The marine policy of the Barack Obama administration comprises several significant environmental policy decisions for the oceans made during his two terms in office from 2009 to 2017. By executive action, US President Barack Obama increased fourfold the amount of protected marine space in waters under United States control, setting a major precedent for global ocean conservation. Using the U.S. president's authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906, he expanded to 200 nautical miles the seaward limits of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hawaii and the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument around the U.S. island possessions in the Central Pacific. In the Atlantic, Obama created the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, the first marine monument in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Atlantic.Yong, Ed. Obama: The Ocean President, The Atlantic Monthly, Jan. 4, 2017. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
In the second year of his presidency, on July 19, 2010, Obama signed an executive order entitled "Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes." This order created a policy framework for integrated marine spatial planning at the sub-national (regional) level. It also created a council of cabinet-level officials to coordinate policy under the nation's domestic and international rules for the oceans. This executive order reflected many of the recommendations of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy in its 2004 report to Congress.An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century. In 2014, the Obama administration inaugurated the "Our Ocean" series of annual conferences to build and promote international cooperation to protect the world's oceans. Members of the Obama administration testified on behalf of U.S. accession to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, to strengthen international norms respecting the freedom of navigation and for the sustainable development and use of marine resources. At the end of his second term in office, President Obama approved rules recommended by the National Ocean Council to combat illegal fishing on the high seas and seafood mislabeling through import traceability and catch certification requirements.
For fish stocks within the U.S. EEZ, administrators at NOAA Fisheries (also known as the National Marine Fisheries Service) oversaw implementation of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act amendments of 2007 that required overfished or depleted stocks to be rebuilt to population levels that could provide a sustainable yield. By 2013, a number of important fish stocks within the eight fishery management regions had been rebuilt. Several regional fishery management councils began developing ecosystem-based plans in response to renewed emphasis on the ecosystem approach to fisheries. The Obama administration advanced a precautionary approach to marine resource development in the Arctic Ocean by leading the successful negotiation of an agreement upon a 16-year moratorium on industrial fishing in the Central Arctic Ocean as it becomes ice-free due to global warming. U.S. ocean diplomats also participated in preparatory conferences on a new United Nations agreement for the conservation of and sharing of benefits from marine biodiversity in marine areas beyond national jurisdiction. At the International Maritime Organization, the U.S. delegation successfully negotiated a new set of international rules governing shipping in polar regions.
Expansion of Marine National Monuments and National Marine Sanctuaries
One of the main goals of the four-fold expansion of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument was to promote the conservation of marine biodiversity in the U.S. EEZ. Scientific studies have shown that underwater mountains, or seamounts, are rich in biodiversity as they provide a structure for animals to live on. Free-floating larvae lost on ocean currents are able to settle on seamounts from many distant areas. Seamounts cause comparatively strong currents that bring in phytoplankton and other nutrients and attract pelagic species. Sedentary animals like sponges, corals, and gorgonians propagate on the available space the seamount provides; they also benefit from incoming nutrients from the currents. These sedentary animals provide a structure and the basis of a thriving ecosystem. The original boundaries of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, set in 2006 at 50 nautical miles around the coral atolls and reefs, did not include many seamounts, which the revised boundaries now do. The goal of the expansion was to protect these biodiversity hot spots from potential adverse effects of fishing, allowing them to function as fish refugia, places where fish populations can grow and maintain a natural age structure, especially the pelagic tuna and sharks. President Obama's proclamation effectuating this geographic expansion in 2016 also expanded the management philosophy of the Monument. The proclamation added the Office of Hawaiian Affairs as a full partner in the cooperative management agreement in recognition of the significance of the islands and coral reefs to living Native Hawaiian culture. This expanded the basis for protection to include indigenous principles and cultural knowledge. Archaeological sites and ancestral environments are located on the islands of Nīhoa and Mokumanamana. Papahānaumokuākea was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as a mixed natural and cultural site in July 2010. This inscription adds a layer of international protection to the Monument.
Another monument President Obama expanded for biodiversity preservation is the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, surrounding Wake, Baker, Howland, and Jarvis Islands, Johnston and Palmyra Atolls, and Kingman Reef. These marine areas are part of the EEZ that was codified by the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The Obama administration in 2012 expanded administratively the boundaries of the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary from less than one square mile to 13,581 square miles. It also reestablished the sanctuary nomination process under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. Regulations calling for public nominations were published in the Federal Register in June, 2014. NOAA, however, rejected a nomination to establish the Aleutian Islands National Marine Sanctuary based on a lack of support from the communities that would be most affected by the designation.
Trump administration actions to rollback new and expanded marine reserves On 26 April 2017 President Trump signed Executive Order 13792, which directed the Secretary of the Interior to review certain National Monuments designated or expanded under the Antiquities Act. Section 2 of the Executive Order specifies that not all National Monuments are under review, only those that "were created after 1 January 1996, where the designation covers more than 100,000 acres, where the designation after expansion covers more than 100,000 acres, or where the Secretary determines that the designation or expansion was made without adequate public outreach and coordination with relevant stakeholders, to determine whether each designation or expansion conforms to the policy set forth in section 1 of the order." The Marine National Monuments being considered under this Executive Order include but are not limited to: the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, and the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument. Unlike Marine Sanctuary designation, Marine National Monument designation does not require a public comment period because National Monuments are established by means of the Antiquities Act and Marine Sanctuaries are created by an act of NOAA and Congress. Through this review process Trump and Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke hoped to "gain local input [which] is a critical component of federal land management." As of 19 December 2019 Zinke is no longer the Secretary of the Interior and the only National Monuments that have shrunk in size were terrestrial ones located in Utah, namely Bears Ears and Grand Staircase–Escalante. In his report, Zinke advised Trump to allow commercial fishing within the Rose Atoll, Pacific Remote Islands, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monuments.
On June 6, 2020, former President Trump issued a proclamation reopening the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts to commercial fishing, arguing that the fish species protected by the monument (tuna, sharks, etc.) are not unique and are well-managed for sustainability under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. He further stated that as the Magnuson-Stevens act regulates commercial fishing, to "ensure long-term biological and economic sustainability for our Nation's marine fisheries", the prohibition on commercial fishing was not necessary to protecting the integrity of the monument. On the previous day, at a roundtable discussion of commercial fishing issues in Bangor, Maine, the president stated that the Obama proclamation creating the Monument, which had made a seven-year exception to the no-fishing rule for the offshore lobster and red crab industries, "was deeply unfair to Maine lobstermen," according to the Associated Press. According to the White House transcript of the roundtable, however, Maine lobstermen, who do not fish in waters as far south as the Monument, commented that the tariffs imposed by China on their lobster shipments, in retaliation for the U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports, had reduced their exports to zero. President Trump directed his trade advisor to look into the complaint. In further comment on his actions, which have been challenged in court by the Conservation Law Foundation. According to the trade magazine serving the fishing industry, a press release from the National Fisheries Institute applauded the Trump administration for withdrawing arbitrary fisheries restrictions on the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument off the coast of New England". "We welcome efforts to refocus on fisheries regulation that are transparent, participatory and science-based, and in this case best achieved through the New England Fishery Management Council."
Biden administration actions on U.S. marine reserves On his first day in office, President Joe Biden, signed a number of executive orders and actions to restart U.S. efforts to address climate change. These actions included an order directing a whole-of-government approach to tackling the climate crisis by transitioning to a low-carbon economy, rejoining the Paris Agreement, and committing the Nation to a goal of conserving at least 30% of its lands and waters by 2030. The new president also ordered executive branch agencies to freeze approval reviews of oil and gas leasing on federal lands and restore environmental rules critical to combatting climate change, including increasing vehicle fuel efficiency standards and cutting greenhouse gas emissions from electricity-generating power plants. He directed the Secretary of Interior to review and revise if appropriate the previous administration's alterations of national monuments, including the marine national monuments created or expanded by President Obama in the Northwest Atlantic and the Pacific.
Science-based marine conservation policies