THE expansion of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument was discussed during a forum conducted by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council or WPRFMC at Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan on March 27 and 28, 2023.
Community members who attended the forum said they are opposed to the expansion of the national monument whose area consists of approximately 495,189 square miles in the central Pacific Ocean.
The Hawaii-based Pacific Remote Islands Coalition has been proposing to extend the monument to 200 miles from 50 miles around two sets of islands.
For its part, the WPRFMC is one of eight regional councils established under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act in 1976 to manage offshore fisheries.
The council is currently seeking comments from community members regarding the national monument’s proposed extension.
“It is concerning for us fishermen,” said Andrew Camacho, one of the community members who attended the forum. “Here in the Marianas, our main livelihood is fishing. Our waters are already small. With the expansion, our life will be more difficult as they will also restrict our fishing area.”
Another community member who declined to be identified said the proposed expansion has to be stopped.
“We are already having a hard time without tourism, now these people will also take away our natural resources,” said another community member.
In a meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii in September, the WPRFMC itself expressed its opposition to the proposal.
In a recent letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, U.S. Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata Coleman Radewagen of American Samoa said: “I strongly oppose any new National Marine Sanctuary designations in the Pacific, especially ones that are implemented by executive order without consultation with native Samoans and other Pacific Islanders who have cared for and relied on these waters for millennia. This action would destroy American Samoa’s fishing industry, which makes up about 80% of our local economy, contribute to regional food insecurity, and do nothing to address the predatory IUU fishing practices of the Chinese Communist Party.”
In a separate statement, John Gourley, the WPRFMC vice chair from the CNMI, stated: “Monument designation bypasses the courtesy of involving affected communities. Monuments are an unfunded mandate, and their designation does not mean that there will be money to support enforcement of regulations by the U.S. Coast Guard. This happened with the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument — it’s a paper park. It seems like there’s more concern about who has the largest monument than about what the purposes of the monument are.”
Community members participated in a public forum facilitated by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council at Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan on March 27, 2023.
