A federal fishery council on Sept. 15 endorsed regulatory changes that would let larger American Samoa longline vessels fish between 12 and 50 nautical miles from Muliava, also known as Rose Atoll, once the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) removes monument-based commercial fishing prohibitions there. Waters within 12 nautical miles would remain closed. The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council took the action on the first day of its 208th meeting, held by web conference with host sites in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, KITV reported.

The council deferred action on fishing regulations for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Sanctuary, along with sea turtle measures for the Hawaii and American Samoa longline fleets, to Sept. 16. The meeting was scheduled to run through Sept. 17, and the outcomes of the deferred items had not been published when this report was prepared.

The action comes two weeks after NOAA Fisheries laid out national priorities that would reshape how the agency weighs fishing access against conservation. For consumers, fishing families and anyone who values ocean wildlife, the stakes include where boats can fish, how bycatch of turtles and whales is managed, and how science guides catch limits.

NOAA's Roadmap Targets Monuments, Whale Rules and Core Standards

On Sept. 2, NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Eugenio Pineiro Soler announced agency-level priorities under the seafood executive order, Executive Order 14276, "Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness," signed in April 2025. The agency said the priorities were informed by 787 public comments and follow regional priorities guidance it sent to fishery councils on July 2.

The list includes expediting rulemaking to remove Magnuson-Stevens Act commercial fishing prohibitions in the Mariana Trench, Papahanaumokuakea, Rose Atoll and Pacific Remote Islands monuments, in line with presidential proclamations. NOAA also said it will not mandate ropeless gear in the Northeast lobster fishery, will review turtle excluder device rules for possible vessel-size exemptions, and will evaluate whether guidelines for some national standards, including those on optimum yield and bycatch, should be amended. It said it will not base regulations solely on Habitat Areas of Particular Concern designations.

"We are moving away from regulations that treat domestic harvesters like a problem to be managed, and toward a science-based, common-sense system that recognizes the importance of those who feed our citizens and the communities they support," Pineiro Soler wrote. The plan also calls for cooperative research with fishermen, electronic monitoring, eDNA studies and artificial intelligence tools for surveys.

The National Fisheries Institute, the largest commercial seafood trade group, welcomed the plan in a statement on the NOAA priorities. "We congratulate NOAA Fisheries and the Trump Administration for these new efforts and stand as a resource as the agency begins implementation," said Lisa Wallenda Picard, the group's president and CEO.

Conservation Groups Warn About Stocks and Protected Species

Conservation groups read the same plan differently. "The agency is taking a sharp turn away from science," Andrea Treece, a senior attorney in Earthjustice's Oceans Program, told Inside Climate News in an email. Meredith Moore, senior director of fish conservation at Ocean Conservancy, said she was worried about changes to how overfishing and the use of best available science are defined, though she noted some positives, such as data modernization and eDNA work.

Janet Coit, who led NOAA Fisheries under the Biden administration, told the outlet she worries about what bypassing science-based limits "will do to the fish populations that future generations are counting on us to steward responsibly."

The four Pacific monuments named in NOAA's plan cover more than 1.1 million square miles and include coral reefs and species found nowhere else, Inside Climate News reported. The Northeast lobster decision concerns gear rules meant to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales from entanglement.

NOAA's priorities are a roadmap, not final rules, and most items require rulemaking with public comment. Critics' warnings about stock declines are projections rather than measured outcomes, and NOAA has not released analyses showing how specific changes would affect individual stocks.

Rose Atoll Access Hinges on a Shrinking Local Fleet

The Rose Atoll action addresses overlapping rules. Waters there fall under both monument restrictions and American Samoa's Large Vessel Prohibited Area, created in 2002 to reduce competition between large longliners and smaller alia boats. The council recommended opening the 12- to 50-nautical-mile zone in March, and President Trump's June proclamation restored commercial fishing in those monument waters, according to Samoa News. The council's Sept. 15 action clarifies that large vessels with American Samoa longline limited-entry permits may fish there once federal rules are updated. Council members also noted that removing monument prohibitions would not remove other federal requirements on permits, reporting, catch limits, gear, monitoring and protected species.

Council Chair Nathan Ilaoa said the fleet has changed sharply since 2002, when more than 20 larger longliners and more than 40 alia longliners operated. In 2025, six American Samoa-owned larger longliners were active, and no alia longliners had fished since 2020. "We're talking about a small local fleet, the South Pacific albacore stock is healthy, and existing protections remain in place," Ilaoa said.

Other tensions surfaced. Council Vice Chair Will Sword called the absence of NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries from the discussion of Papahanaumokuakea sanctuary regulations "very disconcerting." Eric Kingma, a council member who also leads the Hawaii Longline Association, said parts of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands may be too far for Hawaii's longline fleet to reach economically. Council staff member Mark Mitsuyasu said operating costs and the availability of vessels and crews would be major considerations in any reopening.

The meeting agenda also included whether to remove the swordfish retention limit in the Hawaii deep-set longline fishery. The council's Scientific and Statistical Committee found no scientific basis to keep that limit, Samoa News reported.

Seafood Shoppers, Fishing Families and the Next Federal Steps

The people most directly affected include American Samoa longline crews and cannery workers, Hawaii fishermen and seafood buyers, Native Hawaiian communities with cultural ties to Papahanaumokuakea, and protected species such as sea turtles, monk seals and whales. The council has said the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands fishery once supplied nearly half the bottomfish sold in Hawaii before commercial fishing there was phased out under the monument's rules. Whether reopening would lower local prices is uncertain, given the operating costs council staff flagged.

Readers who want a say can follow council meetings, which are announced in the Federal Register, and watch for NOAA proposed rules, which open formal comment periods. Consumers can check seafood labels and NOAA's FishWatch profiles for sourcing and stock status.

The council's recommendations now go to NMFS for review and rulemaking. NOAA also said the administration will release an interagency America First Seafood Strategy in the coming months. Legal challenges are possible: Earthjustice sued in May 2025 over the administration's opening of the Pacific Remote Islands monument to commercial fishing. Nature World News will report the deferred council decisions once they are published.

The bottom line: A Pacific council has taken a concrete step in line with NOAA's new seafood roadmap, clearing large American Samoa longliners to fish closer to Rose Atoll once federal rules change. Supporters call it a lifeline for a shrinking fleet, while critics fear weaker protections for fish stocks and wildlife. The final effect depends on rules and comment periods still to come.

What Readers Want to Know

What did the Western Pacific council decide? On Sept. 15, it endorsed regulatory changes allowing large vessels with American Samoa longline limited-entry permits to fish 12 to 50 nautical miles from Rose Atoll once NMFS removes monument-based commercial fishing prohibitions. Waters within 12 nautical miles stay closed.

What did the council postpone? Fishing regulations for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and Papahanaumokuakea sanctuary, plus longline sea turtle measures, were deferred to Sept. 16. Those outcomes had not been published at the time of this report.

What is NOAA's new seafood plan? Announced Sept. 2, it lists agency priorities including removing commercial fishing prohibitions in four Pacific monuments, not mandating ropeless lobster gear, and reviewing guidelines for several national standards and habitat rules.

Who supports the changes? Commercial seafood groups such as the National Fisheries Institute and Western Pacific council leaders, who cite domestic production and local fleets.

Who opposes them? Groups such as Earthjustice and Ocean Conservancy, along with former NOAA Fisheries head Janet Coit, who warn about fish stocks and protected species.

Are the changes final? No. Most require federal rulemaking with public comment, and Earthjustice has already sued over the earlier opening of the Pacific Remote Islands monument.

How can the public weigh in? Follow council meetings announced in the Federal Register and submit comments when NOAA publishes proposed rules.