November 17, 2021 — One of the world’s largest protected marine areas will open again to commercial fishing, the Kiribati government said Monday.

The Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA), located in the south Pacific, was designated as a “no-take” zone in 2015, which prohibited commercial fishing in the area encompassing more than 157,000 square miles, The Guardian reported.

“Similar to any Government, our decisions, as we make them, put the livelihoods of our people at the fore and have been carefully considered and agreed to as a Government,” a government press statement read, referring to the economic benefits the nation could receive by lifting the commercial fishing ban, according to The Guardian.

Read the full story at The Hill