Trump opens Pacific marine monument waters to commercial fishing

President Donald Trump opened the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument to commercial fishing on April 17, 2025, stripping protections from a 495,000-square-mile reserve in the Central Pacific Ocean. The monument, renamed the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument on January 2, 2025, covers waters around Howland and Baker islands, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll, and NOAA described it as home to some of the most pristine coral reef ecosystems in the Pacific Ocean.

The White House and NOAA said the change would open the area to commercial fishing. NOAA later said the proclamation would “restore commercial fishing” and “unlock economic opportunity,” and the White House repeated the phrase “restores commercial fishing in Pacific marine monuments” in a related proclamation and fact sheet in June 2026.

Opponents moved quickly. Earthjustice and the Center for Biological Diversity filed suit on May 22, 2025, arguing that the rollback threatened indigenous heritage, endangered species and pristine marine ecosystems in the monument. Conservation groups warned that opening the waters could expose corals, whales, seabirds, sea turtles, sharks and other marine life to damage in one of the country’s most isolated ocean preserves.

A federal district court in Honolulu ruled on Aug. 8, 2025, that destructive commercial fishing cannot proceed in the Pacific national monument. In September 2025, the Western Pacific Fishery Council responded to Trump’s mandates and recommended opening monuments to commercial fishing.

A Congressional Research Service report updated Feb. 12, 2026, covered commercial fishing interests and congressional oversight around the monument. Protected areas remain around Wake, Baker and Jarvis.