Following President Trump’s April 2025 proclamation attempting to roll back protections for the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument (PIHMNM) and the successful lawsuit to keep commercial fishers out of the area before proper rulemaking happens, it looks like the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) may now be preparing draft rules to open the PIHMNM to commercial fishing.
In response, our Coalition sent a formal letter to the leadership of NOAA outlining why NMFS should hold off on moving forward with any such proposed rulemaking until a federal fishery council (WESPAC) and the agency fully comply with all applicable statutory, regulatory, and procedural requirements under federal law, including by providing robust and meaningful opportunities for public participation.
The Secretary of Commerce, acting through NMFS, is responsible for making sure that all applicable legal requirements are being followed to amend existing protections.
We are deeply concerned about WESPAC’s actions to date, which have bypassed and/or diluted requirements mandated by the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), and other applicable laws.
NMFS needs to step in and put the brakes on this backward process.
Our letter urges NMFS to reject any effort to move forward with commercial fishing regulations until the agency first requires a lawful amendment to the applicable Fishery Ecosystem Plan, completes a full environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), conducts all required consultations under the Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, and National Historic Preservation Act, and provides meaningful public participation through formal hearings across the Pacific Islands region. The Coalition also asks NMFS to clearly explain the legal authority it believes allows the rollback of long-standing monument fishing protections.
The letter further explains why reopening the monument is neither legally justified nor economically necessary. It outlines the Pacific Islands Heritage area’s extraordinary cultural and ecological significance, highlights the risks industrial fishing poses to threatened and endangered marine wildlife, and notes that historical fishing data demonstrates the monument has never been essential to the economic viability of Hawaiʻi’s longline fleet or the American Samoa purse seine fleet. The Coalition calls on NMFS to ensure any decisions affecting these culturally significant and globally important marine ecosystems are transparent, lawful, science-based, and informed by robust public engagement.
We have yet to receive a response from NMFS. Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest updates.
Photo Credit: USFWS, Ryan Hagerty