Tell the Trump administration’s NOAA to not open up our marine monuments to commercial fishing.
NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research
The Trump administration is now after our marine monuments — as directed by an executive order about seafood “competitiveness” issued in April, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is considering opening up our iconic marine national monuments to industrial fishing.
The administration is accepting comments but only until October 14. So it is critical that you flood their email inbox right away.
Commercial fishing in these sensitive and biologically-rich areas would actually harm populations of fish as well as ocean wildlife, disrupting critical food web systems. Closing marine monuments has not been shown to even have a positive economic impact on the fishing industry. In fact, protecting America's key ocean areas increases fish populations by giving our marine ecosystems the chance to adapt to changing ocean conditions.
Marine monuments are the nation’s blue parks. The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, for example, is home to sperm whales, Atlantic puffins, whiplash squid, deep-sea coral colonies thousands of years old, and countless other rare and vulnerable wildlife. And marine national monuments create living laboratories to study the impacts of climate change and other human impacts on our oceans.
Show the administration that Americans care about the preservation of our country’s cherished ocean landscapes, their marine wildlife, and the coastal communities that depend on a healthy ocean: Submit your public comment now.