Miriam Goldstein

Letter: Navarro's fisheries claims just don't hold water By Miriam Goldstein | March 2, 2026 Navarro’s fisheries claims just don’t hold water To the Editor: As an ocean scientist and Manchester native, I read with interest Peter Navarro’s op-ed on Donald Trump’s fisheries policy (“Fish ban lifted to lower cost,” Feb. 23). Unfortunately, his op-ed suffers from poor geography and worse economics — no doubt he would have been better off had he also attended Central High School. First, Navarro seems unaware of where the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument actually is. Located 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod, the monument is so far offshore that it comprises less than 1% of historic fishing grounds. While it protects rare deep-sea corals and underwater canyons deeper than the Grand Canyon, data on vessel movements show the monument has had little to no economic impact on commercial fisheries — unlike Trump’s tariff policy, which cost the average U.S. household $1,000 last year. Second, Navarro seems to have confused New Hampshire with New York. He addresses “New York families” and localities such as Montauk and Fulton Fish Market. New Hampshire readers deserve better than warmed-over New York leavings, particularly because of New Hampshire’s proud tradition of stewardship. Indeed, a 2022 poll of 3,500 New Englanders found more than 80% favor permanently protected marine areas. While Navarro touts his fishing bona fides, the administration he represents is moving to open over 1.27 billion acres of public waters to offshore oil and gas drilling, expanding deep-sea mining into key fishing grounds, and raising electricity prices at twice the rate of inflation. That isn’t just poor geography — it’s deliberate misdirection. Dr. Miriam Goldstein is the Executive Director of the National Ocean Protection Coalition and a graduate of the Central High School class of 1999.

Peter Navarro tried to explain Trump's fisheries policy in my hometown newspaper, but it turns out his geography is worse than his economics policies. You know what the Granite State loves? Getting mixed up with New York!

Anyway, I fixed his homework for him. ⬇️
www.unionleader.com/opinion/lett...

Purple sea urchin wearing a white cowboy hat. Source: https://www.boredpanda.com/sea-urchins-tiny-hats/

can they be shaped like tiny hats

Scaly-foot snail: The armor-plated hermaphrodite with a giant heart that lives near scalding deep-sea volcanoes and never eats Also known as "volcano snails," these gastropods grow a suit of metal-enriched scaly armor and have an enormous heart, which helps them survive in oxygen-poor water in the deep ocean.

So weird, Premee. www.livescience.com/animals/moll...

WEIRD INVERTEBRATES

This nostalgia is totally @beebrookshire.bsky.social's fault for this literal banger of a post. bsky.app/profile/beeb...

a person 's finger is pointing at a can of soda in the sand Alt: A tiny octopus in a soda can gently touching a human finger with one arm.

Considering coming off Bluesky hiatus, mostly to post ocean policy takes and weird invertebrates. Is this a terrible idea? Is it just misplaced nostalgia for Ocean Twitter circa 2010? Please advise.

This Monument Is the Latest Casualty in Trump’s War on Public Lands Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument could be opened up to commercial fishing

“We have the opportunity now, in this moment, to protect and save [these places] for future generations... We are passing this gift down so that they will know...that they're not a sad story of the past, but that they are there thriving quietly in the dark.” - Me www.sierraclub.org/sierra/monum...

I've explored the ocean's deepest part. Trump wants to destroy it. | Opinion I've been to the Mariana Trench. The choice is clear: Protect one of earth's last frontiers or destroy it before we even understand what we're losing.

Geologist @deepseadawn.bsky.social has been to the deepest place on Earth. Now, Trump wants to mine nearby. To her, "the choice is clear: protect and explore one of Earth’s last frontiers, or destroy it before we even understand what we are losing." tinyurl.com/22ta9fkw

YouTube video by Forbes Breaking News Maxine Dexter Decries 'Concerning Lack Of Transparency' In Deep Sea Mining Permitting Process

Two weeks ago I testified before congress on the promise and peril of deep-sea mining. A few key points of my testimony, and my responses to Congresswoman Dexter, were clipped by Forbes. I think they're worth a listen.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLY2...

Trump’s plan to open California’s coastline to oil drilling threatens more than ocean life OPINION: The Trump administration plans to open the length of California’s coast to offshore oil and gas development, regardless of the law and the consequences.

Forty years ago, Californians stopped an ill-conceived federal plan to open our coast to offshore oil and gas drilling. In the decades since, we’ve taken remarkable steps to safeguard our coastal waters. Now the Trump administration is pushing to undo all we’ve accomplished. bit.ly/3Lo2hWp

Gotta stand up for the city of DC here though I don't care about golf. DC has a wonderful system of public gyms and pools, all free to DC residents. We especially love the outdoor pools in the summer. dpr.dc.gov/reccenters

2) Architecture Errors The authors present basic metrics and assumptions about how our fleet is operating that are inconsistent with our latest published documentation and demonstrate a lack of understanding of our system and our operations beyond a basic level. One example of the authors’ incorrect assumptions is the number of autonomous underwater vehicles in a full fleet. A full-scale Eureka IV fleet will operate with 314 vehicles, whereas the authors assumed it would operate 90 AUVs. A second incorrect assumption is the ship size, where the authors assume a Panamax-class vessel with a Deadweight Tonnage (DWT) of 65-80 kDWT. The ship size used in the latest published model is 144 kDTW, and our latest plan is a Newcastlemax-class vessel with a 200 kDWT capacity. There are numerous other errors like this, and there is no documentation indicating where the authors’ numbers for our system come from. You can find our latest published model at this link. An updated version will be published and presented toward the end of this year.

I do encourage anyone familiar with ocean tech/ops/at-sea conditions to take a look both at the report and at IM's response, shown here. They want to run 314 AUVs simultaneously at abyssal depths from a very large vessel. Source: impossiblemetals.com/blog/correct...

reminds me of the Ocean Cleanup days, Dr. Martini @rejectedbanana.bsky.social

well Impossible Metals is so mad about this report that they spent all weekend posting about it on my LinkedIn...so you are definitely going to want to tune in! Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

i came back to share our upcoming DSM webinar and just couldn't resist making a crab joke while i was here! but still mostly off social

let's take the CAR out of CARCINIZATION

Link to full report: drive.google.com/file/d/1Rett...

A Techno-Economic Assessment of Seabed Mining: American Samoa and Global Implications - CleanTechnica Evidence based review finds deep ocean mining overstates its readiness, underestimates costs, and faces weak demand for nodule derived metals.

Link to Clean Technica article: cleantechnica.com/2025/11/18/a...

Flyer for deep sea mining webinar, showing pictures of panelists and moderator. Text reads: A new report on the technical and economic feasibility of deep sea mining in the American Samoa region finds that the approaches of two leading companies are plagued by flawed financial models, underestimated costs, and immature technology. Register for this webinar with the report authors to learn why deep sea mining is likely to be much harder, slower, and more expensive than proponents suggest.

Please join Michael Barnard, Lyle Trytten, and I for a public webinar to discuss their new report on whether seabed mining in the American Samoa region is economically viable and technically achievable. Tues 12/2 at 3 PM ET/12 PM PT/9 AM SST. Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Thanks! Please come join us!

Haunting read by my friend @oceanhoptimism.org

"Our data are exquisite. Our world is empty."

An amazing piece on the coral reefs of the future by Rick MacPherson.

DEATHBALL SPONGE 💀

Protect marine national monuments from destruction | GUEST COMMENTARY The Trump administration is working to open some of America’s protected natural treasures to industrial fishing and oil drilling, writes Lauren Wenzel.

"What's happening right now is exactly what I was working to prevent." A former NOAA director explains why opening our Marine National Monuments to industrial fishing is a disaster for conservation. Some places are too precious to risk: tinyurl.com/mr6tyjsw

President and CEO of Minorities in Shark Sciences, Jasmin Graham, shares how she's defying stereotypes and telling her own story. 🦈

Watch more from the 2025 Ocean Progress Symposium: https://www.americanprogress.org/events/ocean-progress-symposium-2025-advancing-conservation-close-to-shore/

Speed Mentoring 2025 — Women's Aquatic Network Join us and the National Academy of Sciences Ocean Studies Board on Wednesday, October 22nd for our annual Speed Mentoring event.

Come join me at the @womensaquaticdc.bsky.social and @nationalacademies.org Speed Networking event on October 22! Register here:

www.womensaquatic.org/events/speed...

They didn't use my full quote so I'll put the kicker here: "The public has a right to know what is at stake, and if the Trump
Administration won’t publish our comments, we will."

E&E News: Groups urge NOAA to keep commercial fishing out of monuments They also said the Trump administration has not used a transparent process for getting input from the public.

What do more than 230 scientists and 53 ocean conservation organizations have in common? They just told the Trump administration to protect our marine national monuments. Read more about our work to protect our monuments from industrial fishing: tinyurl.com/4d9xaa6e

Safeguard Papahānaumokuākea: The Future Of Our Oceans Depends On It It’s a sanctuary and a global model of ocean protection grounded in Native Hawaiian leadership.

“It is not our right to fish every inch of ocean… If we fail to safeguard Papahānaumokuākea, we risk losing not only a globally unique seascape but the wisdom it carries for managing our shared future.” Read more from Kanoeʻulalani Morishige in @CivilBeat (& sign the petition!) tinyurl.com/3jd4tt7m

Trump’s Exec. Order on seafood threatens decades of marine protections by opening national monuments to industrial fishing. Gear like trawls, gillnets and longlines devastates habitats and both targeted and not species. Tell NOAA to protect ocean ecosystems! secure.everyaction.com/cvNZk5i6cUaE...