US President Donald Trump wants to open up several previously protected marine areas to fishing despite environmental concerns.
Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday that he wants to allow scallop fishing again on the northern edge of Georges Bank, in the north-eastern United States.
"That will mean millions more pounds of beautiful Wild Scallops a year on the kitchen table of Americans," Trump wrote, stressing that new jobs would be created and domestic production boosted.
A rotational access system is to be introduced for fishermen, the US agency responsible for oceans, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said.
Environmental groups, however, are warning of damage caused by scallop fishing, which usually involves scraping scallops off the seabed.
The Conservation Law Foundation said this endangers Atlantic cod, which seeks shelter in the rocky seabed in the area.
Fishing in protected areas?
Until now, that part of Georges Bank has been protected. Once considered one of the most productive fishing grounds in the world, the area in the North Atlantic between Cape Cod near Boston in the US state of Massachusetts and Nova Scotia in Canada now needs protection from overfishing.
Trump also announced that he wanted to open up "a massive area off the East Coast for our Great Lobster Fishermen, and others."
In addition, he said "half a million square miles of the beautiful Pacific Ocean" is to be made accessible to US fishermen. According to NOAA, catch quotas and protection measures are to be lifted in part in the Pacific.
Trump blamed previous Democratic presidents for "ridiculous Environmental restrictions" that he said allowed foreigners to take advantage of US waters.
