April 23, 2025 — When President Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing commercial fishing in the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument last week, a familiar face stood to his left in the Oval Office.
The executive director of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council was there. Kitty Simonds has served on the council for decades. She’s the first Native Hawaiian woman to lead the agency.
Simonds said she attended at the invitation of American Samoa U.S. House Delegate Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, who had been writing to the administration about the plight of the territory’s fishing industry.
Speaking to The Conversation on Tuesday morning, Simonds shared the viewpoint of the commercial fishers who will now be allowed to operate in waters at least 50 miles offshore.
Opponents fear the order will hurt conservation efforts. Simonds said it’s about fairness for U.S. longliners in Hawaiʻi, Guam and American Samoa.