Saving Seafood

WPRFMC asks Trump to allow commercial fishing in Papahānaumokuākea

June 30, 2025 — Following U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to allow commercial fishing in parts of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRFMC) has asked the president to do the same for the Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary.

Comprising several islands and atolls, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument was first established in 2006, and commercial fishing was banned within the monument in 2010. The monument was later expanded by former U.S. President Barack Obama to 582,578 square miles in size, making it the nation’s largest marine protected area.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Hawaii’s Papahānaumokuākea is America’s 18th national marine sanctuary

January 21, 2025 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration designated the marine portions of Hawaii’s Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, a 582,570 square-mile area in the Pacific Ocean, as America’s 18th national marine sanctuary.

Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary will be the largest sanctuary in the National Marine Sanctuary System, and is one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world, NOAA said.

The final rule was published on Jan. 16, days before the end of the Biden-Harris administration

Sanctuary designation will not change the area’s status as a marine national monument.

Read the full article at the Pacific Daily News

Nuisance alga detected beyond Papahānaumokuākea for the 1st time

December 17, 2024 — A red alga first found by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa researchers smothering coral reefs in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM) has been detected for the first time by the team outside of the marine monument and more than 2,000 miles away.

The research team detected DNA matching Chondria tumulosa in Majuro Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the east-central Pacific Ocean. Papahānaumokuākea is a chain of islands and atolls that extends approximately 1,200 miles northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands in the northern Pacific.

“Our discovery in Majuro suggests that C. tumulosa may be more widespread than we previously thought. This could have significant implications for coral reef ecosystems across the Pacific, potentially requiring broader monitoring efforts and a more comprehensive understanding of the alga’s distribution and ecological impact,” said UH Mānoa School of Life Sciences graduate student Patrick Nichols.

A threat to coral reefs

First detected in 2016 and named in 2020 by UH researchers, C. tumulosa has earned a reputation for smothering coral reefs in PMNM, where it forms dense mats that blanket corals and other native organisms. Its mat-forming behavior, ability to spread rapidly, and unknown origin have posed significant challenges for reef conservation.

Until now, the alga had only been observed spreading throughout the three northwestern-most atolls of PMNM: first at Manawai (Pearl and Hermes), then Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll) and Hōlanikū (Kure Atoll). However, a new detection outside of Hawaiʻi caught the researchers by surprise.

Read the full article at the University of Hawaii News

Huge Amount Of Marine Garbage Removed From Papahanaumokuakea

June 18, 2024 — A major trash cleanup by a nonprofit organization has concluded at Kuaihelani, also known as Midway Atoll, located in a marine national monument that is home to hundreds of endangered Hawaiian monk seals and 14 million seabirds representing 22 species.

Some 70,080 pounds of marine debris were hauled away and nearly 11 miles of shoreline cleaned up at Kuaihelani, located within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, according to a news release from Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project.

Some 35,100 pounds of derelict fishing nets, also known as ghost nets, were among the debris. Nearly 33,000 pounds of other marine garbage, such as buoys and floats, were also removed.

Read the full article at the Civil Beat

NOAA talks new proposal for Papahanaumokuakea

March 12, 2024 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is proposing a national marine sanctuary in the marine portions of the existing Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, which is a protected area to the northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands.

According to NOAA, Papahanaumokuakea is the “largest contiguous fully protected conservation area under the U.S. flag and one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world. It encompasses 582,578 square miles of the Pacific Ocean (1,508,870 square kilometers) – an area larger than all the country’s national parks combined.”

NOAA’s superintendent of Papahanaumokuakea, Eric Roberts, joined Take2 Friday morning to explain the importance of the proposal and what the benefits could be.

Read the full article at KHON

HAWAII: Native Hawaiian fishing permit approved for Papahanaumokuakea

December 12, 2022 — New regulations for federal waters surrounding Papahanaumo ­kuakea, one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world, were voted on last week by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, which oversees fisheries in Hawaii waters and the U.S. Pacific Islands.

A noncommercial and subsistence fishing permitting system has been recommended for federal waters surrounding the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in a move to encourage Native Hawaiian cultural practices, and it will come with the ability for fishers to recoup up to $15, 000 per subsistence fishing trip.

New regulations for federal waters surrounding Papahanaumo ­kuakea, one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world, were voted on last week by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, which oversees fisheries in Hawaii waters and the U.S. Pacific Islands. After approval by the secretary of commerce, council recommendations are implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

While Papahanaumokuakea encompasses 582, 578 square miles of the Pacific Ocean—an area larger than all the country’s national parks combined—the noncommercial and subsistence fishing zone outside of the monument would be allowed from 50 to 200 nautical miles in expansion areas around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Read the full article at Yahoo News

Hawaii and other big marine protected areas ‘could work against conservation’

September 6, 2016 — British and US marine scientists say that the race to designate ever-bigger marine national parks in remote parts of the world could work against conservation.

In an commentary timed to coincide with President Obama’s announcement of the huge extension of a marine park off Hawaii, the authors argue that the creation of very large marine protection areas (Vlmpas) may give the illusion of conservation, when in fact they may be little more than “paper parks”.

“It is not enough to simply cover the remotest parts of our oceans in notional ‘protection’ – we need to focus on seas closer to shore, where most of the fishing and drilling actually happens,” said Peter Jones, a marine researcher at University College London.

Co-author Elizabeth de Santo, an assistant professor at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania, added that the push for quantity over quality threatens to undermine sustainability.

“There are concerns that marine conservation aims could be undermined by this focus on a few big areas. The marine biodiversity target is about much more than the proportion of the seas that are covered,” she said.

In the past five years over 20 huge new marine parks have been designated by countries, including Britain, in response to calls by marine scientists to protect more of the oceans.

Read the full story at The Guardian

Proclamation of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument Expansion

August 31, 2016 — The following is excerpted from the official proclamation of the expansion of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument Expansion:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, hereby proclaim the objects identified above that are situated upon lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be part of the Papaha ̄naumokua ̄kea Marine National Monument Expansion (Monument Expansion) and, for the purpose of pro- tecting those objects, reserve as a part thereof all lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government within the boundaries described on the accompanying map entitled ‘‘Papaha ̄naumokua ̄kea Marine National Monument Expansion’’ attached hereto, which forms a part of this proclamation. The Monument Expansion comprises the waters and sub- merged lands in the U.S. EEZ west of 163° West Longitude adjacent to the Monument. The Federal lands and interests in lands reserved consist of approximately 442,781 square miles, which is the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.

All Federal lands and interests in lands within the boundaries of the Monument Expansion are hereby appropriated and withdrawn from all forms of entry, location, selection, sale, leasing, or other disposition under the public land laws to the extent that those laws apply, including but not limited to, withdrawal from location, entry, and patent under mining laws, and from disposition under all laws relating to development of oil and gas, minerals, geothermal, or renewable energy. Lands and interest in lands within the Monument Expansion not owned or controlled by the United States shall be reserved as part of the Monument Expansion upon acquisition of title or control by the United States.

See the full proclamation here