Troubled Waters

Some of the most pristine ecosystems left in the world are found in the Pacific.

These remote islands and atolls are biodiversity hot spots, home to thriving coral reefs …

Now, the Trump administration is opening some of these waters to commercial fishing.

For the researchers and staff stationed here, some days their closest neighbors are the astronauts passing overhead in the International Space Station.

For decades, scientists have studied Palmyra Atoll’s unique ecosystem, a window into the vital role that atolls play for marine life across the Pacific.

Seabirds use them as nesting sites to raise their young, returning to the open ocean to hunt for fish. Sooty terns spend years at sea, flying thousands of miles before coming back to land to breed.

Pacific atolls also attract deep-water species that swim hundreds of miles, like tuna. In the warm, nutrient-poor waters of the central Pacific where food is sparse, atolls are like bustling cafés.

Seabirds rely on those tuna and other large predators to corral schools of small fish. As tuna feed, they drive the schools near the ocean’s surface, where birds can reach them.

This interconnected ecosystem, stretching from treetops to the deep sea, is one of the reasons the waters around Pacific atolls were granted federal protections.

Hawaii’s fishing fleet supports the move to open monument waters. From Honolulu Harbor, longline boats travel hundreds of miles in search of fish, which they catch with thousands of baited hooks in deep water.

Hawaii’s fishing industry says it’s facing increasing competition on the high seas from foreign vessels also searching for tuna, as well as rising diesel fuel costs. Opening Pacific marine monument waters could give the fleet more opportunities, since foreign ships wouldn’t be permitted to fish there.

“Our view is that we can have both: We can have very high levels of protection and allow sustainable fishing in the same place,” says Eric Kingma, executive director of the Hawaii Longline Association. “It’s really about the opportunity to fish away from foreign competition.”

Closing some parts of the ocean can also help fishing fleets in some cases. Ecologists have found that protected areas can allow more fish to breed, increasing the population. They then swim outside protected zones, where they can be caught — what’s known as spillover.

Researchers are trying to figure out whether that spillover effect happens for highly migratory species like tuna, which swim in and out of protected zones.

After the protections for Papahānaumokuākea were expanded, a study in 2022 found that the catch rate of yellowfin tuna went up 54%. Bigeye tuna catch rates went up 12%.

A 2024 study by another group of researchers found no evidence that catching yellowfin tuna was easier. It did find that bigeye tuna was 13% easier to catch.

Federal officials at NOAA did not respond to questions about opening the marine monuments or the potential impacts of fishing.

Conservation groups say that with climate change, the Pacific marine monuments deserve the highest level of protection. The healthier an ecosystem is, the better chance it has to withstand the impacts of warming waters.

Conservation and Hawaiian cultural groups say they plan to file a lawsuit to challenge the opening of the three Pacific marine monuments, including Papahānaumokuākea.

For the fourth monument, Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, federal officials at NOAA are expected to release a decision on commercial fishing this year.