President Trump signed an Executive Order that attempts to allow industrial fishing in the protected waters of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument (formerly the Pacific Remote Islands). The area is one of the last wild, healthy ocean ecosystems on Earth and an area of great cultural significance for Pacific Islanders. The short-sighted move intends to illegally scale back protections from 50 to 200 nautical miles, opening up 408,000 square miles of the monument to harmful industrial fishing extraction.

The Pacific Islands Heritage is one of America’s last treasures. The monument supports threatened and endangered wildlife and some of the richest biodiversity on Earth:

• Whales, sharks and rays
• Five species of sea turtles
• 5,000-year-old coral systems
• Seabirds and nesting grounds
• 130+ undersea mountains
• Deep-sea life not found anywhere else on Earth
• Waterways of ancient and modern Indigenous voyagers

Industrial fishing methods can catch and entangle defenseless marine wildlife–including endangered whales, dolphins, sea turtles, sharks, and seabirds–and cause harm to fragile corals. Commercial fishing also removes large numbers of fish and top predators, which disrupts precious ecosystems and ecological food webs.

The monument has a history of bipartisan support. George W. Bush established the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument in 2009 to protect the marine habitats of seven islands or atolls: Wake, Jarvis, Howland and Baker Islands, Johnston Atoll, and Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll. The monument was expanded by President Obama in 2014 to a total of approximately 495,189 square miles. 

Presidents have the authority to designate national monuments under the Antiquities Act, not to modify or abolish them. Presidents from both parties have designated a total of 168 national monuments under the Antiquities Act. 

The Pacific Islands Heritage is significant for Indigenous Pacific Islanders with ancestral, historical, and cultural ties to the area. The islands and atolls served as stopping points for rest, sustenance, and cultural practice for generations of voyagers who used the stars, winds, currents, and land and sea life to navigate these waters. They are integral to the cross-cultural Indigenous Pacific voyaging legacy. The area is under U.S. jurisdiction today because of the bravery and sacrifices of 135 mostly Native Hawaiian young men, part of the once-secret group called the Hui Panalāʻau, who were sent by the federal government on a quiet operation from 1935-1942 to occupy the Line islands of Howland, Baker, and Jarvis.

We Stand Together

Opening the Pacific Islands Heritage area to industrial extraction is a shortsighted action that will kill endangered wildlife, devastate fragile ecosystems, and cause irreversible harm to culturally significant areas.

We will not stand down to allow industrial fishers to illegally exploit and raid protected areas. We stand together and fight to protect the ocean that we all rely on.