It was his predecessor, George W. Bush, who established the monument about 10 years ago, but Obama chose to expand on it as part of his push for conservation and climate change issues as his final term wraps up.
Advertisement
The expanded monument area also contains resources of great historical and cultural significance.
U.S. President Barack Obama will dramatically expand the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument off the coast of Hawaii on Friday, the White House said, an action that will ban commercial fishing from more than 582,500 sq miles (1.5 million sq km) of the Pacific Ocean. Researchers in Hawaii have discovered three probable new species of fish while on an expedition in the protected waters of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.
Papahānaumokuākea, located off the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, is home to 7,000 of some of the world’s most precious species, a quarter of which are completely native to the Hawaiian Islands alone.
“Closing 60 percent of Hawaii’s waters to commercial fishing, when science is telling us that it will not lead to more productive local fisheries, makes no sense”, Council Chair Edwin Ebiusi Jr. said in the statement.
“By expanding the monument, President Obama has increased protections for one of the most biologically and culturally significant places on the planet” said Joshua S. Reichert, an executive vice president at Pew. Additionally, as ocean acidification, warming, and other impacts of climate change threaten marine ecosystems, expanding the monument will improve ocean resilience, help the region’s distinct physical and biological resources adapt, and create a natural laboratory that will allow scientists to monitor and explore the impacts of climate change on these fragile ecosystems.
“Native Hawaiian culture considers the Monument and the adjacent area a sacred place”.
It is home to a number of sunken USA 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. The battle marked a major shift in the war.
The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument created by President Bush a decade ago has since been renamed the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, in honour of the Hawaiian gods Papahānaumoku and Wakea.
Even before Friday’s announcement, Obama cemented his legacy as the USA president who has designated the most land as government protected areas.
Advertisement
Native Hawaiians are allowed to remove fish for use in cultural practices. But several of the islands in the original monument area can be seen on Google Street View, where you can take a scroll down Tern Island and East Island at French Frigate Shoals, Laysan Island, Lisianski Island, Pearl and Hermes Atoll and Midway Atoll. Hawaii’s Department of Natural Resources and Office of Hawaiian Affairs will be trustees for the monument, giving them a say in its management.
