April 15, 2026 — A U.S. fishing regulator recently recommended allowing commercial fishing across all four of the country’s Pacific marine national monuments.
The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (Wespac) said the move is “about restoring sustainable fishing.” Conservationists and native peoples, however, say it will damage some of Earth’s most pristine ocean ecosystems.
The monuments — Pacific Islands Heritage, Rose Atoll, Marianas Trench, and Papahānaumokuākea — cover 3.1 million square kilometers (1.2 million square miles) of coral atolls, deep-sea trenches and remote islands.