Fishing

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council wants to undo fishing protections in the Pacific Ocean, rolling back regulations that opponents say will hurt ocean ecosystems. HPR's Mark Ladao has more.

Former lawmaker and environmental advocate Sol Kahoʻohalahala spoke to The Conversation's Catherine Cruz about the recent court ruling on commercial fishing in the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.

Commercial fishing that recently resumed in a vast protected area of the Pacific Ocean must halt once again after a judge in Hawaiʻi sided with environmentalists challenging a Trump administration rollback of federal ocean protections.

Arguments have been made for and against the president's proclamation that lifts a ban on commercial fishing in the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument. HPR's Mark Ladao has more.

Bob Richmond, a coral scientist and head of the University of Hawaiʻi Kewalo Marine Laboratory, spoke to HPR about the science behind protected areas like the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine Reserve.

Environmentalists are challenging in court President Donald Trump’s executive order that they say strips core protections from the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument and opens the area to harmful commercial fishing.

Kitty Simonds of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council presents the viewpoint of the longline fishers who will be allowed to resume commercial fishing in waters at least 50 miles offshore of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.

News that President Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing commercial fishing within the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument sent environmental advocates into a tailspin. The Conversation spoke with Maxx Phillips, the Hawaiʻi and Pacific Islands director and staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Environmental groups are planning to sue President Trump over his plans to open the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, formerly known as the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, to commercial fishing. Meanwhile, fishing advocates have argued that current protections haven’t led to meaningful environmental benefits.

Reservations start on April 23 for the popular family fishing program at Ho‘omaluhia Botanical Garden in Kāneʻohe on Oʻahu.