Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Thursday reopening nearly half a million square miles of previously protected Pacific Ocean waters to commercial fishing, a move the administration says will boost domestic seafood production and strengthen the U.S. fishing industry.
The proclamation restores fishing access in waters surrounding three marine national monuments: Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, the Islands Unit of the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument and the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument.
“We’re officially reopening nearly half a million square miles — wow — of water around northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa,” President Trump said during remarks announcing the action.
He added that the policy changes “have unlocked billions of dollars in economic value and protected thousands and thousands of jobs from great people that voted for Trump.”
According to the White House, the administration believes expanding access to the waters will help increase the domestic seafood supply, reduce dependence on imported seafood and support jobs tied to the fishing industry.
“Building on prior actions to strengthen American seafood production and support working fishing communities, this proclamation restores access to hundreds of thousands of square miles of Pacific waters for commercial fishing managed under existing Federal law,” the proclamation stated.
“I have determined that restoring access to responsibly managed fishing grounds will promote economic opportunity while ensuring continued stewardship of our Nation’s marine resources,” it continued.
Administration officials also framed the move as part of a broader effort to strengthen food security and national security by expanding American production capacity.
“When they destroyed your whole life and your family and your business, and everything else, did you ever think you would have somebody who would come along and save it?” the president asked fishing representatives who attended the signing.
The monuments were previously subject to significant restrictions on commercial fishing activities as part of federal marine conservation efforts.
