Trump opens Pacific to American commercial fishing

President Donald J. Trump has signed a proclamation to unleash American commercial fishing in the Pacific Ocean—a key component of the America First Fishing Policy.

The proclamation opens the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM) to commercial fishing, boosting the economy of American Samoa, an official release by White House said, adding that it allows US-flagged vessels to fish commercially within 50 to 200 nautical miles of the PRIMNM’s boundaries.

“President Trump believes that removing unnecessary restrictions on American fishermen will strengthen the US economy, support local communities, and restore fairness to an industry disadvantaged by overregulation and foreign competition,” the release said.

The decision has been criticized by many environmentalists. “This is a gift to industrial fishing fleets and a slap in the face to science and the generations of Pacific Islanders who have long called for greater protection of these sacred waters,” Maxx Phillips, director for Hawaii and Pacific Islands at the Center for Biological Diversity, told the New York Times.

Angelo Villagomez, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a research organization, also said opening marine monuments to industrial fishing “sets a dangerous precedent that our public lands and waters are for sale to the highest bidder.”

The PRIMNM was first established by President Bush in 2009 and then expanded by President Obama, closing off over 400,000 square miles of the US Exclusive Economic Zone in the Pacific. The ban on commercial fishing within the PRIMNM did little to guard fish populations against overfishing, as tuna and other pelagic species are migratory in nature and do not permanently reside within the PRIMNM, the White House release said.

As a result of the prohibitions on commercial fishing, American fishing fleets have lost access to nearly half of the United States’ Exclusive Economic Zone in the Pacific Islands. This has driven American fishermen to fish further offshore in international waters to compete against poorly regulated and highly subsidized foreign fleets, most notably from China, the WH release said. “By supporting honest American fishermen, we combat the rampant illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing by foreign fleets.”