The ongoing political seesaw that has severely impacted the U.S. seafood industry has Samoan and Hawaiian fisheries and Maine lobstermen cheering President Trump and environmental groups again gnashing their teeth. Samoan tuna ends up in cans, while Hawaiians supply fresh tuna and swordfish to much of America.
An April 17th proclamation reopened the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM) to allow U.S.-flagged vessels to fish commercially within 50 to 200 nautical miles of its borders. It directs Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to identify within 30 days the most heavily overregulated fisheries and to take action to reduce that burden. President Trump pledged to address other concerns of the Maine lobster industry within days.
The Central Pacific
Samoans have been fishing in near-shore waters for centuries. To protect traditional “alia” subsistence fishermen from competition from larger boats, the National Marine Fisheries Service in 2002 banned large-vessel “longliners” – boats over 100 feet long that haul in 30 tons of albacore tuna at a time — from fishing within 50 nautical miles from shore (though “alias” rarely fish more than 3 miles from shore).
In January 2009, President George W. Bush created the PRIMNM, which initially covered about 83,000 square miles. President Obama in 2014 increased the PRIMNM to 490,000 square miles – as large as three Californias – and banned fishing within the entire area.
In 2023, the Biden administration decided to further enlarge the no-take zone (renamed as the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument) to 777,000 square miles (a fourth California). In a scathing letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Rep. Amata Radewagen (R-AS) said expanding the monuments without allowing for commercial and subsistence fishing would “devastate American Samoa’s economy.”
Radewagen said the expansion “continues a reckless pattern of abuse … with a dangerous disregard for the people who rely on these areas.” Just months earlier, the Fish and Wildlife Service had stated no expansion or the PRIMNM was even contemplated.
Moreover, the administration made no effort to notify Samoans of the drastic action that “would destroy” American Samoa’s fishing industry, which accounts for 80% of the local economy. It would also contribute to food insecurity but ignore fishing intrusions by the Chinese.
Ignoring her concerns, the Biden administration cordoned off the entire U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone – a major boost to the Chinese government. Radewagen called the move “a knee-jerk reaction to placate environmental activists who are hostile to … the ways of life of people who actually live in the Pacific.”
Trump’s election changed everything. Rep. Radewagen, in a January 23 letter, urged prompt action to restore fishing access between 50 and 200 nautical miles from the shorelines of Jarvis Island, Wake Atoll, and Johnston Atoll – reducing the no-take zone by 80%. She also brought several of her fellow Samoans to the White House on April 17 to celebrate the order.
Samoans, she told the President, were facing total devastation from the “overzealous and short-sighted green politics” that ignored the fact that tuna represent 99.5% of American Samoa’s exports. They even risked losing StarKist – their largest employer by far. One Samoan thanked Trump for “giving us back our lives.”
Now, Radewagen said, arias can breathe easier and longliners will no longer have to sail 4 to 7 days just to reach “legal” fishing areas. The local economy, and thousands of tuna-dependent jobs, will be saved. Moreover, Samoan fishers serve as observers who report poachers, helping the U.S. Coast Guard protect U.S. waters and American food security. Hawaiian fishers will once again have access to tuna- and swordfish-rich waters off Johnston Atoll.
The East Coast
Similarly, Maine lobstermen were severely impacted by President Obama’s 2016 creation of the 4,913-square-mile Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument about 130 miles east-southeast of Cape Cod. The move, which phased out crab and lobster catches and banned commercial fishing in the monument area, only added to regulatory burdens for American fisheries that do not apply to their Canadian counterparts.
Canadian lobstermen have no maximum size limits for lobster harvesting, nor are they required to comply with whale-safe gear regulations. There is also a 277-square-mile “Gray Zone” that both the U.S. and Canada have claimed since the Revolutionary War. While fishers from both nations harvest lobsters, scallops, and halibut from the Gray Zone, U.S. regulations benefit Canadians at the expense of Americans, according to Rep Jared Golden (R, ME).
While President Trump’s executive order does benefit East Coast fisheries, further actions remain on the table. Trump had previously aided Mainers by rescinding the 2016 Obama fishing bans, but President Biden reinstated them in 2021.
According to Lisa Wallenda Picard, CEO of the National Fisheries Institute, the new order “outlines key actions to benefit every link in the supply chain – from hardworking fisherman to parents who serve their family this nutritious and sustainable protein at home.”
Secretary Lutnick’s tasks include developing a comprehensive seafood trade strategy, reviewing existing marine monuments to see what areas are appropriate to reopen to commercial fishing, and urging regional fishing managers to find ways to reduce burdens on domestic fishing.
After the signing, Rep. Golden sent President Trump a second letter outlining steps still needed to provide Mainers with a level playing field in the North Atlantic. Golden’s message addressed unequal regulatory burdens between American and Canadian lobstermen.
Golden said Maine’s seafood harvesters, processors, and others involved in the ocean economy cannot make necessary investments to grow because of overregulation, arbitrary and capricious management, inconsistent policies from various federal agencies, and unfair trade actions from Canada.
Golden made the shocking claim that American fishers and lobstermen are required to adhere to the strictest conservation standards that do not apply to their Canadian counterparts. Canadians have no size limits for lobster, can fish with floating rope, and do not have to abide by whale regulations that limit gear and increase costs.
But that’s not all.
There is no cooperation in managing the Gray Zone, a benefit to Canadians, and Canada has “considerably fewer environmental regulations compared to U.S. processors.” Canadian processors can directly discharge wastewater into the ocean and spread shells in fields, but U.S. processors pay local municipalities for wastewater user fees and waste disposal.
Moreover, said Golden, Canadians get publicly funded, single-payer healthcare insurance that also creates an impact on unemployment premiums (higher for Americans). The Canadian lobster industry also has access to “unlimited (low wage) foreign labor,” Subsidies cover up to 60% of the salary for immigrants and visible minority hires.
Canada also utilizes government-financed infrastructure, innovation, and business operation subsidies and training programs to boost their lobster industry, said Golden. The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans is investing over $400 million to support its fish and seafood sector over the next seven years, whereas in the U.S., the industry alone funds industry-based and driven science partnerships.
Addressing all these concerns is a tall order for Secretary Lutnick, especially with a 30-day time frame – but all of the needed data has already been gathered. President Trump’s primary objective is to build up American enterprises – and fisheries is but one dogfight with America’s neighbor to the north.