Pacific Monument Could Open to Fishing
NOAA Fisheries has proposed rules to open about 408,000 square miles of Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument to commercial fishing, with public comments due December 9, 2026.
Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in National Parks
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Should the U.S. open protected Pacific ocean waters to commercial fishing?
The National Marine Fisheries Service proposed rules to open roughly 408,000 square miles of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument to commercial longline and purse seine fishing. A 30-day public comment period on the proposal ends December 9, 2026.
Why it matters
The proposal's stated rationale is that monument protections create economic hardship for fisheries, while NMFS describes the expected benefit to fishing operations as likely minor. The Pacific Islands Heritage Coalition opposes the proposal, and the outcome would determine whether a protected marine area in the Pacific reopens to industrial fishing.
The proposal would cover waters 50 to 200 nautical miles from Johnston Atoll, Wake Island and Jarvis Island, and the Hawaiʻi longline fleet earned $109 million in 2025. Whether the reopened fishing would produce the economic gains NMFS anticipates has not been determined.
The players
National Marine Fisheries Service
The federal agency within NOAA responsible for managing and conserving U.S. marine fisheries and protected marine species.
Pacific Islands Heritage Coalition
A coalition that opposes the proposal and is urging public comments on the rulemaking through Regulations.gov.
Donald Trump
The current President of the United States, who issued an April 2025 proclamation seeking to reopen the monument's expansion waters to commercial fishing.
The details
The proposed rules would allow commercial longline and purse seine fishing across the monument's waters. The monument, established by President George W. Bush in 2009 and expanded by President Barack Obama in 2014, contains 5,000-year-old coral systems and 165 known seamounts.
Timeline
2009: President George W. Bush establishes the monument.
2014: President Barack Obama expands the monument.
April 17, 2025: President Donald Trump issues a proclamation seeking to reopen expansion waters to commercial fishing.
Aug. 8, 2025: A federal district court in Honolulu declares the NMFS letter unlawful, halting commercial fishing in monument waters.
December 9, 2026: Public comment period on the proposed rules closes.
Historical Context
The proposal reverses protections first created when President George W. Bush established the monument in 2009 and later expanded by President Barack Obama in 2014. It follows a 2025 presidential proclamation and a federal court ruling that halted commercial fishing in the monument's waters.
Anyone who wants to weigh in on the proposal must submit comments through Regulations.gov under docket NOAA-NMFS-2026-2410 before the comment period closes. Comments are accepted for 30 days from publication of the proposed rules.
The takeaway
Public comments on the proposal are due December 9, 2026, and they are the formal way for residents to shape the outcome. Readers who care about the monument's protections should review the docket before the window closes.
What happens next
The public comment period on the proposed rules closes December 9, 2026.
Further reading
Explore more on National Parks for context on how protected marine areas are managed across the country.
More information
Submit comments through Regulations.gov under docket NOAA-NMFS-2026-2410.
Live Poll
Should the U.S. open protected Pacific ocean waters to commercial fishing?
