‘It’s a lousy idea’: KIRO hosts question Trump’s move to open protected waters for seafood industry boost

President Donald Trump opened three marine protected areas in the Pacific Ocean to commercial fishing with a proclamation Thursday that he said will boost the U.S. seafood industry.

KIRO host Spike O’Neill and fill-in host Mike Lewis raised concerns with Trump’s move to open up the three monuments in an attempt to lower seafood prices, even though the actual size of each protected zone is relatively small.

“These national monuments are protected for a number of reasons,” Spike said on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “These national monument protected areas, they felt needed protecting because it was a necessary tool for helping restore oceanic ecosystems, and to study the impact of the environment on oceanic ecosystems and the benefits they provide to the world and humanity. And the president wants to lift these three restrictions to lower seafood prices.”

KIRO hosts question impact on lower seafood prices

Trump has targeted marine protections created in the era of former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush that he said stifle the country’s ability to compete in the global seafood marketplace. He moved to reestablish fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off New England in February.

“National parks are supposed to be areas locked away from development,” Lewis said. “The problem with changing these, and there are sections of the oceans that are within US influence, U.S. waters that are both operating much more like, say, the Alaska Marine Fisheries, that operate much more like a national forest than a national park. If you were in one of these areas, they seem large, but compared to the Pacific Ocean, they are not.

“They are not necessary for commercial fishing, and it’s a shame that they’re doing that,” he continued. “It’s no different than opening up a national park for logging, which we don’t do right now, because there’s plenty of forest service land to do that. I know people in the commercial fishing industry who are not in favor of this. Because that doesn’t just keep our own commercial fishing industry from going in there, because then people are dropping dime on every poacher, and this is the problem with fishing generally. There are all kinds of disputes you don’t hear about with Japanese and Russian trawlers in U.S. waters, or overfishing in international waters we can’t really control.”

Thursday’s move focused on portions of the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, and Rose Atoll Marine National Monument. The monuments are protected zones in remote areas of the Pacific.

“There are things that will flow from this, but you are not going to see a penny in cheaper food, not a penny,” Lewis said. “This is much more because it’s such a relatively small area, given how large the ocean is. This sounds massive, but it’s not. It’s not going to actually move the needle. This thing is a lousy idea in a lot of ways. Even if you’re a cynic and all you want is cheaper seafood, this isn’t going to help.

Environmental groups have criticized Trump’s moves to allow fishing in protected zones, which they said provide vital habitat for rare sea life.

Watch the full discussion in the video above

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3