Fishing operations in a vast Pacific nature preserve are suspended following a judge's ruling that invalidates a Trump executive order.
The Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, a vast protected area of the Pacific Ocean, is currently off-limits to commercial fishing following a U.S. District Court ruling in August 2025. The court's decision invalidated the Trump administration’s April 2025 attempt to reopen the monument waters to commercial fishing [1][2][4].
In April 2025, President Trump issued a proclamation opening portions of the monument—covering more than 400,000 square miles of U.S. exclusive economic zone—to commercial fishing by U.S.-flagged tuna boats, reversing Obama-era protections [1][3]. NOAA Fisheries followed up with a letter to tuna permit holders permitting fishing in certain monument areas, but this letter was not issued through formal rulemaking and was challenged in court [1][4].
On August 8-9, 2025, a federal district court in Honolulu ruled that the NOAA Fisheries letter was legally invalid and that commercial fishing within the monument remains prohibited. The court emphasized that marine protections cannot be stripped without due public process and that NOAA still has the duty to protect the monument’s unique ecosystems [2][4].
Environmental groups argued that reopening to commercial fishing threatened endangered sea turtles, sharks, marine mammals, and seabirds that rely on the habitat, and that the Trump proclamation usurped Congressional authority over federal lands [2][4][5]. The monument’s protected status remains vital for the conservation of these species and ecological balance, and the court’s ruling maintains those protections for now [5].
The lawsuit states that allowing commercial fishing in the monument expansion would harm the "cultural, spiritual, religious, subsistence, educational, recreational, and aesthetic interests" of a group of Native Hawaiian plaintiffs who are connected genealogically to the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific [6].
Commercial fishing in the waters between 50 and 200 nautical miles around Johnston Atoll, Jarvis Island, and Wake Island must cease immediately [7]. Members of Hawaii's longline fishing industry claim they have made numerous gear adjustments and changes over the years, such as circle hooks, to avoid damaging the area [8].
David Henkin, an Earthjustice attorney, said the ruling requires the government to go through a process to determine what kind of fishing, and under what conditions, can happen in monument waters in a way that wouldn’t destroy the area [9]. The Trump administration’s executive order stripped core protections from the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, but as of August 2025, the fishing ban is reinstated and enforced.
Further legal proceedings or policy changes may affect the status in the future, but for now, commercial fishing in the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument is suspended, and the original Obama-era protections remain intact.
[1] https://www.earthjustice.org/news/press/2025/federal-court-blocks-trump-administration-s-attempt-to-open-pacific-ocean-monument-to-commercial-fishing [2] https://www.courthousenews.com/trump-administration-loses-fight-to-reopen-pacific-ocean-monument-to-fishing/ [3] https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-modifying-designation-pacific-remote-islands-marine-national-monument/ [4] https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/noaa-fisheries-issues-letter-to-tuna-permit-holders-regarding-pacific-remote-islands-marine-national-monument [5] https://www.earthjustice.org/news/press/2025/federal-court-blocks-trump-administration-s-attempt-to-open-pacific-ocean-monument-to-commercial-fishing#sthash.oM3o75nS.dpuf [6] https://www.earthjustice.org/legal-documents/public-comment/comment-on-trumps-attempt-to-open-pacific-ocean-monument-to-commercial-fishing [7] https://www.earthjustice.org/legal-documents/public-comment/comment-on-trumps-attempt-to-open-pacific-ocean-monument-to-commercial-fishing [8] https://www.staradvertiser.com/2025/08/15/breaking-news/federal-court-blocks-trump-administrations-attempt-to-open-pacific-ocean-monument-to-commercial-fishing/ [9] https://www.earthjustice.org/news/press/2025/federal-court-blocks-trump-administration-s-attempt-to-open-pacific-ocean-monument-to-commercial-fishing#sthash.oM3o75nS.dpuf
- The court's decision in August 2025 reinstated the fishing ban in the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, undoing the Trump administration's proclamation issued in April 2025.
- The Trump administration's attempt to reopen the monument waters to commercial fishing was challenged in court due to concerns about the unique ecosystems and endangered species within the protected area.
- Seattle-based environmental groups argued that commercial fishing threatened not only the wildlife but also the cultural and spiritual interests of Native Hawaiians.
- The Trump administration's executive order stripping core protections from the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument was nullified following the court's ruling in August 2025.
- The ruling requires government agencies to go through a formal process to determine what kind of fishing, and under what conditions, can happen in the monument waters while maintaining the balance of the ecosystem.
- The decision has significant implications for the future of environmental-science policy-and-legislation, as well as real estate, business, education, science, and general-news in the Pacific region.
