Earthjustice Statement on Trump Administration Executive Order to Open Pacific Marine Monument to Commercial Fishing

President Trump signed a proclamation that attempts to open the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument to commercial fishing today. The order seeks to allow U.S.-flagged vessels to fish commercially within 50 to 200 nautical miles of the monument’s boundaries. This order threatens critical species’ habitat within and around the monument.

“This is yet another attempt by President Trump to undermine decades of work to protect and preserve public lands and waters, endangered species, and cultural heritage in favor of commercial interests. This is one of the most pristine tropical marine environments in the world that already faces dire threats from climate change and ocean acidification,” said David Henkin, an attorney in Earthjustice’s Mid-Pacific Office. “We will do everything in our power to protect the monument.”

The Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument (formerly known as the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument) was established by President Bush in 2009 and expanded by President Obama in 2014, protecting 490,000 square miles of Pacific Ocean. There are seven national wildlife refuges that lie within the boundaries of the monument: Howland, Baker, and Jarvis Islands, Johnston, Wake and Palmyra Atoll, and Kingman Reef.

“Scientific studies have shown that protecting the resources within protected areas like the monument increases the amount of fish available to commercial fishers in waters outside the protected areas,” explained marine biologist Bob Richmond. “This is the wrong move at the wrong time. By raiding what amounts to our children’s marine bank accounts, we are denying them a future of sustainable food from the ocean.”

The surrounding reefs, seamounts, and ocean of this monument are filled with some of the most diverse aquatic life on the planet, including sharks, rays, marlin, tuna, giant clams, hawksbill turtles, ancient coral forests, and whales. Adjacent land areas provide the foraging habitat for several of the world’s largest remaining colonies of seabird species including Sooty Terns and Lesser Frigatebirds. While they are not inhabited today, Pacific Island Indigenous Peoples wayfinders visited these islands while navigating through the Pacific Ocean. These protected areas hold significant ancestral, historical, and cultural significance to the Pacific Island Indigenous Peoples.