Kydd Pollock | The Nature Conservancy
Stop Trump from Opening the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine Reserve to Industrial Fishing
President Trump issued an executive order on April 17 that attempts to open the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument (formerly the Pacific Remote Islands) to industrial fishing that threatens to reverse decades of progress to safeguard one of the planet’s last wild, healthy ocean ecosystems.
The move intends to scale back protections from 50 to 200 nautical miles, opening up 408,000 square miles of the monument to harmful industrial fishing extraction. The Pacific Islands Heritage Coalition is not standing down to allow industrial fishers and commercial interests to exploit and raid protected ocean areas. Now is the time to stand together and fight to protect the ocean that we all rely on.
The Pacific Islands Heritage is one of America’s treasures, with deep sea coral reefs and resilient shallow reefs; threatened, endangered, and critically endangered whales, sharks, rays, turtles, and seabirds; seamounts that serve as ecological hotspots for biodiversity; deep-sea species not found anywhere else on Earth; and the waterways of ancient and modern Indigenous voyagers.
Why This Matters
The Pacific Islands Heritage Maine National Monument supports threatened and endangered wildlife and some of the richest biodiversity on Earth:
- Whales, sharks and rays
- Five species of sea turtles
- 5,000-year-old coral systems
- Seabirds and nesting grounds
- 130+ undersea mountains
- Deep-sea life not found anywhere else on Earth
- Waterways of ancient and modern Indigenous voyagers
Industrial fishing methods can catch and entangle defenseless marine wildlife–including endangered whales, dolphins, sea turtles, sharks, and seabirds–and cause harm to fragile corals. Commercial fishing also removes large numbers of fish and top predators, which disrupts precious ecosystems and ecological food webs.
The monument has a history of bipartisan support. George W. Bush established the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument in 2009 to protect the marine habitats of seven islands or atolls: Wake, Jarvis, Howland and Baker Islands, Johnston Atoll, and Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll. The monument was expanded by President Obama in 2014 to a total of approximately 495,189 square miles.
Presidents have the authority to designate national monuments under the Antiquities Act, not to modify or abolish them. Presidents from both parties have designated a total of 168 national monuments under the Antiquities Act.
The Pacific Islands Heritage is significant for Indigenous Pacific Islanders with ancestral, historical, and cultural ties to the area. The islands and atolls served as stopping points for rest, sustenance, and cultural practice for generations of voyagers who used the stars, winds, currents, and land and sea life to navigate these waters. They are integral to the cross-cultural Indigenous Pacific voyaging legacy. The area is under U.S. jurisdiction today because of the bravery and sacrifices of 135 mostly Native Hawaiian young men, part of the once-secret group called the Hui Panalāʻau, who were sent by the federal government on a quiet operation from 1935-1942 to occupy the Line islands of Howland, Baker, and Jarvis.
Senator Brian Schatz Statement
Read the Senator’s statement condemning the executive order attempting to gut protections for the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.
“We should be protecting the Pacific’s unmatched ecology and biodiversity for future generations – this order does the opposite.” – Senator Brian Schatz