June 24, 2026
From: David McGuire, Director, Shark Stewards, The Earth Island Institute
To: Ms. Sarah Malloy Regional Administrator, Pacific Islands Regional Office
NOAA Fisheries (NMFS)
1845 Wasp Blvd., Building 176
Honolulu, HI 96818
Cc: Janet Coit, Assistant Administrator NOAA Fisheries 1315 East-West Highway Silver Spring, MD 20910
Kristina Kekuewa: Regional Director, NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (Pacific Islands Region)
Charles Littnan, Ph.D.: Director, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center.
RE: Formal Protest Against WPRFMC Recommendation to Reopen Pacific Marine National Monuments to Commercial Fishing
Dear Assistant Administrator Coit and NOAA Administration,
We are writing to express our strenuous opposition to the recent final action taken by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRFMC) to restore commercial fishing within the Pacific Remote Islands, Rose Atoll, Marianas Trench, and Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monuments. This recommendation to allow longline and purse seine fishing within 50–200 nm of these protected areas is a direct assault on some of the world’s last remaining intact marine ecosystems and must be rejected by NOAA Fisheries.
Lack of Legal Authority The WPRFMC asserts that the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) provides the appropriate framework for “science-based management” in these waters. However, these monuments were established under the Antiquities Act of 1906 (54 U.S.C. §§ 320301-320303), which grants the President the authority to protect objects of historic or scientific interest.
The proclamations establishing these monuments—including Proclamation 8031 and 9478 for Papahānaumokuākea—explicitly prohibit commercial fishing to ensure the “proper care and management” of the protected objects. Federal courts (notably in Mass. Lobstermen’s Ass’n v. Raimondo) have affirmed that the Antiquities Act allows for the prohibition of commercial activity to protect the scientific integrity of marine ecosystems. WPRFMC does not have the statutory authority to override Presidential Proclamations or the underlying conservation mandates of the Antiquities Act by attempting to “manage” these areas back into commercial production.
Ecological Significance and Original Purpose The Pacific Marine National Monuments were established to serve as vital refugia for biodiversity. Papahānaumokuākea, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is home to over 7,000 species, one-quarter of which are found nowhere else on Earth. These monuments provide:
- Climate Resilience: Large-scale highly protected marine areas (HPMAs) are essential for building ocean resilience against climate change.
- Biodiversity Banks: They protect critical habitats for endangered species, including the critically endangered and endemic Hawaiian monk seal, endangered green sea turtles, and numerous shark species that are currently facing global decline.
- Spillover Benefits: These areas act as nursery grounds that replenish fish stocks, including tuna, in the surrounding open ocean. Reopening them would reverse documented gains in tuna abundance and disrupt the delicate apex predator balance.
The Threat of Commercial Fishing Allowing longline and purse seine fishing within these boundaries introduces the immediate risk of significant bycatch, including sea turtles, marine mammals, and oceanic whitetip sharks—a species recently noted by conservation groups as being in urgent need of protection. The WPRFMC’s justification of “economic development” fails to account for the long-term economic value of healthy, biodiverse oceans which far outweigh the short-term gains of a few commercial vessels.
As highlighted by Native Hawaiians including Solomon Pili Kaho’ohalahala, Founding Member of Kāpaʻa, these monuments represent a commitment to cutural heritage, managing the ocean with Pono (righteousness) and Kuleana (responsibility). To allow industrial extraction in these sanctuaries is a violation of the public trust and the scientific purpose for which they were created. After opening the Pacific Heritage Marine National Monument to fishing in 2025, the federal district court in Honolulu ruled that commercial fishing cannot legally continue in the marine national monument.
We urge NOAA Fisheries to uphold the full protections of the Pacific Marine National Monuments and deny the WPRFMC’s recommendation to reopen these waters to commercial fishing.
Sincerely,
David McGuire, Director
Shark Stewards
The Earth Island Institute