Overview:
A bill moving through the U.S. Congress could significantly reshape how marine national monuments are managed, limiting presidential authority to ban commercial fishing in protected ocean areas. Supporters say the measure would restore science-based fisheries management, while critics warn it could weaken long-standing marine conservation protections.
WASHINGTON, 08 JUNE 2026 (WIRES) — U.S Bill would bar Presidents from banning commercial fishing in Marine National Monuments Legislation advancing through the U.S Congress would forbid presidents from using executive power to outlaw commercial fishing inside marine national monuments, instead requiring that such fishing be governed under the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA).
Over successive administrations, presidents have invoked the Antiquities Act to unilaterally designate marine national monuments or modify their protective measures, a practice that commercial fishing interests have long opposed when it leads to fishing bans.
Former President Barack Obama barred commercial fishing in the roughly 5,000-square-mile Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument upon its creation in 2016.
Later presidents have shifted between permitting commercial fishing and reinstating prohibitions; most recently, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that again allowed commercial fishing in that monument.
In February, Trump posted on his Truth Social account that he had reversed the commercial fishing restrictions during his first term, but that his successor foolishly reinstated them.
He declared that he had signed a presidential proclamation to unleash commercial fishing in the Atlantic Ocean under an America First Fishing Policy.
Trump has also worked to eliminate a commercial fishing ban in the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, and with his encouragement, the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council has moved to restore commercial fishing access in portions of several marine national monuments.
U.S Representative Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa) has introduced a bill that would bar presidents from using the Antiquities Act to prohibit fishing in a marine national monument, clarifying that fishing would be managed under the MSA in those areas.
At a 03 June hearing before the U.S House Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries, U.S Representative Harriet Hageman (R-Wyoming) voiced support for the measure. Hageman stated that some of the most serious misuses of the Antiquities Act have occurred in the U.S exclusive economic zone, and that marine national monuments in the Western Pacific and off New England have severely limited commercial fishing access, harming American seafood competitiveness and coastal communities.
Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere Tim Petty, who also backed the bill during the hearing, contended that existing regulatory frameworks protect fish populations and habitats in those areas. Petty noted that the MSA, together with the Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, and other laws, provides enforceable, adaptive, and science-based mechanisms adequate for proper care and management of monument objects.
He added that NOAA will continue to depend on regional fishery management councils as key advisors to ensure fishing rules are crafted with local knowledge and stakeholder input.
American Tunaboat Association Executive Director William Gibbons-Fly, a witness at the hearing, attributed the decline of the American tuna fleet in the Western Pacific to marine national monuments.
He pointed out that roughly 53 percent of the U.S EEZ in the Pacific Islands Region falls within marine national monuments, and that the U.S Pacific purse seine fleet has dropped from 34 vessels a few years ago to just 15 vessels currently operating. Some lawmakers have urged Trump to restore commercial fishing bans in the monuments.
In March, nine Democratic senators signed a joint letter asking the president to rescind his order that resumed commercial fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument.
The senators argued that New Englanders broadly support permanently protected ocean areas, and that multiple studies indicate well-managed marine protected areas with fishing bans have minimal or no negative economic effects on commercial fishermen.
They also noted that when the Trump administration opened the monument to fishing in 2020, 99 percent of fishing activity still occurred outside its boundaries…. PACNEWS