Marine National Monuments Archives

Trump bid to shrink monuments could prompt big legal battle

June 13, 2025 –Armed with a new legal directive arguing that presidents have the power to abolish national monuments created by their White House predecessors, President Donald Trump is expected to move to eradicate or shrink sites — and trigger a legal fight that could find its way to the Supreme Court.

The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) published an opinion Tuesday overturning nearly 90-year-old guidance that said presidents could not revoke national monument status.

Lanora Pettit, who serves as deputy assistant attorney general, wrote that the Antiquities Act of 1906 not only allows the president to set aside existing public lands to protect areas of cultural, historical or scientific interest, but also grants the power to rescind existing sites that “either never were or no longer are deserving of the Act’s protections.”

That opinion — which serves as legal advice to the executive branch, rather than a binding court ruling — could set the stage for a fresh legal battle over the 119-year-old law. Critics of the Antiquities Act have urged Trump to take the fight to the nation’s highest court and ensure the law is curtailed. The administration has been taking a look at monuments that could be targeted, focused on sites with the potential for mineral extraction.

“It’s quite obvious this opinion was done to try and justify something they plan to do going forward,” said Mark Squillace, the Raphael J. Moses professor of natural resources law at the University of Colorado Law School.

“That’s not to say the court might not agree with the opinion,” he added. “The court may be inclined to try and pull back on the Antiquities Act.”

Debate over the Antiquities Act tends to divide along political lines, with Republicans and other critics arguing that Democratic presidents have abused the law to set aside sprawling swaths of land that could otherwise be open to extractive industries, grazing or other uses.

Opponents have long seized on language in the law that requires a monument to “be confined to the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects to be protected.”

But proponents point to decades of legal precedent supporting presidential prerogative to create monuments of any size, which dates back to President Theodore Roosevelt’s 1908 creation of what was then the 800,000-acre Grand Canyon National Monument.

The first Trump administration made clear it aligned with critics, initiating a massive review of monuments created since 1996 under then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

Read the full article at E&E News

Commercial fishing could expand to more marine monuments

April 21, 2025 — President Donald Trump’s order to open a vast national monument in the Pacific Ocean to commercial fishing for the first time in two decades — and indications he could soon do the same to other protected waters — drew fire from environmental advocacy groups that warned the move could decimate fishing stocks.

Trump on Thursday issued an executive order rolling back prohibitions on commercial fishing across 400,000 square miles of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, or more than 80 percent of the sprawling site. The monument is located about 900 miles southwest of Hawaii in the central Pacific Ocean.

He issued a second order, titled “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness,” that directs the Commerce and Interior departments to conduct a review of all marine national monuments — there are five, including the Pacific Islands Heritage site — and issue recommendations about any additional ones that should allow commercial fishing.

Read the full story at E&E News

Trump opens swath of pristine Pacific Ocean to commercial fishing

April 18, 2025 — President Donald Trump on Thursday issued a proclamation saying he is easing federal restrictions on commercial fishing in a vast protected area of the central Pacific known as the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.

Trump said he will allow U.S.-flagged vessels to fish within 50 to 200 nautical miles of the landward boundaries of the monument, which covers some 490,000 square miles of open ocean, coral reef and island habitats. Located south and west of Hawaii, the area is home to seven national wildlife refuges. It includes some of the Earth’s last pristine maritime environments, serving as a sanctuary for species such as endangered sea turtles, sharks and migratory birds, according to marine wildlife experts.

In a separate executive order Thursday, Trump also said he would reduce regulations on commercial fishing more broadly and asked his secretary of commerce to “identify the most heavily overregulated fisheries” and take action to “reduce the regulatory burden on them.”

Trump’s directives, which are likely to attract legal challenges, seek to weaken protections initially set up by his predecessors. President George W. Bush in 2009 established the monument and restricted oil exploration and commercial fishing within it. In 2014, his successor Barack Obama, expanded the protected area to more than 490,000 square miles.

Trump, in the proclamation, said existing environmental laws provide sufficient protection for marine wildlife in the area and that many of the fish species in the monument are migratory.

“I find that appropriately managed commercial fishing would not put objects of scientific and historic interest [within the monument] at risk,” he said.

Bob Vanasse, executive director of the commercial fishing trade group Saving Seafood, said in an email that the shift in policy “does not create a commercial fishing free-for-all in the monuments.”

“Commercial fishing in the monuments will be allowed only under fishery management plans that manage the fisheries sustainably under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act,” Vanasse said, referring to the law that governs fishing in federal waters.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Unleashes American Commercial Fishing in the Pacific

April 17, 2025 — The following was released by the White House:

UNLEASHING OPPORTUNITY IN THE PACIFIC: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a proclamation to unleash American commercial fishing in the Pacific Ocean—a key component of the America First Fishing Policy.

The proclamation opens the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM) to commercial fishing, boosting the economy of American Samoa.
It allows U.S.-flagged vessels to fish commercially within 50 to 200 nautical miles of the PRIMNM’s boundaries.

EMPOWERING AMERICAN COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN: President Trump believes that removing unnecessary restrictions on American fishermen will strengthen the U.S. economy, support local communities, and restore fairness to an industry disadvantaged by overregulation and foreign competition.

The PRIMNM was first established by President Bush in 2009 and then expanded by President Obama, closing off over 400,000 square miles of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone in the Pacific.
The ban on commercial fishing within the PRIMNM did little to guard fish populations against overfishing, as tuna and other pelagic species are migratory in nature and do not permanently reside within the PRIMNM.
As a result of the prohibitions on commercial fishing, American fishing fleets have lost access to nearly half of the United States’ Exclusive Economic Zone in the Pacific Islands.
- This has driven American fishermen to fish further offshore in international waters to compete against poorly regulated and highly subsidized foreign fleets, most notably from China.
- By supporting honest American fishermen, we combat the rampant illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing by foreign fleets.
This disadvantages United States commercial fishermen and is detrimental for United States territories like American Samoa, whose private sector economy is dependent on the fishing industry.
- American Samoa is home to the only Buy American-compliant tuna processing facility for U.S. military rations and school lunch programs.
- This cannery is the largest employer on the island, providing about 5,000 jobs. In fact, the cannery accounts for 99.5% of American Samoa’s exports and 84% of the private employment in the territory.

ADVANCING U.S. ECONOMIC INTERESTS: President Trump’s actions to revitalize commercial fishing are part of his broader strategy to unleash the full potential of the American economy by prioritizing deregulation and cutting red tape.

President Trump launched a 10-to-1 deregulation initiative, ensuring every new Federal rule is justified by clear benefits and accompanied by much larger deregulatory measures.
President Trump established the National Energy Dominance Council to cut red tape, enhance private sector investments, advance innovation, and streamline the permitting process across all forms of American energy.
President Trump established the “Department of Government Efficiency” to examine how to streamline the operations of the Federal Government, eliminate unnecessary programs and wasteful spending, and reduce bureaucratic inefficiency.
President Trump has already reduced unnecessarily large governmental entities and terminated numerous harmful Biden expansions of governmental authority.

Trump Signs Executive Order to Boost U.S. Seafood Industry, Orders Review of Marine Monuments

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — April 17, 2025 — President Donald J. Trump today signed an executive order titled Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness, aimed at strengthening the domestic seafood industry by reducing regulatory burdens, addressing foreign trade imbalances, and improving fisheries management.

One of the most significant provisions of the order instructs the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, to review all existing marine national monuments within 180 days. The Secretary must provide recommendations to the President on any monuments that should be opened to commercial fishing. The review must consider whether such actions would be consistent with the preservation of the historic landmarks and scientific features originally identified when the monuments were established.

The order states that the United States possesses over 4 million square miles of prime fishing grounds and that most domestic fish stocks are healthy. However, it describes the seafood sector as heavily regulated and contends that “federal overregulation” has hindered harvesting through restrictive catch limits, outdated fisheries data, and delayed adoption of modern technology.

It further highlights that approximately 90% of seafood consumed in the United States is imported, contributing to a trade deficit exceeding $20 billion. The order criticizes what it describes as unfair foreign trade practices and calls for a policy shift to support ethical sourcing and protect U.S. markets.

Key directives in the order include:

Regulatory Review: The Secretary of Commerce must identify the most heavily overregulated fisheries within 30 days and take action to reduce regulatory burdens, in coordination with Regional Fishery Management Councils and other partners.
Public Input: The Department of Commerce will solicit ideas from the public, industry members, scientists, and technology experts to improve fisheries science and management under existing federal law.
Technology and Data Modernization: The National Marine Fisheries Service is instructed to adopt less expensive, more reliable technologies and modernize data collection methods to better respond to real-time ocean conditions.
Trade Policy: A comprehensive seafood trade strategy must be developed within 60 days by the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative to improve access to foreign markets and address unfair practices, including illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Import Oversight: The Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with other federal agencies, is directed to revise recent expansions of the Seafood Import Monitoring Program and improve enforcement against high-risk foreign seafood shipments.

The order also calls for the development of an “America First Seafood Strategy” to promote the production, sale, and export of U.S. seafood and to enhance public awareness of seafood’s health benefits through nutrition programs.

Read the full executive order here

Trump Issues Proclamation on “Unleashing American Commercial Fishing in the Pacific”

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — April 17, 2025 — President Donald J. Trump issued a proclamation modifying the management of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM), which was previously established and expanded by Proclamations 8336 (2009) and 9173 (2014).

Key Points:

Commercial Fishing Allowed: The proclamation lifts the prohibition on commercial fishing in areas of the PRIMNM that are between 50 to 200 nautical miles from land and within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Only U.S.-flagged vessels are permitted to fish, although foreign vessels may be allowed to transship U.S.-harvested fish.
Justification: The proclamation argues that commercial fishing, if properly managed, does not threaten the monument’s protected scientific and historic objects (e.g., fish, coral, birds, marine mammals). It highlights that many species are migratory and that existing federal laws already provide sufficient environmental protection.
Economic Concerns: The change is aimed at supporting U.S. fishing fleets and U.S. territories like American Samoa, which depend heavily on the fishing industry. The current fishing ban is described as economically harmful and unnecessarily restrictive.
Agency Responsibilities:
- The Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Commerce are responsible for implementing the new management regime.
- The Secretary of Commerce, through NOAA, will lead on fishery-related activities and must publish new rules to repeal or amend restrictive fishing regulations.
- Coordination with the Secretary of Defense is required for fishing regulations, particularly due to defense-related activities in the region.
Environmental Protections Maintained: Existing environmental protections under laws like the Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, and Clean Water Act remain in effect.
Defense and Sovereignty: The U.S. retains full military and navigational rights in the region, and Wake Island and Johnston Atoll continue under the management of the Department of Defense.

This proclamation reflects a shift toward reopening U.S. waters to commercial fishing while asserting that environmental protections remain intact under other laws.

Read the full proclamation here

Watch Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s comments on the proclamation here

Fishing industry to Biden: No last-minute marine monuments

November 26, 2024 — Fishing and seafood industry groups are telling President Joe Biden that he shouldn’t create or expand marine national monuments during the final weeks of his administration, saying any such move “will be met by significant opposition.”

In a Nov. 18 letter, roughly 150 organizations and elected officials warned that “any action of this kind before January 20 would come at an especially difficult time” and “would further harm our sector, needlessly constraining fishing activity despite U.S. fisheries delivering enormous public benefits and complying with the most rigorous management system in the world.“

“Against this backdrop, the mere threat of Marine National Monuments creates harmful business uncertainty,” the industry groups wrote, adding that marine monument designations lack “rigorous impact review required by the normal rulemaking process,” resulting in outcomes that “more often prove ill-suited to the dynamic ocean management challenges that lie ahead.”

Read the full article at E&E News

Fishing industry to Biden: don’t expand marine monuments

November 25, 2024 — Fishing industry leaders are urging President Biden to resist pressure for creating or expanding Marine National Monuments in U.S. ocean waters before he leaves office in January 2025.

“Prohibiting the sustainable utilization of our nation’s waters via unilateral presidential action will harm the Americans we represent, employ, and feed while failing to advance effective and durable marine conservation,” a coalition of more than 150 fishing and seafood industry associations, businesses, and community leaders wrote in a Nov. 21 letter to the White House.

The letter, circulated by the fishing industry advocacy group Saving Seafood, stressed the federal government should stick with the proven national fisheries management system of the Magnuson-Stevens Act law and eight regional fishery management councils.

The law and the regional councils “provide a proven, science-based approach to ocean conservation,” the letter contends, and “offer the flexibility and stakeholder engagement necessary to address dynamic ocean management challenges, which are essential as ocean ecosystems undergo rapid changes.”

Donald Trump’s win in the presidential election could portend a huge upheaval in U.S. government policy, from his campaign promise to kill offshore wind energy projects, to conservative legal activists’ drive to sharply curtail the power of federal regulatory agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Local Fishing Industry Upset Over Biden Restoring Marine National Monument

October 12, 2021 — President Biden re-established an area off of the coast of Cape Cod as a marine national monument Friday, a move that has the local fishing industry angry.

The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument was originally created during the Obama administration to preserve the sea life in that region. During the Trump administration, restrictions in the area were scaled back, which allowed for commercial fishing.

Under the new executive action from President Biden, commercial fishing in the area is banned but recreational fishing is allowed. The monument is more than 100 miles southeast off the shore of Cape Cod.

Bob Vanasse of Saving Seafood told WBZ’s Karyn Regal (@karynregal) the trip to the area is one only a chartered fishing boat or mega yacht could make.

“The privileged few are going to allowed to go out and spearfish on the same species that working families in the swordfish and tuna industry will not be able to do,” Vanasse said.

Read the full story at WBZ News

Saving Seafood Coalition Members Applaud Proclamation Restoring Commercial Fishing to Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Monument

June 5, 2020 — WASHINGTON — Members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities thank President Trump for the presidential proclamation signed today restoring sustainable commercial fishing activities in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Our members are grateful to elected officials from both parties, White House staff, and fisheries managers who have pushed for our fisheries to be managed under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and who have advocated for commercial fishermen to be fully included in the regulatory processes that shape their livelihoods.

Under the proclamation, a revision to President Barack Obama’s executive order designating the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Monument, the contours of the monument remain unchanged, and potentially destructive oil drilling and exploration remains banned. But commercial fishermen are now allowed to resume fishing in waters they had fished for decades before the monument was created, in areas that President Obama and others called “pristine” even before commercial fishermen were banned from them. It also restores parity with recreational fishermen, who were never prohibited from fishing in the monument area.

Our members believe in robust debate among industry, scientists, regulators and environmentalists to produce the best decisions regarding fisheries management. While it is not perfect, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary law governing U.S. federal fisheries, has been championed by both industry and environmental advocates for helping to make U.S. fisheries a sustainable model for the world. Today’s revision restores management of fisheries within the monument area to the regional management councils created under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, once again allowing for the robust debate such impactful policy decisions demand.

In April 2010, President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum establishing the “America’s Great Outdoors Initiative” to “promote and support innovative community-level efforts to conserve outdoor spaces and to reconnect Americans to the outdoors.” In the ensuing report the administration pledged to implement “a transparent and open approach to new national monument designations tailored to engaging local, state, and national interests.” Unfortunately, the Obama Administration did not uphold President Obama’s pledge in the creation of the Atlantic marine monument, or in the expansion of Pacific marine monuments.

In a 2017 letter to President Trump asking him to restore fishing in marine national monuments, then-Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources Representative Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Representative Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-AS) wrote, “Removal of the fishing prohibitions in the monument proclamations and the return of U.S. fisheries management to the Regional Fishery Management Councils would continue to prevent overfishing and protect the marine environment as required by the MSA and other applicable laws, while allowing our fishing fleet to compete with their foreign competitors. Using the Antiquities Act to close U.S. waters to domestic fisheries is a clear example of federal overreach and regulatory duplication and obstructs well managed, sustainable U.S. fishing industries in favor of their foreign counterparts.”

The nation’s eight regional councils have also repeatedly pushed for management of fishing in marine national monuments to be returned to the council process. Just last week in a letter to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, they wrote, “The ban on commercial fishing within Marine National Monument waters is a regulatory burden on domestic fisheries, requiring many of the affected American fishermen to travel outside U.S. waters with increased operational expenses and higher safety-at-sea risks.” They further stated, “marine National Monument designations in their present form hinder the Councils’ ability to sustainably manage fisheries throughout their range, and they restrict the Councils and the National Marine Fisheries Service from acquiring invaluable knowledge about the stocks and the marine ecosystem made available through catch-and-effort and observer data.”

Mayor Jon Mitchell of New Bedford, Massachusetts, the nation’s top fishing port by value, a Democrat, expressed deep concern about the lack of broad stakeholder consensus in the monument designation, and expressed his preference for the council process. In testimony before Congress in 2017, he said, “The monument designation process has evolved effectively into a parallel, much less robust fishery management apparatus that has been conducted entirely independent of the tried and true fishery management council process. It lacks sufficient amounts of all the ingredients that good policy-making requires: Scientific rigor, direct industry input, transparency, and a deliberate pace that allows adequate time and space for review.”

The council process has led to many conservation successes, such as efforts to preserve coral habitats in the Mid-Atlantic. Most importantly, these conservation successes were achieved through robust debate among all stakeholders. Saving Seafood Coalition members are pleased that today’s proclamation will allow this robust debate to once again guide fisheries management in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Monument.

Coalition members also continue to believe that there is no difference in principle between the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Monument and other U.S. marine national monuments in the Pacific, and that the council process is the appropriate method for managing fisheries in all U.S. federal waters. The U.S. has the largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the world, and the U.S. Pacific is the largest part of the U.S. EEZ, with our Pacific fishermen working hard to provide economic vitality to their communities, and food security to our nation.

Our members look forward to working with the White House to restore the proper regulation of commercial fishing under the Magnuson-Stevens Act in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, and the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument.