Policy
US renews push to open Pacific marine protected area to fishing
Mongabay · By Elizabeth Claire Alberts ·
The Brief
- The US government has published proposed rules to allow commercial fishing in an area more than double the size of California.
- The area lies inside a Pacific marine reserve that includes islands, atolls, seamounts and coral reef systems.
- The proposed rules were published on Nov. 9, and the news was reported on 2026-11-12.
Why it matters
Opening a large marine protected area to commercial fishing would directly affect the reserve's ecosystems and the species that depend on them, which is central to marine conservation research and monitoring.
Who’s affected
- marine scientists and conservationists
- commercial fishing operators in the Pacific
- #marine protected areas
- #commercial fishing
- #ocean conservation
- #pacific ocean
- #us policy
The U.S. government has published proposed rules to allow commercial fishing in an area more than double the size of California inside a Pacific marine reserve that encompasses a network of islands, atolls, seamounts and coral reef systems. The proposed rules, published Nov. 9 by…
Timeline
US government publishes proposed rules allowing commercial fishing in the Pacific marine reserve
Conservation news
US renews push to open Pacific marine protected area to fishing