U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about transportation infrastructure during a visit to the Port of Wilmington in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S. on July 17, 2014.
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He essentially quadrupled the size of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument to 582,578 square miles, which is located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
The president is slated to travel to the monument next week to mark the new designation and cite the need to protect public lands and waters from climate change.
The designation indefinitely stops any mineral extraction or commercial fishing.
The new monument quadruples the size of an existing monument established in the area by President George W Bush in 2006, expanding it to the far western boundary of USA territorial waters. He has created 26 national monuments covering about 548 million acres of land (or sea), twice as much as any of his predecessors. However, recreational fishing, scientific research and removal of fish and other marine resources for Hawaiian cultural practices are exempted from this rule.
Sean Martin, the president of the Hawaii Longline Association, said his organization was disappointed Obama closed an area almost the size of Alaska without a public process. The Hawaii Longline Association said they haul two million pounds of fish from the designated area annually, the equivalent of $100 million. New wildlife has been discovered there since then and the expansion is expected to protect 7,000 marine animals, including whales and sea turtles classified as endangered species. In an interview, Kaho’ohalahala explained that Papahānaumokuākea, considered a sacred place, figures large in the creation myths of his people. Subsistence fishing by locals and scientific research will continue to be allowed. “This is a bold move, and it took a bold President-born and raised in Hawai’i-to address the serious issues of climate change, the dire state of our oceans and recognizing the cultural significance of the area for Native Hawaiians”.
It is home to a number of sunken US and Japanese planes and ships, including the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, which was sunk during the Battle of Midway in World War II, and is now submerged in almost 5,000 meters of water.
U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who formally proposed the PMNM expansion in a letter to the president in June, was among ardent supporters.
While many World Bank watchers expect Mr Kim to be reappointed, given the seven-decade tradition of choosing an American picked by the United States, the bank’s largest contributor, they say he will have to work to solidify support. “While the expansion to the 200-mile EEZ boundary will present some challenges in the short term, it carefully balances the very real human needs of today with the future health of the ecosystem that sustains life in these precious Hawaiian Islands”, wrote Governor Ige.
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The federal government will give Hawaii’s Department of Natural Resources and its Office of Hawaiian Affairs a greater role in supervising the monument.
