Overview

• President Trump issued a proclamation allowing U.S.-flagged vessels to fish within 50-200 nautical miles of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument's boundaries.
• The move aims to reduce the U.S. seafood trade deficit, which exceeds $20 billion annually, by increasing domestic seafood production and exports.
• Environmental groups and legal experts argue the decision threatens marine biodiversity and may violate the Antiquities Act, which limits a president's authority to remove protections.
• The executive order also directs the Commerce Department to identify and reduce regulatory burdens on heavily regulated fisheries across the U.S.
• Critics warn that opening the protected area could reverse decades of conservation progress and harm species that rely on the monument's ecosystems.