobs, and many other agencies and legislative staff.
• Gulf Commercial Fisheries Summit: SFA is instrumental in creating this first of a kind meeting to bring the Gulf of America Commercial Seafood Industry together to discuss the many regulatory and legislative issues that impact the Gulf Commercial Seafood Industry. This summit should establish communication among all industry participants to work together on critical issues.

Key Initiatives and Events

• Participation in Events:
• Represented members at Gulf and South Atlantic Council meetings and FWC meetings.

·        Shrimp and other Seafood Products

o  Mislabeling of seafood products such as shrimp and reef fish is a growing issue that is being addressed by federal and state agencies. SFA is providing information on this issue to members and consumers as some restaurants and seafood dealers are selling imported products as domestic which harms local family fishing companies and misleads consumers to pay more for cheaper and in many cases harmful products where some are harvested by forced child labor. SFA continues to work with federal and state agencies to address this problem.

Advocacy and Policy Work

o  Working Waterfronts

o  We have consistently advocated for more working waterfronts and have sought funding for same. This is a national issue, and we are working with others across the country to find more areas to create working waterfronts. SFA fully supports current Federal Legislation, the Working Waterfront Act, introduced by Senators Murkowski and King.

• Charter Sector Concerns:
• Engaged with new for-hire charter members from the Florida Keys about open-access concerns. Continuing to work on the issue to help their business.
• Recommended limited entry for federally licensed charter vessels and the use of smart technology for data collection to SAFMC.
• Suggested a limited entry program for state-licensed for-hire vessels to FWC.
• SFA continues to lead the effort to improve recreational data that will account for the effort, catch and releases, especially release mortality to improve stock assessments which will allow for more quota for all.

Ongoing Collaboration and Advocacy

• Partnering with other commercial seafood associations and Rick Marks on legislative efforts to reduce regulatory burdens and support growth in the commercial seafood industry.
• Continuing to represent SFA’s interests at local, state, and federal levels to ensure sustainable and thriving fisheries for future generations.

Planning and preparing for the 69^th SFA Annual Meeting in 2026

·        Based on the success of our 68^th Annual Meeting held in May; we are in the process of planning the 69^th Annual Meeting. Currently we are looking for the meeting to be held in September 2026. Information on all of the meeting details will be provided in the near future. These annual meetings have been a great success providing opportunities for members to renew old friendships, make new ones, and learn about regulatory impacts and future legislation.

2026 SFA OFFICERS

SFA Board of Directors

Executive Committee

Chairman of the Board: Eugene Raffield, Raffield Fisheries

President: Mike Merrifield, Wild Ocean Market

Vice President: Mike Lombardi, Lombardi's Seafood

Treasurer/Secretary: Amy Wirtz, Pelican Point Seafood 

Executive Director: Bob Zales II

Directors

Austin Abrams, Abrams Seafood

Pat Barker, Refrigerated Express Inc

Karen Bell, AP Bell Fish Co.

Jimmy Hull, Hull's Seafood Market

Peter Jarvis, Triar Seafood

Tony Lombarti, Lombarti Seafood

Pat Lynch, Bionic Bait

Chris Merrifield, Wild Ocean Market

Jeanna Merrifield, Wild Ocean Market

Sherri McCoy, Wild Ocean Market

Steven Rash, Water Street Seafood

Justin Versaggi, Versaggi Shrimp Co.

Jim Zurbrick, Fish For America