U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today applauded President Obama’s action to use his executive authority under the Antiquities Act and expand the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument – making it the largest marine protected area on Earth. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, a 1,200-mile-long archipelago nearly 300 miles northwest of Oahu – the island that includes the state’s capital, Honolulu – will now sit within a protected area that stretches 50 nautical miles from their shores in every direction. But it’s caused some controversy in Hawaii.
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The area is administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the State of Hawaii.
Steve Gittings, science coordinator at the NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. It encompasses 139,797 square miles of the Pacific Ocean (362,073 square kilometers) – an area larger than all the country’s national parks combined.
But Richard Pyle, a researcher at Hawaii’s Bishop Museum, said he and other scientists have concluded that the interconnectivity of the region – including the fish larvae that are dispersed on currents and the sharks and other pelagic fish that travel vast distances – extends beyond federal waters to the high seas. Hawaii’s longline fishing fleet supplies much of the fresh tuna and other fish to Hawaii. Papahanaumokuakea was established more than a decade ago under President George W. Bush.
Now that the proclamation has been made, the WPRF has called for a “transparent analysis of proposed marine monument expansion”. It also says the move will protect and improve the environment.
But Matt Rand, director of the Global Ocean Legacy project at the Pew Charitable Trusts, took a different view, saying that the change should have “a minimal economic impact” on fishing in the area.
According to its website, “the extensive coral reefs” in Papahānaumokuākea “are home to over 7,000 marine species, one quarter of which are found only in the Hawaiian Archipelago”.
Even before Friday’s announcement, Obama cemented his legacy as the US president who has designated the most land as government protected areas. In an interview, Kaho’ohalahala explained that Papahānaumokuākea, considered a sacred place, figures large in the creation myths of his people.
Additionally, the monument area contains several shipwrecks – including the USS Yorktown and several Japanese vessels – and downed aircraft from the Battle of Midway in World War II, marking a final resting place for the more than 3,000 individuals. Obama will travel to the Midway Atoll to discuss the expansion. The battle marked a major shift in the war.
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President Obama, who marked the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service by designating a whole new land monument in ME, is giving oceans some love, too. This arrangement has been previously requested by Senator Brian Schatz and Governor Ige. “Expanding Papahanaumokuakea will replenish stocks of ‘ahi, promote biodiversity, fight climate change, and give a greater voice to Native Hawaiians in managing this resource”.
