WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Donald Trump issued a proclamation Thursday opening 400,000 square miles in the Pacific Ocean back up to commercial fishing.

The area had been protected by two proclamations from former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to “protect and preserve the lands and marine environment around Wake, Baker, Howland and Jarvis Islands; Johnston and Palmyra Atolls; Kingman Reef; and the historic and scientific objects therein.”

However, in the “Unleashing American Commercial Fishing in the Pacific” proclamation, Trump says that the previous proclamations were redundant with existing law and that commercial fishing and the preservation of the ecosystems and wildlife in question aren’t mutually exclusive.

“Following further consideration of the nature of the objects identified in Proclamations 8336 and 9173 and the protection of those objects already provided by relevant law, I find that appropriately managed commercial fishing would not put the objects of scientific and historic interest that [they] protect at risk,” the proclamation reads.

The proclamation claims that the area’s “vulnerable marine species” and habitats are already protected by at least nine different federal laws and its fish populations are “effectively managed” by fisheries like the National Marine Fisheries Service, while the earlier proclamations’ prohibition on commercial fishing has served only to stifle American business.

The proclamation aims to re-open “nearly half of the United States Exclusive Economic Zone in the Pacific Islands” to commercial fishing.

This article was written By Morgan Sweeney and originally published by The Center Square. It is republished here with permission.