WASHINGTON — The presidential proclamation signed Thursday removes monument-based prohibitions on commercial fishing in the Islands Unit of the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument, one of three Pacific monument areas opened to United States flagged vessels under the order.
The proclamation, released by the White House, modifies the 2009 proclamation that established the Mariana Trench monument along with the proclamations establishing and expanding the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument. It opens the Mau and Ho’omalu Zones and areas seaward of 50 nautical miles within Papahānaumokuākea, and waters between 12 and 50 nautical miles surrounding Rose Atoll, consistent with applicable fishery management plans and implementing regulations.
Only United States flagged vessels are allowed to fish commercially within the monument boundaries, with permits available to foreign flagged vessels only to transport fish harvested by United States fishermen.
Commercial fishing in the opened areas remains subject to all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, including the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The proclamation notes the areas fall under the oversight of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, which develops fishery ecosystem plans using the best available science. Protections under the Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act and other federal statutes remain in place.
In the proclamation, the President finds that certain monument-based prohibitions on commercial fishing “are not necessary at this time for the proper care and management of the monuments or the objects of historic or scientific interest therein.”
The proclamation directs the Secretary of Commerce to amend or repeal existing regulations inconsistent with the removal of the fishing prohibitions, and to assess whether enforcement discretion can be used in the interim to advance the policy.
A White House fact sheet says the proclamation restores commercial fishing access to nearly half a million square miles in the Pacific and frames the action as advancing the administration’s America First Fishing Policy, following earlier orders opening the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument in April 2025 and the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in February 2026. The fact sheet says the action supports American jobs, domestic seafood production and food security.
Congresswoman Kimberlyn King-Hinds, who attended the signing, has said implementation should include local fishermen, the Commonwealth government, federal scientists, environmental stakeholders and the broader CNMI community.
