While worries of port strikes along the East and Gulf Coast plagued the seafood industry in the final months of 2024, that's at least one issue that won't be a concern again until 2030.

This week the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), which represents dockworkers on the US East Coast, and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), the group that represents employers of the maritime industry in roughly a dozen ports from Boston, Massachusetts, to Miami, Florida, and Houston, Texas, approved a new six-year master contract.

It went into effect retroactively on Oct. 1, 2024 and lasts through Sept. 30, 2030.

"I am pleased to announce that thousands of ILA longshore workers covered by this Master Contract today have overwhelming supported its ratification with nearly 99% in favor, and we now have labor peace for the next six years,” ILA president Harold Daggett said in a statement.

Recall that port workers first went on strike in October. A tentative agreement resulted in only a three-day shut down, but that only pushed negotiations further down the road. It wasn't until early January that the two parties were able to come to another tentative agreement to keep the ports open.

The US imported 3,146,988 metric tons of seafood worth $25.8 billion in 2023 alone. And while a port strike might no longer be a concern, trouble is still looming for the seafood industry in the form of tariffs. US president Donald Trump said on Thursday (Feb. 27) that his proposed 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada will go into effect on March 4. China also will be charged an additional 10% tariff on the same date, as reported by Undercurrent News.