{"id":376590,"date":"2025-04-27T09:47:54","date_gmt":"2025-04-27T07:47:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=376590"},"modified":"2025-04-27T09:47:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-27T07:47:56","slug":"tuna-fishers-lobstermen-praise-reopening-of-waters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=376590","title":{"rendered":"Tuna fishers, lobstermen praise reopening of waters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From CFACT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Duggan Flanakin<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Central Pacific<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samoans have been fishing in near-shore waters for centuries. To protect traditional \u201calia\u201d subsistence fishermen from competition from larger boats, the National Marine Fisheries Service in 2002 banned large-vessel \u201clongliners\u201d \u2013 boats over 100 feet long that haul in 30 tons of albacore tuna at a time \u2014 from fishing within 50 nautical miles from shore (though \u201calias\u201d rarely fish more than 3 miles from shore).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2009, President George W. Bush created the PRIMNM, which initially covered about 83,000 square miles. President Obama in 2014 increased<\/a> the PRIMNM to 490,000 square miles \u2013 as large as three Californias \u2013 and banned fishing within the entire area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cdevastate American Samoa\u2019s economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Radewagen said the expansion \u201ccontinues a reckless pattern of abuse \u2026 with a dangerous disregard for the people who rely on these areas.\u201d Just months earlier, the Fish and Wildlife Service had stated no expansion or the PRIMNM was even contemplated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, the administration made no effort to notify Samoans of the drastic action that \u201cwould destroy\u201d American Samoa\u2019s fishing industry, which accounts for 80% of the local economy. It would also contribute to food insecurity but ignore fishing intrusions by the Chinese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ignoring her concerns, the Biden administration cordoned off the entire U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone \u2013 a major boost to the Chinese government. Radewagen called the move \u201ca knee-jerk reaction to placate environmental activists who are hostile to \u2026 the ways of life of people who actually live in the Pacific.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s 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 \u2013 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samoans, she told the President, were facing total devastation from the \u201coverzealous and short-sighted green politics\u201d that ignored the fact that tuna represent 99.5% of American Samoa\u2019s exports. They even risked losing StarKist \u2013 their largest employer by far. One Samoan thanked Trump for \u201cgiving us back our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Radewagen said, arias can breathe easier and longliners will no longer have to sail 4 to 7 days just to reach \u201clegal\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The East Coast<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, Maine lobstermen were severely impacted by President Obama\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cGray Zone\u201d 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).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While President Trump\u2019s executive order does benefit East Coast fisheries, further actions remain on the table. Trump had previously aided Mainers by rescinding<\/a> the 2016 Obama fishing bans, but President Biden reinstated them in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Lisa Wallenda Picard, CEO of the National Fisheries Institute, the new order \u201coutlines key actions to benefit every link in the supply chain \u2013 from hardworking fisherman to parents who serve their family this nutritious and sustainable protein at home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secretary Lutnick\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s message addressed unequal regulatory burdens between American and Canadian lobstermen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Golden said Maine\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that\u2019s not all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no cooperation in managing the Gray Zone, a benefit to Canadians, and Canada has \u201cconsiderably fewer environmental regulations compared to U.S. processors.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cunlimited (low wage) foreign labor,\u201d Subsidies cover up to 60% of the salary for immigrants and visible minority hires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing all these concerns is a tall order for Secretary Lutnick, especially with a 30-day time frame \u2013 but all of the needed data has already been gathered. President Trump\u2019s primary objective is to build up American enterprises \u2013 and fisheries is but one dogfight with America\u2019s neighbor to the north.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fishermen said they see a brighter future thanks to the Trump executive order. The changes represent a \u201cthoughtful, strategic approach\u201d that could be a lifeline to America\u2019s fishermen, said Lisa Wallenda Picard, president and chief executive officer of the National Fisheries Institute in Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s calling on his administration to \u201c\u2026immediately consider suspending, revising or rescinding regulations that overly burden America\u2019s commercial fishing, aquaculture and fish processing industries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a good first step,\u201d Jerry Leeman of the New England Fishermen\u2019s Stewardship Association said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lobstermen want action taken on the disputed Gray Zone, an area claimed and fished by Maine and Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Gray Zone has always been an issue,\u201d Leeman said. \u201cThe ropeless gear. That has been a topic of conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President\u2019s executive order gives his Secretary of Commerce 30 days to identify the most heavily overregulated fisheries and to take action to reduce that burden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNLEASHING OPPORTUNITY IN THE PACIFIC: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a proclamation to unleash American commercial fishing in the Pacific Ocean\u2014a key component of the America First Fishing Policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n