President Donald Trump signed two executive orders and a proclamation aimed at reducing regulatory burdens on the U.S. fishing industry, and combating unfair foreign trade practices and reopening 400,000 square miles in the Pacific Ocean to commercial fishing.
The area, previously protected by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to preserve the marine environment and historic sites around Wake, Baker, Howland, and Jarvis Islands, Johnston and Palmyra Atolls, and Kingman Reef, was deemed redundant with existing laws.
Trump’s “Unleashing American Commercial Fishing in the Pacific” proclamation argues that commercial fishing can coexist with ecosystem and wildlife preservation.
After reviewing Proclamations 8336 and 9173, President Trump’s proclamation states that properly managed commercial fishing poses no threat to the scientific and historic objects protected by these decrees, as existing laws already safeguard them.