Maine fishermen will finally be eligible to tap into the same federal programs and safety nets as the state’s potato and dairy farmers with support from a newly created Office of Seafood in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the changes last week in Washington, D.C., a move that officially recognizes fishermen and aquaculture producers in coastal states like Maine as essential food providers.

“With the launch of the USDA Office of Seafood, we are honoring decades of hard work on the water and opening the door to new opportunities, stronger support, and a brighter future for the seafood industry,” said Rollins, who frequently referred to fishermen as the “farmers of the sea.”

Groups like the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association have been calling for a federal shift from the U.S. Commerce Department’s management of fish as a natural resource toward the “fish is food” approach of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for years.

“Fishermen are the original leaders of America’s food system,” said Maine Coast director Ben Martens. “Here in Maine and across the nation we have a rich fishing history — centuries of making a living and feeding communities from American waters.”

For Maine, the move promises to unlock financial doors that were previously bolted shut. Maine’s fishermen will no longer be excluded from Farm Bill programs that offer crop insurance, marketing assistance or emergency loans during climate disasters or market crashes.

For the fishing ports of Portland and Stonington, the implications are measured in hundreds of millions of dollars. Maine’s commercial fishermen netted $619 million in 2025, state records show. Academics note the lobster supply chain alone pumps another $1 billion into the state.

Yet the industry remains uniquely vulnerable to rising fuel, bait and labor costs; international market fluctuations; and the rapid warming of the Gulf of Maine, whose surface temperature has heated up faster than 99% of the world’s oceans.

For Dustin Delano, a fourth-generation lobsterman from Friendship, the new USDA status is more than symbolic. Delano grew up watching his father haul traps and dig clams to survive, a life of grit that he says is now being validated.

“This creates a direct line for genuine, real-world input from people who live the challenges of this industry every day,” said Delano. He said the office would offer a “meaningful seat at the table” to those who had been denied the financial cushions available to corn or wheat growers.

The new office opens doors to specific financial resources, including guaranteed supply chain loans. Businesses that support the fleet, like gear producers and cold storage facilities, will also gain access to the Farm Credit System, according to USDA officials.

New tax provisions are designed to help fishermen reinvest in the business, USDA officials said. Fishermen can now deduct on-vessel meals and expense equipment, engines, gear or the vessels themselves, assuming certain conditions are met.

Martens described the new office as “common sense” and a “big win for Maine.” He noted that while the USDA invested more than $31 billion in food systems between 2018 and 2023, less than 1% went to seafood.

USDA hopes the policy shift will help to tackle a trade imbalance where roughly 80% of seafood Americans eat is imported. By bringing seafood into its fold, the agency hopes to bolster domestic consumption through nutrition programs like school lunch.