The Trump administration sent letters to the eight regional fisheries councils and one division for migratory species, instructing them to reassess marine protected areas and consider removing species from conservation lists in order to expand commercial fishing opportunities, pursuant to an executive order signed in April 2025. The directive aims to align fisheries management with the goal of “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness” and to reduce regulatory burdens on the fishing industry. The letters request councils to review existing management plans, evaluate the removal of conservation requirements for species such as leatherback turtles, Steller sea lions, and North Atlantic right whales, and to modify gear rules that limit the harvest of bluefin tuna under 73 inches. Specific actions include expanding fishing access into Tourmaline Bank and Abrir La Sierra in the Caribbean, opening portions of Georges Bank to scallop vessel operations, and permitting clam dredge gear in the Great South Channel. In a press release, Eugenio Piñeiro Soler, who was appointed to oversee NOAA Fisheries three days before the executive order, said the new priorities are intended to “reduce burdens on domestic fishing, increase production, stabilize markets, improve access, and enhance economic profitability.” Andrea Treece, senior attorney at Earthjustice, wrote that the letters “reflect a view that fish are commodities, science does not matter, and short‑term economic gains are prioritized over ocean stewardship.” Elizabeth Cerny‑Chipman, policy manager for the Ocean Conservancy, said that focusing on short‑term priorities “conflicts with long‑term, science‑based management” needed to maintain healthy fisheries. Andrew Rosenberg, a former deputy director of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, described the proposals as “incoherent” and said they “do not improve sustainability.” He also noted that NOAA lacks authority to override the Magnuson‑Stevens Act’s requirement that regional councils develop their own management plans. The letters also propose modifications or reductions of closures for Steller sea lion populations off Alaska, despite the Western population’s endangered status and vulnerability to marine heat waves, and recommend making ropeless gear requirements optional, even though more than 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises die annually from fishing‑gear entanglements. NOAA officials have not specified which species will lose protections, how many marine protected areas may be altered, or how commercial profit goals will be balanced with ecosystem health. Conservation advocates warn that removing protections for endangered species and shrinking marine protected areas could undermine fish populations and ecosystem resilience, particularly as climate change and heat waves affect ocean resources. The agency has not responded to questions about the scope of the changes or the criteria for retaining species protections.