Trump signed proclamation stripping commercial fishing bans from ~500,000 square miles of Pacific marine monuments
On June 11, 2026, President Trump signed a proclamation modifying four prior Antiquities Act designations to remove commercial fishing prohibitions from approximately 500,000 square miles of Pacific Ocean, including zones within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument, and the Islands Unit of the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument. The proclamation overrode protections that Presidents Bush and Obama had established, opening the areas to federally managed commercial fishing by U.S.-flagged vessels. Environmental groups immediately announced legal challenges on the grounds that the Antiquities Act authorizes monument creation but does not grant presidents power to eliminate monument protections.
Actors
On June 11, 2026, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation modifying four prior Antiquities Act designations to remove commercial fishing prohibitions from approximately 500,000 square miles of Pacific marine national monuments, including the Mau and Ho'omalu Zones of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument, and the Islands Unit of the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument. The proclamation directed the Secretary of Commerce to amend or repeal existing regulations inconsistent with the new fishing access, and restricted commercial fishing in the affected areas to U.S.-flagged vessels.
The monuments were designated under the Antiquities Act by Presidents Bush (Proclamations 8031, 8335, 8337, 2006–2009) and expanded by President Obama (Proclamation 9478, 2016), establishing commercial fishing prohibitions to protect habitats home to more than 7,000 species, including Hawaiian monk seals, humpback whales, and green sea turtles. The Antiquities Act grants presidents authority to designate monuments to protect scientific, historic, or cultural resources on federal lands; no federal court has yet ruled whether it also authorizes a president to eliminate monument-based protections, though multiple cases are pending. Environmental law firm Earthjustice announced it was preparing a legal challenge, arguing that "The Antiquities Act authorizes Presidents to create national monuments and to protect their resources. It does not authorize Presidents to strip protections from monuments."
The White House characterized the action as a "MASSIVE WIN FOR AMERICA'S FISHERMEN" and projected millions of dollars in new commercial fishing revenue. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and NOAA administrator Neil Jacobs endorsed the proclamation as advancing U.S. seafood competitiveness. The June 2026 proclamation is the third in a series: Trump signed a proclamation opening the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument (~400,000 square miles) to commercial fishing in April 2025 — later blocked by a federal judge on rulemaking grounds — and removed fishing bans from two Atlantic monuments in February 2026. Indigenous Hawaiian and Chamorro community members, as well as conservation scientists, warned the action would endanger ecologically sensitive habitats and displace traditional subsistence fishing.
Why we recorded this
The Antiquities Act grants presidents authority to designate national monuments on federal lands; it does not grant authority to eliminate monument protections — that function belongs to Congress under the Property Clause. Trump's proclamation removed commercial fishing prohibitions from nearly 500,000 square miles of Pacific monuments designated by Presidents Bush and Obama, asserting executive power to undo conservation designations without legislative action. This archive records the executive branch's claim to unilateral authority over federal land protections that Congress established through delegation.
Sources
- Restoring American Commercial Fishing in the Pacific — White House primary accessed June 30, 2026
- Executive Proclamation restores commercial fishing in Pacific marine monuments, unlocks economic opportunity — NOAA primary accessed June 30, 2026
- Trump's "America First" Fishing Policy Is a Recipe for Plunder — Mother Jones / Grist investigative accessed June 30, 2026
See also
- U.S. Postal Service proposes rule requiring states to submit mail-ballot voter lists, implementing Trump's elections executive order
- Trump invokes Defense Production Act to direct ~$700M to the coal industry
- Trump signs second federal-elections executive order asserting presidential control over voter eligibility and mail voting
- Trump signed EO 14210 ordering mass federal workforce reductions and granting DOGE political veto over career hiring
- Trump signed EO 14215, asserting presidential control over independent regulatory agencies and requiring OMB approval of their regulations