NEFSA Reacts to Trump Presidential Memorandum Opening Thousands of Miles to Fishing

May 9, 2025

Portland, Maine – The New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association commends President Trump for releasing a presidential memorandum that opens a vast swath of ocean to commercial fishing.  

The previous administration closed 5,000 square miles of ocean to fishing in 2021 when it established the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument southeast of Cape Cod near the edge of Georges Bank. Today’s memorandum reopens that area to fishing, a boon for working people who used to make a living catching squid, tuna, tilefish, lobster, and red crab in the area.  

“For decades, overregulation has stopped fishermen from making a living and putting wild, heart-healthy, American-caught products on store shelves. NEFSA is pleased that the Trump administration is committed to making America’s natural resources available to all Americans,” said NEFSA CEO Jerry Leeman.  

“The national monument designation for Northeast Canyons and Seamount embodies everything that is wrong with fisheries management,” Leeman added. “Throughout 2020, the New England Fishery Management Council worked closely with NOAA to develop a smart, science-based plan to allow fishing in the area while protecting endangered species and local cold water corals. All that good work went to waste one year later in 2021 when the national monument was established.”  

Reopening access to the monument is a fair, common-sense approach. Access can be restored while protecting marine mammals and ecosystems. Our oceans, our communities, and our prosperity depend on recognizing that fishing and stewardship are not mutually exclusive – they are one and the same.