In April, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order allowing commercial fishing from 50 to 200 nautical miles off the shore within the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.
The national monument was founded as the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument in 2009 under President George W. Bush and then expanded in 2016 under President Barack Obama.
Obama’s expansion entailed barring commercial fishing from taking place in the monument between 50 and 200 miles offshore. Trump’s order effectively reverses the expansion implemented under Obama.
In response to the order, three conservation groups – EarthJustice, the Conservation Council for Hawai‘i, and the Center for Biological Diversity – have sued the administration, claiming Trump’s proclamation, as well as the subsequent government efforts to carry it out, violates the Antiquities Act of 1906.
“President Trump’s proclamation threatens to destroy one of the world’s last healthy and wild ocean ecosystems. Commercial fishing would remove large numbers of fish, sharks, turtles, and other marine life as both intended catch and unintended bycatch. This would completely disrupt the underwater ecosystem and wreak havoc on the food chain. Many of these creatures and areas are culturally important to the people of Oceania, for traditional and modern navigation, and as a valuable food source,” Conservation Council for Hawai‘i Executive Director Jonee Peters said in a statement.
In his order, Trump disputed claims that the move would hinder sustainability efforts in the national monument...
