Trump opens protected Pacific waters to commercial fishing

President Donald Trump on Thursday opened protected Pacific Ocean waters to commercial fishing, lifting limits within three marine national monuments. A presidential proclamation signed in the Oval Office removed fishing restrictions in portions of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument near Hawaii, the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument near Guam, and Rose Atoll Marine National Monument near American Samoa, an administration official said. With the action, nearly half a million square miles of water around the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa are officially reopened. Trump said the measure reflects a shift in policy and defended the change as reopening access to resources that had been restricted. The monuments were first designated by former President George W. Bush, and the Hawaii monument was expanded later by Obama and Biden.