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Members of Hawaii's longline fishing industry have countered these claims, stating they have made numerous gear adjustments
Fishing Halted in Protected Pacific Ocean Area After Judge Blocks Trump Order
UNITED STATES
Wednesday, August 13, 2025, 00:10 (GMT + 9)
Trump Administration's 'Unlawful' Order Overturned, Protecting Marine Life and Indigenous Cultural Heritage
HONOLULU — Commercial fishing that recently resumed in a vast protected area of the Pacific Ocean must halt once again, after a federal judge in Hawaii sided with environmentalists challenging a Trump administration rollback of federal ocean protections. The ruling came on Friday, August 8, 2025.
 The remote Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument is a critical habitat for a wide array of marine life, including turtles, marine mammals, and seabirds. Environmental groups, represented by Earthjustice, argued that industrial-scale longline fishing—a method using baited hooks on lines extending 60 miles or longer—would endanger these species by snagging them as "by-catch."
In a proclamation issued on April 17, 2025, President Donald Trump ordered the Commerce Department to "expeditiously publish new proposed rules" to lift commercial fishing prohibitions in a 400,000-square-mile area of the monument. He argued that the regulations were burdensome and that the U.S. should be the "world's dominant seafood leader." Following this, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) sent a letter to fishing permit holders, giving them the green light to fish in the newly opened areas.
U.S. District Judge Micah W. J. Smith's decision declared the NMFS letter unlawful and canceled it. The judge's ruling found that the Trump administration had violated the Administrative Procedure Act by changing regulations without the required public comment and rulemaking process. This decision means that boats catching fish for sale must immediately cease fishing in waters between 50 and 200 nautical miles around Johnston Atoll, Jarvis Island, and Wake Island.
.png) The lawsuit was filed in May 2025 by Earthjustice on behalf of three Hawaii-based environmental advocacy groups: Kāpaʻa, the Conservation Council for Hawai'i, and the Center for Biological Diversity. The plaintiffs argued that the administration's actions not only threatened marine life but also the "cultural, spiritual, religious, subsistence, educational, recreational, and aesthetic interests" of Native Hawaiian plaintiffs with genealogical ties to the Pacific.
David Henkin, an Earthjustice attorney, stated that the ruling requires the government to follow the proper process to determine what kind of fishing, and under what conditions, can happen in monument waters without destroying the area. Maxx Phillips, Director and Staff Attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, called the ruling a "huge win for irreplaceable Pacific Ocean marine life and rule of law," emphasizing that the government cannot "quietly sweep aside critical fishing protections without giving the public a voice."
Members of Hawaii's longline fishing industry have countered these claims, stating they have made numerous gear adjustments, such as using circle hooks, to avoid harming protected species.
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