Environmentalists are challenging in court President Donald 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. The lawsuit says that 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. The lawsuit says that happened despite a long-standing fishing ban still being on the books. The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment Friday.
