The Claim

Opened the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument to commercial fishing, undoing a nonsensical Biden-era ban and boosting the economy of American Samoa and other Pacific islands.

The Claim, Unpacked

What is literally being asserted?

Three things: (1) the administration opened the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM) to commercial fishing; (2) this undid a “Biden-era ban”; and (3) this action boosted the economy of American Samoa and other Pacific islands.

What is being implied but not asserted?

That Biden created the fishing restriction. That the restriction was irrational (“nonsensical”). That American Samoa’s economy was suffering specifically because of the monument’s fishing ban. That opening the monument to fishing would deliver meaningful economic relief to American Samoa. That the action was completed and effective.

What is conspicuously absent?

That commercial fishing was first banned in the monument by George W. Bush in 2009 (Proclamation 8336), not Biden. That Obama expanded the monument in 2014 (Proclamation 9173) — neither president was Biden. That Biden’s only action on the monument was a January 2, 2025 renaming proclamation that changed the monument’s name to “Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument” to honor Indigenous Pacific Islander heritage — without altering boundaries or fishing restrictions. That the closest monument waters to American Samoa are approximately 1,000 nautical miles away — making them distant and expensive fishing grounds. That U.S. purse seine fleets historically spent less than 1% of their annual fishing days in the monument’s expanded waters. That the American Samoa tuna industry’s decline was driven by minimum wage increases, the Chicken of the Sea cannery closure in 2009 (before any Obama expansion), StarKist’s $100 million price-fixing fine, declining global canned tuna demand, and competition from low-wage canneries in Thailand — not monument fishing restrictions. That a federal court vacated the authorization for fishing in the monument in August 2025, meaning the claimed economic boost never materialized.

Evidence Assessment

Established Facts

President Trump signed Proclamation 10918 on April 17, 2025, opening the PRIMNM to commercial fishing between 50 and 200 nautical miles from landward boundaries. The proclamation, titled “Unleashing American Commercial Fishing in the Pacific,” permits U.S.-flagged vessels to commercially fish in the expanded zone while maintaining the fishing prohibition within 50 nautical miles of the monument islands. This is the factual core of the claim — the action was taken. ¹

The commercial fishing ban in the PRIMNM was established by George W. Bush in 2009, not Biden. Proclamation 8336, signed January 6, 2009, established the monument covering approximately 86,888 square miles and explicitly directed the Secretaries to “prohibit commercial fishing within boundaries of the monument.” Obama’s Proclamation 9173 (September 25, 2014) expanded the monument sixfold to approximately 490,000 square miles, extending the fishing ban to waters 50-200 nautical miles around Jarvis Island, Wake Island, and Johnston Atoll. Biden’s only action was a January 2, 2025 proclamation renaming the monument to “Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument” to recognize Indigenous Pacific Islander heritage — without changing boundaries or fishing rules. ²

American Samoa’s tuna industry decline was driven by multiple factors predating and unrelated to the monument expansion. The Chicken of the Sea/COS Samoan Packing cannery closed in September 2009 — before Obama’s 2014 expansion — eliminating over 2,000 jobs. Congress raised the American Samoa cannery minimum wage by 46% between June 2007 and June 2009, which both cannery operators cited as the primary cause of closures and layoffs. StarKist was fined $100 million for price-fixing conspiracy. Global demand for canned tuna declined approximately 40% in the three decades ending in 2017. The U.S. purse seiner fleet shrank from approximately 40 vessels to 12, driven by competition from China’s fleet (which grew from 80 to approximately 550 vessels) and rising operating costs. StarKist’s Pago Pago cannery is now owned by South Korean firm Dongwon Industries. ³

A federal court vacated the authorization for commercial fishing in the monument in August 2025. U.S. District Judge Micah W. J. Smith of the District of Hawaii ruled that the NMFS letter of April 25, 2025 — which had notified fishermen they could fish in the expanded monument waters — was unlawful. The court declared that “no commercial fishing operators may reasonably rely on” the letter and ordered that commercial fishing in the waters between 50 and 200 nautical miles around Johnston Atoll, Jarvis Island, and Wake Island “should cease immediately.” The lawsuit was brought by Earthjustice on behalf of Kapa’a, Conservation Council for Hawai’i, and the Center for Biological Diversity. ⁴

Strong Inferences

The closest PRIMNM waters to American Samoa are approximately 1,000 nautical miles (1,850 km) away. Jarvis Island, the nearest monument component to American Samoa, lies roughly 1,000 nautical miles distant. This is a multi-day voyage each way for fishing vessels. By contrast, American Samoa’s own EEZ and the high seas/foreign EEZs where purse seiners traditionally operate are much closer. ⁵

U.S. purse seine fleets historically spent less than 1% of annual fishing effort in the monument’s expanded waters. Between 2009 and 2014 (after Bush’s monument but before Obama’s expansion), the American Samoa-based purse seine fleet spent only 0.15% to 0.65% of annual fishing days in waters around Jarvis Island. The Hawaii-based longline fleet deployed no more than 1.88% of annual sets in waters around Jarvis and Johnston Atoll, and recorded zero fishing activity in Wake Island waters. Only in 1997 — when access to foreign EEZs was cheaper — did the fleet spend a significant portion (21%) of its time in future monument waters. ⁶

The primary beneficiaries of the proclamation would have been the Hawaii-based longline fleet, not American Samoa. The Hawaii longline fleet is a $100-million-a-year industry that targets fresh tuna for high-value markets, not the canned tuna supply chain that feeds the Pago Pago cannery. American Samoa’s purse seine fleet fishes primarily in the Western and Central Pacific (foreign EEZs and high seas), not in the distant PRIMNM waters. The growing interest in monument fishing access was driven by rising access fees charged by Pacific Island nations for their EEZs, not by genuine demand for waters historically barely used. As fishery leaders themselves acknowledged: “The bottom line to why they hadn’t been there previous to the expansion is because they didn’t need to go there.” ⁷

Even an American Samoa government environmental official opposed the reopening on ecological grounds. Floyd Masga, acting administrator of American Samoa’s Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality, warned the decision “threatens fragile ecosystems, endangers species, disrupts spawning and migration, and risks overfishing key stocks.” This internal dissent within the territorial government itself suggests the action’s framing as an unambiguous benefit for American Samoa was contested even locally. ⁸

The monument serves as a reproductive refuge that supports the broader Pacific tuna fishery through spillover effects. Marine scientists emphasize that no-take zones create essential breeding and recruitment areas for highly migratory species like tuna. Fisheries expert Rick Gaffney argued that reopening the monument would “likely result in the decline of the fishery” by undermining these spillover benefits. The monument contains some of the most pristine coral reef ecosystems in the world — Kingman Reef is described by NOAA as “the most undisturbed coral reef within the United States,” and Palmyra Atoll supports 180-190 coral species, the highest diversity in the central Pacific. ⁹

What the Evidence Shows

The claim contains three sub-assertions, and the evidence contradicts or substantially undermines each one.

First, the action: Trump did sign Proclamation 10918 opening the PRIMNM to commercial fishing. This is factually true. But a federal court vacated the implementing authorization within four months, meaning the policy was effectively dead by August 2025. As of the January 2026 publication of the “365 wins” list, no legal commercial fishing was occurring in the monument under this proclamation.

Second, “undoing a nonsensical Biden-era ban”: this is false on multiple levels. The commercial fishing ban was established by George W. Bush in 2009 and expanded by Barack Obama in 2014. Biden’s sole action was renaming the monument in January 2025 to honor Indigenous Pacific heritage — he changed no boundaries and imposed no new fishing restrictions. Attributing a Bush/Obama policy to Biden is factually wrong. Characterizing a marine conservation measure supported by extensive scientific evidence as “nonsensical” is an editorial judgment that contradicts the assessment of NOAA, marine biologists, and even American Samoa’s own environmental agency.

Third, “boosting the economy of American Samoa”: this is the claim’s most misleading element. The monument waters are roughly 1,000 nautical miles from American Samoa. The purse seine fleet based there historically spent less than 1% of its fishing effort in those waters. The tuna industry’s decline was driven by minimum wage increases, cannery closures predating the Obama expansion, a $100 million price-fixing fine, collapsing global canned tuna demand, and competition from subsidized foreign fleets — not by the monument. The primary beneficiary of reopened fishing grounds would have been the Hawaii-based longline fleet, which serves a different market entirely. And the court injunction ensured that even the theoretical economic benefit never materialized.

The Bottom Line

The administration did sign a proclamation opening the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument to commercial fishing — that action is real. But every other element of this claim is false or misleading. The fishing ban was not Biden’s — it was established by Bush in 2009 and expanded by Obama in 2014. The ban was not “nonsensical” — it protected some of the most pristine marine ecosystems on Earth and served as a reproductive refuge for the very tuna stocks the fishing industry depends on. The claim that this “boosted the economy of American Samoa” is unsupported: the monument waters are 1,000 miles from American Samoa, the local fleet barely fished there, the tuna industry’s decline has well-documented causes unrelated to the monument, and a federal court shut down the authorization within four months. This is an action taken, attributed to the wrong predecessor, justified by a misdiagnosis, and blocked by the courts before it could have any effect.

Footnotes

1. White House, “Unleashing American Commercial Fishing in the Pacific,” Proclamation 10918, April 17, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/unleashing-american-commercial-fishing-in-the-pacific/ ↩

2. American Presidency Project, “Proclamation 8336 — Establishment of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument,” January 6, 2009. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-8336-establishment-the-pacific-remote-islands-marine-national-monument; Biden White House Archives, “A Proclamation on Amending Proclamation 8336,” January 2, 2025. https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2025/01/02/a-proclamation-on-amending-proclamation-8336-to-read-establishment-of-the-pacific-islands-heritage-marine-national-monument-and-amending-proclamation-9173-to-read-pacif/ ↩

3. PBS News, “Sea of obstacles imperil American Samoa’s tuna industry,” 2020. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/sea-of-obstacles-imperil-american-samoas-tuna-industry; Employment Policies Institute, “More Layoffs In American Samoa A Result Of Congress’ Minimum Wage.” https://epionline.org/release/more-layoffs-in-american-samoa-a-result-of-congress-minimum-wage/ ↩

4. Hawaii News Now, “Federal court rules against Trump’s order to allow commercial fishing in marine monument,” August 11, 2025. https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/08/11/federal-court-rules-against-trumps-order-allow-commercial-fishing-marine-monument/; Earthjustice, “Hawai’i Federal Court Nullifies Fisheries Service Letter,” August 2025. https://earthjustice.org/press/2025/hawaii-federal-court-nullifies-fisheries-service-letter-allowing-destructive-fishing-in-pacific-national-monument ↩

5. Mongabay, “Rep from American Samoa calls for opening protected Pacific waters to tuna fishing,” March 2025. https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/rep-from-american-samoa-calls-for-opening-protected-pacific-waters-to-tuna-fishing/ ↩

6. Honolulu Civil Beat, “Pacific Tuna Fleets Pushed To Lift Ban In Waters They Barely Fished,” July 2025. https://www.civilbeat.org/2025/07/pacific-tuna-fleets-pushed-lift-ban-waters-they-barely-fished/ ↩

7. Honolulu Civil Beat, “Pacific Tuna Fleets Pushed To Lift Ban In Waters They Barely Fished,” July 2025; Earth.org, “Trump’s Pacific Monument Fishing Reversal Sparks Backlash,” 2025. https://earth.org/wrong-move-at-the-wrong-time-trumps-pacific-monument-fishing-reversal-raises-alarm-for-biodiversity-and-island-nations/ ↩

8. Earth.org, “Trump’s Pacific Monument Fishing Reversal Sparks Backlash,” 2025. https://earth.org/wrong-move-at-the-wrong-time-trumps-pacific-monument-fishing-reversal-raises-alarm-for-biodiversity-and-island-nations/ ↩

9. NOAA Fisheries, “Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.” https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pacific-islands/habitat-conservation/pacific-remote-islands-marine-national-monument; Mongabay, “Rep from American Samoa calls for opening protected Pacific waters to tuna fishing,” March 2025. ↩