Trump is fighting Canada on trade
President Donald Trump is in an escalating trade fight with Canada over a simple principle: American workers and industries should not be disadvantaged by foreign interests.
TL;DR
- Roughly 75% of commercially caught fish in the Gulf of America benefit two foreign companies, with about half benefiting a single Canadian company.
- The same Canadian company benefits from about a quarter of fish caught in the Atlantic.
- Industrial fleets harvest billions of forage fish, primarily menhaden, from American waters to produce fish meal and oil, often for overseas markets.
- This industrial harvest negatively impacts the marine food web and species like striped bass, bluefish, tuna, whales, and ospreys.
- Recreational striped bass fishing once contributed over $13 billion to the U.S. economy, but is now at a 30-year low, partly due to menhaden availability.
- Cooke Inc., a New Brunswick-based company, acquired Omega Protein, a major reduction-fishing operation in the U.S., in 2017.
- The article contrasts the few jobs at a foreign-owned reduction plant (around 250) with the over 100,000 jobs supported by recreational striped bass fishing.
- Fishery managers have acknowledged flawed science led to excessive menhaden harvest in previous years.
- The author advocates for an 'America First' principle for managing American public resources, prioritizing American fishermen, businesses, and coastal communities.