NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has officially rescinded the regulations that prohibited commercial fishing within the boundaries of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument.
The move by NMFS comes after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order revoking restrictions on commercial fishing in February.
“This action was necessary to align fishing regulations with President Trump’s Executive Proclamation Unleashing American Commercial Fishing in the Atlantic to reopen the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument to commercial fishing,” NMFS wrote.
NOAA said the move is part of its work to restore U.S. seafood competitiveness in alignment with Trump’s order.
“Through this Executive Proclamation, the president delivered on his promise to bolster the American fishing industry and fishing communities,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. “Restoring fishing in the Northeast Monument sends a signal that our fishermen are valued in the United States.”
The move by Trump was the latest in a string of decisions made on fishing within the monument that first started when former U.S. President Barack Obama first designated the 5,000-square-mile area of the coasts of New England a national monument. That designation was heavily opposed by commercial fishing, which launched an unsuccessful legal challenge that was rejected by an appeals court and turned down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Then, in 2020, during Trump's first term, he reopened the monument to commercial fishing before former U.S. President Joe Biden reestablished the monument in 2021.
Commercial fishing groups have long argued that the region of the monument is already covered under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, meaning any fishing done in the Northeast Canyons region is already subject to sustainability standards.
Due to upwellings of deep, cold water, the 4,913 square miles of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument is home to many desirable fishery resources including Atlantic deep-sea red crab, squid, Atlantic mackerel, and Atlantic tunas and swordfish,” NMFS said.
“This historic action will lead to more U.S.-caught fish on American tables,” NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs said.
A study performed in 2022 found that the monument had little to no impact on fisheries and that fishing activity in the squid/butterfish, mackerel, and tuna fisheries remained relatively equal before the area's closure, after its closure, and after its reopening.
