Monday, September 28, 2026
Alaska
New Report Released Supporting Aquaculture Opportunity Area Identification Process in Alaska
NOAA Fisheries summarizes public input received on the Notice of Intent to help inform the next phase of environmental review for Aquaculture Opportunity Areas in Alaska state waters.
NOAA Fisheries by staff - September 24, 2026
NOAA Fisheries released the Alaska Aquaculture Opportunity Area Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement Public Scoping Summary Report.
International
Salmon, Tuna, Lobster Among Seafood on New US-China Tariff Reduction List
SeafoodNews by Ryan Doyle - September 28, 2026
A broad range of US seafood exports, from Alaska pollock and Pacific cod to Maine lobster, Atlantic sea scallops, and sea cucumber, stands to benefit from a new tariff-reduction framework unveiled by the United States and China on September 28, following last week's summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington, D.C.
Under a document titled "Terms of Reference for the '30-for-30' Framework," dated September 27, the two countries agreed to reciprocal lists of goods worth roughly $30 billion each, based on 2024 bilateral trade values, that will receive "reduced tariff treatment" through a newly created US-China Board of Trade. The framework does not yet specify the size or timing of the tariff cuts; those details "will be determined and implemented in accordance with each side's domestic legal processes."
While media coverage of the announcement focused mainly on the toys, agricultural staples, and consumer goods included on each list, a review of the full Chinese import list, obtained from the White House and running 1,619 line items across 38 pages, shows seafood is heavily represented among the US products slated for lower Chinese tariffs.
The list includes frozen Alaska pollock, along with Alaska pollock fillets and pollock meat specifically. Frozen Pacific, Atlantic, and Greenland cod all appear, along with cod fillets, haddock, hake, and Greenland halibut. A separate general line item covers frozen fish livers, roes, and milt without breaking the category out by species — a segment worth watching given rising global demand for roe products, including from Russian pollock exporters who have separately been working to expand roe sales into the Chinese market this year.
Salmon appears in numerous forms: frozen sockeye salmon, frozen Atlantic salmon, frozen trout, frozen salmon fillets, and prepared or preserved salmon products. Tuna is also well represented, with separate line items for fresh and frozen yellowfin, Atlantic and Pacific bluefin, albacore, skipjack, and bigeye tuna, plus prepared and preserved tuna products.
Notably for the Northeast US industry, the list specifically includes Homarus-genus lobster, the same taxonomic group as American and Canadian lobster, covering frozen, live, fresh, and chilled forms, as well as lobster seed stock.
US exports of fresh lobster to China illustrate the scale of what's at stake: shipments were valued at $201.8 million in 2025, more than double the $100.4 million recorded in 2020, according to US Census data compiled by Expana.
That recovery followed a steep decline during the 2018-2019 US-China trade war, when retaliatory Chinese tariffs on American lobster pushed exporters to pivot toward alternative markets — underscoring how sensitive lobster trade flows are to shifts in the tariff relationship between the two countries.
Crab is represented through swimming crab and a general "other crab" category, covering frozen, live, fresh, and chilled product forms, along with prepared and preserved crab; the list does not break out king crab or snow crab by name.
Cold-water shrimp and prawns are named explicitly, including frozen Pandalus borealis alongside other cold-water shrimp and prawn categories in frozen, live, fresh, and chilled forms.
The list includes frozen scallops and prepared or preserved scallop products (including a line item specifically for sea scallop), relevant to the Atlantic sea scallop fishery. Oysters appear in live, fresh, and chilled forms as well as frozen, while mussels are listed in live, fresh, and chilled forms. Sea cucumber — a high-value product for which China is the dominant global market — is listed across live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, smoked, salted, and prepared/preserved categories, alongside sea urchin.
Rounding out the list are frozen and dried/smoked/salted squid and cuttlefish, frozen octopus, abalone, conch, clams, cockles, and ark shells, along with fish oil (including fish liver oil) and fishmeal for animal feed.
The seafood provisions arrive against a backdrop of ongoing uncertainty for US seafood exporters navigating the broader US-China trade relationship. Expana reported ahead of the summit that trade attorneys were watching the Trump-Xi meeting closely as a potential marker for the timeline of a new round of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods, with seafood importers among those most exposed.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week that the two countries had agreed to extend their broader tariff truce to January, and the "30-for-30" framework's terms of reference indicate the two sides "do not envision making adjustments more frequently than on an annual basis" once the initial lists take effect, though they may discuss expanding the arrangement to additional products over time.
For US seafood exporters, the scope of species named — spanning nearly every major wild-caught category from Alaska whitefish to Northeast shellfish — suggests the framework could mark one of the more significant potential openings in the US-China seafood trade relationship in recent years, pending finalization of actual tariff rates and implementation timing by both governments.
Environment/Science
Alaska fishing and wildlife groups raise alarm over proposal for underwater Cook Inlet data center
Anchorage Daily News by Bella Biondini - September 24, 2026
Many Alaskans have opposed proposed data center development in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and on the North Slope. Some residents don’t believe they belong in Cook Inlet, either.
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Labeling and Marketing
New ASMI Video Highlighting Alaska Seafood Now Playing in Alaska Airports
Perishable News by Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute - September 28, 2026
A new addition to the Alaska Seafood videos can now be seen on rotation in the Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Juneau airports.
3MMI - Europe Seafood Market: Cod Supply Tightens, Tuna Firms & Value Buying Opens
Tradex Foods - September 28, 2026
European seafood markets remain broadly firm, but buying conditions vary sharply by species and destination.
Federal Register
Fisheries Off West Coast States; West Coast Salmon Fisheries; Rebuilding Plan for the Overfished Queets River Spring/Summer Chinook Salmon Stock
A Rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 09/28/2026
This final rule will implement the rebuilding plan recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) for the overfished Queets River Spring/Summer Chinook salmon stock (Queets sp/su Chinook salmon).
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