Commercial fishing in a vast Pacific nature area is halted after a judge blocks a Trump order
Commercial fishing that recently resumed in a vast protected area of the Pacific Ocean must halt once again after a judge in Hawaii sided with environmentalists challenging a Trump administration rollback of federal ocean protections. The remote Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument is home to turtles, marine mammals and seabirds. Environmental groups say they will get snagged by longline fishing, an industrial method involving baited hooks from lines for miles. Environmentalists argued President Donald Trump’s executive order to allow this and other commercial fishing changed regulations without providing a process for public comment and rulemaking. U.S. District Judge Micah W. J. Smith granted a motion by environmentalists on Friday.