Trump signs proclamation to open marine monuments to commercial fishing

News admin June 12, 2026 0 Comments

Trump signs proclamation to open marine monuments to commercial fishing

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – President Trump signed an executive proclamation Thursday aimed at restoring commercial fishing access in protected areas of the Pacific.

The nearly half a million square miles of ocean include zones of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

The expanded fishing grounds include:

Trump said the action removes unnecessary restrictions on American fishermen and U.S.-flagged fishing vessels, enhancing domestic seafood production and lowering prices.

“This will support millions of dollars in annual harvest,” Trump said during the signing in the Oval Office. “It will protect small local fisheries and coastal communities that depend on their livelihoods.”

“They will increase domestic seafood production to help lower costs for American communities — and you’re talking about millions, tens of millions of dollars of income,” he said.

Eric Kingma, the executive director of the Hawaii Longline Association, was among those present for the signing.

“This action is really about balancing interests in U.S. Exclusive Economic Zones,” Kingma told the president. “You can have both ocean protection under our laws, as well as sustainable fishing. And that’s what this is about.”

The Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council also welcomed the news. Last September, it voted in favor of a Trump executive order to study allowing commercial fishing in Papahānaumokuākea.

Critics called it a reckless attack on the world’s greatest ocean sanctuaries.

“I think the main thing is disappointment that the Trump Administration would take such drastic steps to privilege special interest groups in terms of industrial longline fishing,” said Kekuaewa Kikiloi, co-chair of the Papahānaumokuākea Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group.

“It’s showing that he’s just doing it again, and we’re watching the systemic dismantling of America’s ocean protections, monument by monument, ocean by ocean,” said Maxx Phillips, the Hawaii and Pacific Islands Director for the Center for Biological Diversity.

Kingma told the president, “There’s a lot more work to do because there’s a tremendous seafood deficit in trade. Imports are undercutting us left and right.”

“The fishing industry is meeting all of their quotas already, so it’s not an issue of a lack of supply,” said Kilikoi.

Earthjustice says it plans to take legal action.

“Science-backed management for the benefit of current and future generations requires protected marine areas,” said David Henkin, deputy managing attorney with Earthjustice’s Mid-Pacific Office. “Safe havens allow marine life to maintain healthy populations and prevent corporate greed from stripping the ocean of life. We’ll see the administration in court.”

Earthjustice filed a similar lawsuit against the Trump administration in 2025 over the opening of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument — which encompasses about 490,000 square miles of ocean southwest of Hawaii — to commercial fishing. A Hawaii judge blocked Trump’s action.

Kingma told Hawaii News Now in a statement after the signing, “This proclamation initiates a regulatory review process and does not immediately reopen any portion of the monument expansion area.”

He added, “If access is ultimately approved through the federal regulatory process, Hawaii-based vessels would continue operating under some of the world’s most comprehensive fisheries management and conservation requirements, including vessel monitoring systems, observer coverage, protected species mitigation measures, catch reporting requirements, and strict federal oversight.”

NOAA said its National Marine Fisheries Service and partners will continue coordinating with regional fishery management councils while balancing ecosystem management with commercial fishing.