Trump’s fishing decision threatens Pacific communities, NGO warns

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order opening vast protected Pacific waters to commercial fishing, a decision conservation groups warn threatens Pacific communities and their cultural heritage. The order, signed on June 11, 2026, opens nearly half a million square miles of protected waters around Hawaii, American Samoa, and the Northern Marianas.

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True conservation requires persistence. Since 2007, our advocacy for the Mariana Trench has been unyielding, and it will remain so.

Trump claims that appropriately managed fishing will not endanger these areas. However, the Friends of the Mariana Trench, a conservation group, stated that the move undermines protections established to safeguard waters vital to the Chamorro and Refaluwasch people. "True conservation requires persistence. Since 2007, our advocacy for the Mariana Trench has been unyielding, and it will remain so," the group said in a statement.

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We stand in solidarity with Pacific communities whose cultural heritage is currently being eroded by the Trump administration-from the access granted to commercial vessels in sacred areas, to the leasing of our seabed for deep-sea mining and the threats of nuclear waste.

The group further asserted that the administration is sacrificing waters set aside to honor traditional fishing practices for "industrial gain." They stand in solidarity with Pacific communities whose cultural heritage is being eroded by decisions regarding sacred areas, seabed leasing for deep-sea mining, and the threat of nuclear waste. "While this is a significant setback, our fight for healthy oceans and the communities that depend on them is far from over," the statement concluded.

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While this is a significant setback, our fight for healthy oceans and the communities that depend on them is far from over.

The proclamation removes prohibitions on commercial fishing within the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument's Islands Unit, as well as parts of marine monuments in Hawaii and American Samoa. The administration maintains that existing federal fisheries laws and environmental protections offer sufficient safeguards while allowing for increased economic activity. The decision follows advocacy from CNMI's delegate to the US Congress, Kimberlyn King-Hinds, who emphasized the need for local involvement in managing these waters.

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The CNMI respects the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument and the environmental importance of the waters around our islands. At the same time, the people who live closest to these waters should have a meaningful voice in how they are managed.