Trump opens protected Pacific waters to commercial fishing

Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Catherine Lucey, Bloomberg News on Jun 11, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday opened protected Pacific Ocean waters to commercial fishing, lifting restrictions that barred the activity within three marine national monuments.

With a presidential proclamation signed in the Oval Office, Trump removed the fishing limits within portions of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument near Hawaii, the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument near Guam and the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument near American Samoa, an administration official said.

All three of the marine monuments were first designated by former President George W. Bush, a Republican. The monument in Hawaii was subsequently expanded by both former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

“With today’s action we are officially reopening nearly half a million square miles of water around the northwestern Hawaiian islands, Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa,” Trump said. “Why the hell did they close it?”

“It ruined a big industry, by the way,” Trump added.

The proclamation marks the latest Trump administration policy shift in favor of fishermen, who have sought higher catch limits and access to more waters. The president has already signed proclamations lifting commercial fishing restrictions in other marine monuments in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

Fishermen in the Oval Office with Trump on Thursday urged the president to go further and expand opportunities for scallop fishing in Georges Bank near Massachusetts, where catches are limited in order to support sustainable harvests.

Supporters of the move said marine monument restrictions pushed commercial fisherman further offshore into international waters, where they competed against foreign fishing fleets subject to fewer regulations.

“By restoring commercial fishing in the remote Pacific, we are creating new economic opportunity for coastal communities and restoring US seafood competitiveness,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a news release.

Opponents called Trump’s decision a short-sighted attempt to plunder waters prized for their biodiversity.

“This is a reckless attack on the world’s greatest ocean sanctuaries,” said Maxx Phillips of the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group. “Opening all these protected waters to commercial fishing ignores science, undermines Native stewardship and risks irreparable damage to our oceans for no public benefit.”