The administration stripped commercial fishing protections from all five U.S. marine national monuments in the Pacific. Papahānaumokuākea, the Mariana Trench, Rose Atoll, the Pacific Remote Islands, and the Northeast Canyons together protect more than 500,000 square miles of ocean and more than 7,000 marine species, including 23 listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Presidents from both parties created these monuments. George W. Bush designated Papahānaumokuākea. Obama expanded it and established the others. The protections had bipartisan support for two decades.
A federal judge already ruled in August 2025 that the president does not have authority to remove monument protections under the Antiquities Act. The administration issued new executive orders applying the same legal theory the court rejected.
The fishing industry does not need these waters. Commercial fleets already operate across millions of square miles of open Pacific. Tuna catch limits were reached before monument waters were off limits. Opening them does not solve a supply problem. It destroys ecosystems that took millions of years to develop.
Support the Antiquities Act Defense Act to codify monument protections into statute. Oppose any executive action that opens protected marine areas to commercial exploitation. A court already ruled this illegal. Congress should make it permanent.
