Why does so much of our seafood come from South East Asia? We have giant oceans on either side of our country and a giant gulf . Are there no fish, crab, clams, shrimp, lobsters, etc. in those waters?
Plenty of it. But we have laws making it very difficult and expensive to harvest.
You can read the 2024 Loper Decision where the National Marine Fisheries Service was requiring all herring boat to have on board a government certified observer and pay for it out of their own pocket. This is only the tip of the ice burg. Some of the rules and regulations are health related but most are blatant cash grabs by the government.