June 12, 2026 — A June 11 executive order by President Trump will open some fishing grounds in the U.S. western Pacific, the latest in years of restricting and then reopening national marine monument waters during the Obama, Biden and Trump administrations.
Like Trump’s earlier lifting of restrictions on the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts monument, the western Pacific opening has been long sought by commercial fishermen.
In March the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council voted to restore commercial fishing access across several U.S. Pacific marine national monuments including the Pacific Islands Heritage, Rose Atoll, Marinas Trench, and Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monuments to federally managed commercial fisheries.
“By restoring commercial fishing in the remote Pacific, we are creating new economic opportunity for coastal communities and restoring U.S. seafood competitiveness,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in announcing the decision.