By admin 
Federal regulators plan to reevaluate fishing closure boundaries established to protect endangered Steller sea lions in Alaska, part of a national Trump administration push to cut regulation of U.S. commercial seafood harvests.
Read more Democrats, Republicans alike focus on states’ rights as a way out of America’s political woes
The Steller sea lion protections are among a series of rules that the administration is seeking to relax or change to carry out a mandate from President Donald Trump to increase catches, reduce regulation and ensure that the nation is “the world’s dominant seafood leader.”
The recommended changes were released on Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries service and are in response to Trump’s 2025 executive order titled “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” They could affect oceans from New England and the Caribbean to the tropical Pacific and the Bering Sea.
Several months of public consultations resulted in a list of recommendations that “we believe will reduce burdens on domestic fishing, increase production, stabilize markets, improve access, and enhance economic profitability,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Eugenio Piñeiro Soler said in a statement.
Read more Alaska lawmakers roll out draft compromise tax cut bill for the proposed AKLNG gas line
Steller sea lions in Alaska have suffered a population decline that extended over several decades.
The no-fishing zones intended to protect them are established around sea lion rookeries, places where the animals gather to mate and raise their pups, and major haul-out sites. There are also transit restrictions in areas where the sea lions gather, as well as seasonal harvest limits on fish that are known to be Steller sea lion food: Atka mackerel, Pacific cod and pollock.
Named for naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller, who sailed to Alaska with explorer Vitus Bering in the 18th century, Steller sea lions are the largest of the “eared seals,” a category that includes all sea lions and fur seals.
Read more US labor market weakened in June