August 7, 2025 — Was the process of allowing commercial fishing in the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument followed properly?
President Donald Trump issued a proclamation in April to open PIHMNM to commercial fishing, in part by ordering that the secretary of commerce “shall not prohibit commercial fishing” in the monument, located in the central Pacific Ocean.
About a week later, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that commercial fishing is no longer banned in those waters, and just days after that, longline fishing boats were observed fishing in the monument.
But environmental lawyers in a legal battle to stop the fishing say a formal process, which includes public hearings, is required first.