Latest news with #Earthjustice
Scoop
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Pacific News In Brief For 27 May
Article – RNZ A round-up of news from around the region, including a report of a pirate attack in PNG waters. Papua New Guinea – pirates A man has died after pirates reportedly boarded two boats off Madang, PNG, and forced people into the water. NBC PNG reported the passengers were travelling in two 40-horse powered dinghies from Madang Town to Saidor Station. Operator of the search and rescue boat Leonard Kudud said a distress call was received from deployed police personnel, reporting a pirate attack near Tabalip Point. He said during the attack, the pirates forced all passengers overboard and ordered them to swim ashore. One male passenger, unable to swim, drowned. The survivors were transported to the Basamuk Plant Site, where they received medical attention. Fiji – enquiry Fiji's deputy prime minister Biman Prasad said it's up the President to release information on the Commission of Inquiry into the appointment of the anti-corruption office head, Barbara Malimali. The Fiji Times reported Prasad saying the inquiry was called for and appointed by President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu. He said it's the president who should be asked about former Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry's claim that the inquiry cost taxpayers over FJ$2 million. Prasad also defended Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka's failure to make the report public. He said Rabuka is an experienced prime minister who knows what is right for the country. Pacific – fishing US President Donald Trump's executive order enabling more commercial fishing in the Pacific is being challenged in court. Environmental activist group Earthjustice said the order, which allows fishing in some protected zones in the Pacific, will have region-wide consequences to marine ecosystems. AP reported Earthjustice calling the order 'piling lawlessness on top of lawlessness' and a threat to 'a wide variety of scientific and historical treasures'. The protected zones encompass various US-owned territories, including Johnston Atoll near Hawai'i. Papua New Guinea – e-cigarettes Papua New Guinea's health department has approved a ban on the use and importing of e-cigarettes. The National reported health minister Elias Kapavore saying there are concerns about the use of e-cigarettes among young people aged from 11 to 17. Anyone breaching the ban could be fined 10,000 kina – about US$2,440. Companies breaking the rules would face a fine of 100,000 kina, and this can be doubled if it's a tobacco company in breach. Kapavore said according to statistics, tobacco is estimated to cause 8.8 per cent of all deaths in PNG. The law was to come into effect seven days after its formal gazettal notice was published. Pacific – farming Australia is giving another US$1.9 million for climate and disaster resilience for Pacific Farmer Organisations. The Climate Resilient Farming in Pacific Islands program is coordinated by Pacific Farmer Organisations, who represent a network of 30 farmer organisations and more than 100,000 smallholder farmers. Australia's High Commissioner to Tonga Brek Batley said locally tailored climate solutions are essential for a prosperous, resilient and inclusive agriculture sector across the Pacific. Australia said the program benefited 16,800 farmers in seven countries in its first year. Solomon Islands – economic zones Solomon Islands parliament has passed legislation allowing the setting up of Special Economic Zones. Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele said the Special Economic Zones can steer the country towards sustained peace, economic recovery, and long-term development. He said by concentrating government efforts and resources in designated areas, the zones can encourage economic diversification and job creation.
Scoop
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Pacific News In Brief For 27 May
Papua New Guinea - pirates A man has died after pirates reportedly boarded two boats off Madang, PNG, and forced people into the water. NBC PNG reported the passengers were travelling in two 40-horse powered dinghies from Madang Town to Saidor Station. Operator of the search and rescue boat Leonard Kudud said a distress call was received from deployed police personnel, reporting a pirate attack near Tabalip Point. He said during the attack, the pirates forced all passengers overboard and ordered them to swim ashore. One male passenger, unable to swim, drowned. The survivors were transported to the Basamuk Plant Site, where they received medical attention. Fiji - enquiry Fiji's deputy prime minister Biman Prasad said it's up the President to release information on the Commission of Inquiry into the appointment of the anti-corruption office head, Barbara Malimali. The Fiji Times reported Prasad saying the inquiry was called for and appointed by President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu. He said it's the president who should be asked about former Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry's claim that the inquiry cost taxpayers over FJ$2 million. Prasad also defended Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka's failure to make the report public. He said Rabuka is an experienced prime minister who knows what is right for the country. Pacific - fishing US President Donald Trump's executive order enabling more commercial fishing in the Pacific is being challenged in court. Environmental activist group Earthjustice said the order, which allows fishing in some protected zones in the Pacific, will have region-wide consequences to marine ecosystems. AP reported Earthjustice calling the order "piling lawlessness on top of lawlessness" and a threat to "a wide variety of scientific and historical treasures". The protected zones encompass various US-owned territories, including Johnston Atoll near Hawai'i. Papua New Guinea - e-cigarettes Papua New Guinea's health department has approved a ban on the use and importing of e-cigarettes. The National reported health minister Elias Kapavore saying there are concerns about the use of e-cigarettes among young people aged from 11 to 17. Anyone breaching the ban could be fined 10,000 kina - about US$2,440. Companies breaking the rules would face a fine of 100,000 kina, and this can be doubled if it's a tobacco company in breach. Kapavore said according to statistics, tobacco is estimated to cause 8.8 per cent of all deaths in PNG. The law was to come into effect seven days after its formal gazettal notice was published. Pacific - farming Australia is giving another US$1.9 million for climate and disaster resilience for Pacific Farmer Organisations. The Climate Resilient Farming in Pacific Islands program is coordinated by Pacific Farmer Organisations, who represent a network of 30 farmer organisations and more than 100,000 smallholder farmers. Australia's High Commissioner to Tonga Brek Batley said locally tailored climate solutions are essential for a prosperous, resilient and inclusive agriculture sector across the Pacific. Australia said the program benefited 16,800 farmers in seven countries in its first year. Solomon Islands - economic zones Solomon Islands parliament has passed legislation allowing the setting up of Special Economic Zones. Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele said the Special Economic Zones can steer the country towards sustained peace, economic recovery, and long-term development. He said by concentrating government efforts and resources in designated areas, the zones can encourage economic diversification and job creation.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument illegally opened to fishing, suit alleges
A group of Native Hawaiians and three environmental organizations are challenging the legality of a move by President Donald Trump to permit commercial fishing within a Pacific marine monument. The nonprofit environmental law firm Earthjustice filed a federal lawsuit in Hawaii on Thursday aimed at blocking an April 17 Trump proclamation allowing fishing by U.S.-flagged vessels in parts of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument south and west of Hawaii. Trump lacks authority as president to strip protections from an established national monument, according to the complaint filed on behalf of a hui of Hawaiian cultural practitioners called Kapa 'a along with the Conservation Council for Hawai 'i and the Center for Biological Diversity. The lawsuit also alleges that the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service informed fishing permit holders April 25 that they could begin to fish in the area, even though federal regulations haven't been amended to allow it under a process required by law that includes an opportunity for affected parties to provide input. 'Piling lawlessness on top of lawlessness, the National Marine Fisheries Service chose to carry out President Trump's illegal proclamation by issuing its own illegal directive, with no public input, ' David Henkin, deputy managing attorney in Earthjustice's Mid-Pacific office, said in a statement. 'We are counting on the courts to put a stop to the Trump administration's disregard for the rule of law and to preserve the monument's precious and vulnerable resources for future generations.' President George W. Bush in 2009 established an initial form of the monument, originally known as the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, that created national wildlife refuges with commercial fishing bans radiating out 50 miles around Howland, Baker and Jarvis islands ; Johnston, Wake and Palmyra atolls ; and Kingman Reef. In 2014, President Barack Obama expanded the protected area to 200 miles around Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll and Wake Atoll to create the world's largest marine protected area. The monument covers about 490, 000 square miles, making it nearly five times the size of all the U.S. national parks combined and nearly twice the size of Texas, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Trump, who considered rolling back protections in the monument area during his first term as president in 2017, said in his proclamation that the fishing ban affected nearly half of the country's exclusive economic zone around U.S.-administered islands in the Pacific where American fishing fleets could exclusively operate, and put the industry at a disadvantage. The president also said the ban has been detrimental for American Samoa, a U.S. territory, where the fishing industry represents over 80 % of private-sector economic output. Furthermore, Trump's proclamation, which is titled 'Unleashing American Commercial Fishing in the Pacific, ' contends that fisheries in the region are effectively managed by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council. Under the proclamation, commercial fishing by U.S.-flagged vessels was to be permitted only in the expanded monument area created by Obama—from 50 to 200 miles around Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll and Wake Atoll in waters a half-mile or more deep—pending formal rule amendments. The move was celebrated by the Hawaii Longline Association and the Honolulu-based Western Pacific Fishery Management Council. 'We are very grateful in Hawaii for this, ' Kitty Simonds, the council's executive director, told Trump during a proclamation signing ceremony. Eric Kingma, executive director of the Hawaii Longline Association, said one day after the proclamation was issued that the past three years have been the least profitable ever for Hawaii's longline fleet of 150 vessels that largely land tuna and swordfish. Kingma added that 70 % to 80 % of the industry's catch stays in Hawaii and that the 'dockside value ' of fish in 2024 was $110 million, compared with $120 million in 2021. 'You can have both ocean protection as well as allowing sustainable fisheries to occur, ' he said at the time. 'They can be compatible.' The lawsuit contends that fishing in the monument area added by Obama threatens a vast range of marine wildlife, including endangered species, in part due to bycatch. Monument waters, according to the lawsuit, are habitats for 22 species of protected marine mammals, including a variety of turtles, sharks and manta rays. The lawsuit also said millions of seabirds, including protected species, feed in monument waters and would be affected because they rely on schools of predatory fish such as tuna to scare smaller marine animals to the surface where they can be caught by the birds. 'President Trump's proclamation threatens to destroy one of the world's last healthy and wild ocean ecosystems, ' Jonee Peters, executive director of the Conservation Council for Hawai 'i, said in a statement. 'Commercial fishing would remove large numbers of fish, sharks, turtles, and other marine life as both intended catch and unintended by-catch, ' Peters said. 'This would completely disrupt the underwater ecosystem and wreak havoc on the food chain. Many of these creatures and areas are culturally important to the people of Oceania, for traditional and modern navigation, and as a valuable food source.' Solomon Pili Kaho 'ohalahala, founding member of Kapa 'a, said bycatch is an affront to Native Hawaiian practices and beliefs. 'President Trump's proclamation threatens the ability of future generations to survive and thrive, ' he said in a statement. Maxx Phillips, a Hawaii and Pacific region director and staff attorney for the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity, described Trump's proclamation as an assault on the Pacific's cultural heritage and biodiversity. 'For generations, Pacific Islanders have revered these ocean areas as sources of food, knowledge, and spiritual connection, ' Phillips said in a statement. 'Dismantling these protections threatens not only marine life but the cultural practices that are inseparable from this place. These waters deserve protection, not plunder.'
The Advertiser
24-05-2025
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Trump order on commercial fishing in Pacific challenged
Environmentalists have filed a lawsuit against US President Donald Trump's executive order that they say strips core protections from the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument and opens it to harmful commercial fishing. On the same day of last month's proclamation allowing commercial fishing in the monument, Trump issued an order to boost the US commercial fishing industry by peeling back regulations and opening up harvesting in previously protected areas. The monument was created by President George W. Bush in 2009 and consists of about 1.3 million square kilometres in the central Pacific Ocean. President Barack Obama expanded the monument in 2014. A week after the April 17 proclamation, the US National Marine Fisheries Service sent a letter to fishing permit holders giving them a green light to fish commercially within the monument's boundaries, even though a long-standing fishing ban remains on the books, according to a lawsuit filed in a federal court in Honolulu. The first longline fisher started fishing in the monument just three days after that letter, according to Earthjustice, which has been tracking vessel activity within the monument using Global Fishing Watch. The Department of Justice declined to comment. The lawsuit noted that commercial longline fishing, an industrial method involving baited hooks from lines 96km or longer, will snag turtles, marine mammals or seabirds that are attracted to the bait or swim through the curtain of hooks. "We will not stand by as the Trump administration unleashes highly destructive commercial fishing on some of the planet's most pristine, biodiverse marine environments," David Henkin, an Earthjustice lawyer, said in a statement. "Piling lawlessness on top of lawlessness, the National Marine Fisheries Service chose to carry out President Trump's illegal proclamation by issuing its own illegal directive, with no public input." Designating the area in the Pacific Ocean to the south and west of the Hawaiian islands as a monument provided "needed protection to a wide variety of scientific and historical treasures in one of the most spectacular and unique ocean ecosystems on earth," the lawsuit said. The lawsuit added that allowing commercial fishing in the monument expansion harms the "cultural, spiritual, religious, subsistence, educational, recreational, and aesthetic interests" of a group of Native Hawaiian plaintiffs who are connected genealogically to the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific. Environmentalists have filed a lawsuit against US President Donald Trump's executive order that they say strips core protections from the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument and opens it to harmful commercial fishing. On the same day of last month's proclamation allowing commercial fishing in the monument, Trump issued an order to boost the US commercial fishing industry by peeling back regulations and opening up harvesting in previously protected areas. The monument was created by President George W. Bush in 2009 and consists of about 1.3 million square kilometres in the central Pacific Ocean. President Barack Obama expanded the monument in 2014. A week after the April 17 proclamation, the US National Marine Fisheries Service sent a letter to fishing permit holders giving them a green light to fish commercially within the monument's boundaries, even though a long-standing fishing ban remains on the books, according to a lawsuit filed in a federal court in Honolulu. The first longline fisher started fishing in the monument just three days after that letter, according to Earthjustice, which has been tracking vessel activity within the monument using Global Fishing Watch. The Department of Justice declined to comment. The lawsuit noted that commercial longline fishing, an industrial method involving baited hooks from lines 96km or longer, will snag turtles, marine mammals or seabirds that are attracted to the bait or swim through the curtain of hooks. "We will not stand by as the Trump administration unleashes highly destructive commercial fishing on some of the planet's most pristine, biodiverse marine environments," David Henkin, an Earthjustice lawyer, said in a statement. "Piling lawlessness on top of lawlessness, the National Marine Fisheries Service chose to carry out President Trump's illegal proclamation by issuing its own illegal directive, with no public input." Designating the area in the Pacific Ocean to the south and west of the Hawaiian islands as a monument provided "needed protection to a wide variety of scientific and historical treasures in one of the most spectacular and unique ocean ecosystems on earth," the lawsuit said. The lawsuit added that allowing commercial fishing in the monument expansion harms the "cultural, spiritual, religious, subsistence, educational, recreational, and aesthetic interests" of a group of Native Hawaiian plaintiffs who are connected genealogically to the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific. Environmentalists have filed a lawsuit against US President Donald Trump's executive order that they say strips core protections from the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument and opens it to harmful commercial fishing. On the same day of last month's proclamation allowing commercial fishing in the monument, Trump issued an order to boost the US commercial fishing industry by peeling back regulations and opening up harvesting in previously protected areas. The monument was created by President George W. Bush in 2009 and consists of about 1.3 million square kilometres in the central Pacific Ocean. President Barack Obama expanded the monument in 2014. A week after the April 17 proclamation, the US National Marine Fisheries Service sent a letter to fishing permit holders giving them a green light to fish commercially within the monument's boundaries, even though a long-standing fishing ban remains on the books, according to a lawsuit filed in a federal court in Honolulu. The first longline fisher started fishing in the monument just three days after that letter, according to Earthjustice, which has been tracking vessel activity within the monument using Global Fishing Watch. The Department of Justice declined to comment. The lawsuit noted that commercial longline fishing, an industrial method involving baited hooks from lines 96km or longer, will snag turtles, marine mammals or seabirds that are attracted to the bait or swim through the curtain of hooks. "We will not stand by as the Trump administration unleashes highly destructive commercial fishing on some of the planet's most pristine, biodiverse marine environments," David Henkin, an Earthjustice lawyer, said in a statement. "Piling lawlessness on top of lawlessness, the National Marine Fisheries Service chose to carry out President Trump's illegal proclamation by issuing its own illegal directive, with no public input." Designating the area in the Pacific Ocean to the south and west of the Hawaiian islands as a monument provided "needed protection to a wide variety of scientific and historical treasures in one of the most spectacular and unique ocean ecosystems on earth," the lawsuit said. The lawsuit added that allowing commercial fishing in the monument expansion harms the "cultural, spiritual, religious, subsistence, educational, recreational, and aesthetic interests" of a group of Native Hawaiian plaintiffs who are connected genealogically to the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific. Environmentalists have filed a lawsuit against US President Donald Trump's executive order that they say strips core protections from the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument and opens it to harmful commercial fishing. On the same day of last month's proclamation allowing commercial fishing in the monument, Trump issued an order to boost the US commercial fishing industry by peeling back regulations and opening up harvesting in previously protected areas. The monument was created by President George W. Bush in 2009 and consists of about 1.3 million square kilometres in the central Pacific Ocean. President Barack Obama expanded the monument in 2014. A week after the April 17 proclamation, the US National Marine Fisheries Service sent a letter to fishing permit holders giving them a green light to fish commercially within the monument's boundaries, even though a long-standing fishing ban remains on the books, according to a lawsuit filed in a federal court in Honolulu. The first longline fisher started fishing in the monument just three days after that letter, according to Earthjustice, which has been tracking vessel activity within the monument using Global Fishing Watch. The Department of Justice declined to comment. The lawsuit noted that commercial longline fishing, an industrial method involving baited hooks from lines 96km or longer, will snag turtles, marine mammals or seabirds that are attracted to the bait or swim through the curtain of hooks. "We will not stand by as the Trump administration unleashes highly destructive commercial fishing on some of the planet's most pristine, biodiverse marine environments," David Henkin, an Earthjustice lawyer, said in a statement. "Piling lawlessness on top of lawlessness, the National Marine Fisheries Service chose to carry out President Trump's illegal proclamation by issuing its own illegal directive, with no public input." Designating the area in the Pacific Ocean to the south and west of the Hawaiian islands as a monument provided "needed protection to a wide variety of scientific and historical treasures in one of the most spectacular and unique ocean ecosystems on earth," the lawsuit said. The lawsuit added that allowing commercial fishing in the monument expansion harms the "cultural, spiritual, religious, subsistence, educational, recreational, and aesthetic interests" of a group of Native Hawaiian plaintiffs who are connected genealogically to the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific.
Los Angeles Times
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Environmentalists' lawsuit challenges Trump's order to allow commercial fishing in Pacific monument
HONOLULU — Environmentalists are challenging in court President Trump's executive order that they say strips core protections from the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument and opens the area to harmful commercial fishing. On the same day of last month's proclamation allowing commercial fishing in the monument, Trump issued an order to boost the U.S. commercial fishing industry by peeling back regulations and opening up harvesting in previously protected areas. The monument was created by President George W. Bush in 2009 and expanded by President Obama to nearly 500,000 square miles in the central Pacific Ocean. A week after the April 17 proclamation, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service sent a letter to fishing permit holders giving them a green light to fish commercially within the monument's boundaries, even though a long-standing fishing ban remains on the books, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court in Honolulu. The first longline fisher started fishing in the monument just three days after that letter, according to Earthjustice, which has been tracking vessel activity within the monument using Global Fishing Watch. The Department of Justice declined to comment Friday. The lawsuit noted that commercial longline fishing, an industrial method involving baited hooks from lines 60 miles or longer, will snag turtles, marine mammals or seabirds that are attracted to the bait or swim through the curtain of hooks. 'We will not stand by as the Trump administration unleashes highly destructive commercial fishing on some of the planet's most pristine, biodiverse marine environments,' David Henkin, an Earthjustice attorney, said in a statement. 'Piling lawlessness on top of lawlessness, the National Marine Fisheries Service chose to carry out President Trump's illegal proclamation by issuing its own illegal directive, with no public input.' Designating the area in the Pacific to the south and west of the Hawaiian Islands as a monument provided 'needed protection to a wide variety of scientific and historical treasures in one of the most spectacular and unique ocean ecosystems on earth,' the lawsuit said. The lawsuit added that allowing commercial fishing in the monument expansion harms the 'cultural, spiritual, religious, subsistence, educational, recreational, and aesthetic interests' of a group of Native Hawaiian plaintiffs who are connected genealogically to the Indigenous people of the Pacific. Johnston Atoll is the closest island in the monument to Hawaii, about 717 nautical miles west-southwest of the state. Kelleher writes for the Associated Press.
