Trade policy emanating from the Trump administration over the past month has been dizzying. From the fairly standard, if regrettable, enforcement actions taken by the United States Commerce Department against Canadian softwood lumber imports to the catastrophic possibility raised last week that President Trump might withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement, free traders’ heads are spinning.

Lost amid the shuffle is litigation over an obscure fishing regulation that may pave the way for even more regulatory barriers to free trade, mirroring a sad chapter in American trade relations.