FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 6, 2025
CONTACT: Jo Knight, jo@conservefish.org

Arlington, VA – Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Angus King (I-ME) today reintroduced the “Working Waterfronts Act of 2025,” a bill to support fishermen by addressing the needs of the nation’s working waterfronts. This bill establishes a pilot grant program to transition commercial fleets to alternative fuels and creates an innovation prize for developing electronic fisheries monitoring and data analysis tools. It also improves critical dockside infrastructure for fishing communities, promotes marketing of U.S. seafood products, supports our maritime workforce development, and promotes ocean-based economic growth and sustainability, among other benefits.

Robert C. Vandermark, executive director of the Marine Fish Conservation Network, released the following statement:

“The Working Waterfronts Act is a comprehensive bill that invests in the modernization of our vital working waterfronts and the resiliency and success of our fishing and seafood industries. This bill champions crucial improvements to shoreside facilities and infrastructure that support thriving coastal economies and promotes the development of a stronger future workforce to ensure American fishing traditions can continue for generations. This legislation also supports research and stewardship of economically important ocean ecosystems and fisheries to help them endure in a changing climate. The Network supports the Working Waterfronts Act and thanks Senators Murkowski and King for listening to the needs of our fishing communities and providing a foresighted path to support their businesses and ways of life.”

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The Marine Fish Conservation Network is a coalition of commercial and recreational fishing associations, regional and national conservation groups, aquaria, and marine science organizations committed to sustaining fish populations, healthy marine ecosystems, and robust fishing communities.