February 9, 2026 — President Trump moved on Friday to allow commercial fishing in the only marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean, an area the size of Connecticut that is home to dolphins, endangered whales, sea turtles and ancient deep-sea corals.
Mr. Trump signed a proclamation opening up the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, which lies 130 miles off the coast of Cape Cod. President Barack Obama created the monument in 2016, and Mr. Trump tried to lift the ban on commercial fishing there during his first term, but President Joseph R. Biden Jr. reinstated the restrictions.
“I find that appropriately managed commercial fishing would not put the objects of historic and scientific interest that the monument protects at risk,” Mr. Trump wrote in the proclamation.
This was the second time that Mr. Trump opened a marine national monument to commercial fishing. In April 2025, he ended protections for the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, which lies about 750 miles west of Hawaii and was established by President George W. Bush in 2009.
Fishing industry groups praised the move and rejected the notion that their activities in the area would cause environmental damage.