{"id":565,"date":"2026-06-13T11:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T11:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=565"},"modified":"2026-06-13T11:05:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T11:05:00","slug":"trumps-move-to-reopen-fishing-at-monuments-draws-mixed-reaction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=565","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s move to reopen fishing at monuments draws mixed reaction"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

President Donald Trump\u2019s executive proclamation reopening three marine monuments to U.S. commercial fishing, including Papahanau\u00admokuakea, is stirring debate.<\/p>\n

Read more White Sox ride 7-run fifth past Shohei Ohtani-less Dodgers<\/a><\/p>\n

The move on Thursday would roll back protections for some 500,000 square miles of waters at Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, the largest contiguous marine conservation area in the world and home to thousands of marine species, many of which exist nowhere else on Earth. It also reverses protections for portions of the Mariana Trench, and certain waters surrounding Rose Atoll in American Samoa.<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Trump adminis\u00adtration says the procla\u00admation removes unneces\u00adsary restrictions, opening \u201cprized fishing grounds to hard-working American fishermen\u201d to further economic opportunity and security.<\/p>\n

Trump said it was his honor to lower seafood costs and \u201cgenerate millions and millions of dollars in new business for our great, really great fishermen.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council and longline fishermen welcomed the news as a step in the right direction, conservationists and Hawaiian cultural practitioners denounced it and are determined to fight it.<\/p>\n

Earthjustice vowed to take legal action against the proclamation, saying Trump\u2019s order threatens critical species\u2019 habitat within and around the monument.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommercial fishing in our protected marine monuments would not only be disastrous for the environment, but also does nothing for the fishing industry,\u201d said David Henkin, Earthjustice Mid-Pacific\u2019s deputy managing attorney, in a statement. \u201cWithout fishing in the monuments, U.S.-based fisheries hit their catch limits for tuna every year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Science-backed management requires protected marine areas, he said, for the benefit of future generations.<\/p>\n

\u201cSafe havens allow marine life to maintain healthy populations and prevent corporate greed from stripping the ocean of life,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll see the administration in Court.\u201d<\/p>\n

WESPAC, on the other hand, welcomed President Trump\u2019s proclamation as an important step toward returning management decisions to the regional council process and the Magnuson\u00adStevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are pleased that under the authority of the Magnuson-\u00adStevens Act, the management of fishing in monument waters is returning to the fishery councils,\u201d said council Executive Director Kitty Simonds in a news release. \u201cThe Council is committed to continue working together with our fishing communities in American Samoa, Hawaii and the Northern Mariana Islands to discuss and develop fishery management plans in these areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the proclamation covers the \u201cmau zone\u201d and \u201cho\u2018omalu zone\u201d at Papa\u00adhanaumokuakea, along with areas seaward of 50 nautical miles.<\/p>\n

NOAA said the action was the direct result of feedback from the U.S. fishing industry, and that previous prohibitions forced American fishermen further offshore into international waters, where they had to compete with poorly regulated foreign fishing fleets.<\/p>\n

With the reopening of the monuments, NOAA said, \u201cdiligent and honest American fishermen\u201d will have closer access to tuna and other pelagic species.<\/p>\n

Eric Kingma, executive director of the Hawaii Longline Association, said he welcomed a science-based review from the U.S. Department of Commerce and NOAA that carefully considers the best available data, existing environmental protections, and cultural significance of Papahana\u00adu\u00admokuakea to the Native Hawaiian community and people of Hawaii.<\/p>\n

Read more Homeland Security funding bill draft includes Hawaii money, TSA cuts<\/a><\/p>\n

He said the proclamation initiates a regulatory review process, however, and does not immediately reopen any portion of the monument expansion area. If access is ultimately approved, Hawaii-\u00adbased vessels would continue operating \u201cunder some of the world\u2019s most comprehensive fisheries management and conservation requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAny future management decisions should be guided by sound science, respect for cultural and environmental values, and a balanced approach that supports conservation, food security, and the long-term viability of Hawai\u2018i\u2019s longline fleet and associated local seafood companies,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Maxx Phillips, a senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, said reopening the monuments was \u201cmore of a solution in search of a problem\u201d \u2014 and that it will not lower seafood prices.<\/p>\n

She called it a reckless attack on the world\u2019s greatest ocean sanctuaries.<\/p>\n

\u201cPapahanaumokuakea is a sacred place and a refuge for endangered wildlife found nowhere else on Earth,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cOpening all these protected waters to commercial fishing ignores science, undermines Native stewardship and risks irreparable damage to our oceans for no public benefit. We\u2019ll fight hard against Trump\u2019s short-sighted attempt to plunder these incredibly biodiverse waters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kekuewa Kikiloi, co-chair of the Papahanaumokuakea Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group, said the fishing industry is not having problems meeting quotas from fishing in international waters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been studies in the past five years or so that there\u2019s a spillover effect from protections at Papahanaumokuakea,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you create large-scale protected marine areas like that, and boundaries for fishing vessels, there\u2019s been a dramatic increase in catch.\u201d<\/p>\n

The monument is a sacred space for the Native Hawaiian community, he said, linked to \u201cour origin stories and a place where our spirits return after death.\u201d Undermining these protections, he said, is like a \u201cslap in the face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jonee Peters, executive director of the Conservation Council for Hawaii, called it a sad day.<\/p>\n

Monuments are established to protect the future of fish stocks and related ecosystems, she said. but commercial fishers are often indiscriminate in hooking nontarget species as by-catch, including threatened and endangered species.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommercial fishers also dramatically reduce the populations of the species that they target, affecting those species\u2019 ability to reproduce and grow,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cIt is vital that Marine Protected Areas remain intact to protect the overall marine ecosystem and to allow targeted fish populations to grow, ensuring food security for Hawaii and the planet today and into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earthjustice said Trump\u2019s proclamation on Thursday follows similar moves to roll back protections at the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument last year, and the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monuments earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Earthjustice sued the administration last May over the Pacific Islands proclamation on behalf of Kapa\u2018a, the Conservation Council for Hawaii, and Center for Biological Diversity.<\/p>\n

A federal district court judge struck down the resumption of commercial fishing in the monument, saying that under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the National Marine Fisheries Service must follow the lawful process to change commercial fishing regulations.\n<\/p>\n

Read more Canada\u2019s Larin rescues late draw against Bosnia in Group B opener<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trump\u2019s move to reopen fishing at monuments draws mixed reaction – Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump\u2019s move to reopen fishing at monuments draws mixed reaction - Moving to Hawaii Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=565\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump\u2019s move to reopen fishing at monuments draws mixed reaction - Moving to Hawaii Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Trump\u2019s move to reopen fishing at monuments draws mixed reaction - Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=565\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving to Hawaii Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-13T11:05:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=565#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=565\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\"},\"headline\":\"Trump\u2019s move to reopen fishing at monuments draws mixed reaction\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-13T11:05:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=565\"},\"wordCount\":1084,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=565#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0bae19bf7bd317d51957b02644e14f18.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=565#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=565\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=565\",\"name\":\"Trump\u2019s move to reopen fishing at monuments draws mixed reaction - Moving to Hawaii Guide\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=565#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=565#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0bae19bf7bd317d51957b02644e14f18.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-13T11:05:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=565#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=565\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=565#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0bae19bf7bd317d51957b02644e14f18.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0bae19bf7bd317d51957b02644e14f18.webp\",\"width\":760,\"height\":507},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=565#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trump\u2019s move to reopen fishing at monuments draws mixed reaction\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving to Hawaii Guide\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trump\u2019s move to reopen fishing at monuments draws mixed reaction - Moving to Hawaii Guide","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=565","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trump\u2019s move to reopen fishing at monuments draws mixed reaction - Moving to Hawaii Guide","og_description":"Trump\u2019s move to reopen fishing at monuments draws mixed reaction - Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald","og_url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=565","og_site_name":"Moving to Hawaii Guide","article_published_time":"2026-06-13T11:05:00+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=565#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=565"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84"},"headline":"Trump\u2019s move to reopen fishing at monuments draws mixed reaction","datePublished":"2026-06-13T11:05:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=565"},"wordCount":1084,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=565#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0bae19bf7bd317d51957b02644e14f18.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=565#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=565","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=565","name":"Trump\u2019s move to reopen fishing at monuments draws mixed reaction - Moving to Hawaii Guide","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=565#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=565#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0bae19bf7bd317d51957b02644e14f18.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-13T11:05:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=565#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=565"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=565#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0bae19bf7bd317d51957b02644e14f18.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0bae19bf7bd317d51957b02644e14f18.webp","width":760,"height":507},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=565#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trump\u2019s move to reopen fishing at monuments draws mixed reaction"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/","name":"Moving to Hawaii Guide","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}