President Trump marked Thursday as “National Scallops Day,” using the declaration to tout his administration’s decision to open New England waters to scallop fishing while launching sharp criticism at his predecessors, former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “Today I am declaring a National Scallops Day to celebrate an action taken by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that will open up the Northern Edge of Georges Bank to Scallops Fishing, fulfilling the dream to our Great Fishermen who were so badly treated by the Obama and Biden Administrations, and by the Country of Canada.”
White House trade and manufacturing adviser Peter Navarro confirmed that the administration is reducing regulatory burdens on fisheries, specifically by opening the northern edge of Georges Bank to scallop fishing, according to Reuters. Georges Bank, a shallow submarine plateau off New England, is larger than Massachusetts and has supported commercial fisheries since the 16th century due to its high biological productivity.
Under previous NOAA restrictions, a dedicated habitat research area on Georges Bank was closed year-round to bottom-contact fishing gear. It remains unclear whether the Trump administration is fully scrapping those regulations.
Trump emphasized that the move “will mean millions more pounds of beautiful Wild Scallops a year on the kitchen table of Americans, and more Jobs in Norfolk, Virginia, Cape May, New Jersey, New Bedford, Massachusetts, and essentially all parts of the East Coast.” He also highlighted additional actions, including freeing up a large area off the East Coast for lobster fishermen and opening half a million square miles of the Pacific Ocean to U.S. fishermen, which he claimed had been restricted by environmental monuments declared by Obama and Biden.
The president urged fishermen to vote for Republicans in the November midterms, framing his actions as a liberation from “ridiculous” environmental regulations. While scallop fishing has seen declines in recent years, NOAA Fisheries reported that commercial landings of Atlantic sea scallops reached 21.2 million pounds in 2024, valued at $332 million, with vessels from Massachusetts, Virginia, and New Jersey leading the harvest.
This announcement comes amid broader political maneuvering by Trump, who has been actively criticizing the Biden administration’s policies. In a separate development, the Supreme Court sidestepped a core question on Trump's China tariffs, leaving uncertainty over trade policy. Meanwhile, Trump has also been pressuring gas stations to lower prices as oil costs drop, as reported in Trump pressures gas stations as prices lag despite falling oil.
The president’s focus on fisheries and regulatory rollback is part of a broader strategy to energize his base ahead of the midterms, highlighting his administration’s efforts to boost domestic industries and challenge previous environmental protections.
