Trump restores commercial fishing in protected areas of Pacific Ocean – USA Today
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump took action June 11 to restore commercial fishing within three of America’s marine national monuments in the Pacific Ocean, rolling back protections for areas that are considered pristine ocean ecosystems.
The White House said the move, reported first by USA TODAY ahead of Trump’s action, is aimed at boosting the U.S. fishing industry and lowering seafood prices for consumers.
At an Oval Office ceremony attended by fishermen, Trump signed a proclamation restoring federally managed commercial fishing access to portions of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (near Hawaii); the Islands Unit of the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument (off the coast of Guam); and the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument (in American Samoa).
In all, the proclamation expands commercial fishing to about half a million square miles in the Pacific.
It continues Trump’s deregulatory push to break from environmental rules and regulations advanced by former President Joe Biden, who expanded protected marine monuments by creating marine sanctuaries.
“When they destroyed your whole life and your family and your business, and everything else, did you ever think you would have somebody who would come along and save it?” Trump asked fishing representatives in attendance.
The Papahānaumokuākea, Mariana Trench and Rose Atoll are three of the nation’s five marine national monuments, a designation assigned because scientists recognize the underwater areas as “some of the most effective tools for improving ocean ecosystems and threatened fish stocks,” according to the National Parks Conservation Association, a nonprofit that advocates for environmental conservation.
The nation’s eight regional fishery management councils have raised concerns about prohibitions on fishing within the monuments, saying in a June 2025 letter to Trump they are “counterproductive to domestic fishery goals.”
“The removal of American fishing vessels from U.S. waters eliminates their ability to act as watchdogs over U.S. fishing grounds threatened by foreign fishing and other incursions,” the letter said.
A White House summary of the proclamation, reviewed by USA TODAY, states that prohibiting commercial fishing within the monuments is “not necessary” for their proper care and management because many fish species are highly migratory, not unique to the area and they are already protected through other federal laws.
“Prohibiting commercial fishing in this area also artificially restricts domestic fish supply, which makes the United States reliant on foreign sources for our food supply and increases the cost of seafood for everyday Americans,” the summary says.
But ocean conservationists slammed Trump’s efforts as a threat to the underwater ecosystem.
“These marine monuments are the ocean’s equivalent of our national parks ‒ places that benefit marine life and cultural heritage and are too important to risk for short-term gain,” said Miriam Goldstein, executive director of the National Ocean Protection Coalition.
“When we treat protected areas as just another place for industrial activity, we risk undermining those benefits for future generations,” she added.
Angelo Villagomez, who leads ocean advocacy for the America the Beautiful for All Coalition, said that as a native of the Mariana Islands, the action “feels like a direct attack on cultural heritage and the fragile ecosystems of a treasured resource.” The waters were previously reserved for the Chamorro and Refaluwasch, the Indigenous people of the islands, he said.
“These rollbacks are another move by the Trump administration to sell out America’s natural resources for industry profit,” Villagomez said.
Trump signed a similar proclamation in April 2025, restoring commercial fishing in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, representing about 400,000 miles in the Pacific Ocean
During his first term, Trump opened commercial fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in New England, but Biden later reinstated a ban on commercial fishing in the monuments. Shortly after he was elected to a second term, Trump took executive action in February 2025 to reverse the ban.
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