“It was a unanimous vote,” said Rota Municipal Council secretary Vicente Calvo, who is also the AMIN vice president.
The group held its two-day general assembly on Rota recently.
Calvo said AMIN finds the proposed national monument an affront to the Pacific islands’ traditional manner of protecting and giving respect to individual rights when determining matters of importance to the common good.
Rep. Stanley T. Torres, R-Saipan, said he was impressed that the leaders of the entire Marianas, including the Guam, are taking part in a helping their fellow islanders in the Northern Marianas oppose the proposed monument.
Guam Fisherman’s Co-Op president Manny Duenas urged Guam officials to join the CNMI government in its efforts to block the federal plan, saying that it will affect the tradition that local fishermen have been practicing for over 4,000 years.
Calvo said the proposed monument extends to the southern side of Guam waters, which are rich in seamount resources.
The monument will exclude 50 percent of the marine resources in the southern seamount, he added.
Dr. John Joyner, Coastal Resource Management director, said the monument proposal, whose main proponent is the Philadelphia-based Pew group, is “counter to the successful indigenous cultural strategies historically demonstrated by the NMI in concert with its federal partners of sustainable use of natural resources.”
AMIN also adopted the following during its general assembly on Rota:
• A resolution expressing its gratitude, recognition and support to the Guam and CNMI National Guards, Army Reservists and members of the armed forces for serving the nation.
• A resolution asking Guam Customs and Quarantine to accommodate late arrivals from Rota and Saipan, and remove the extra fee imposed on cargo flights.
• A resolution asking the Attorney Generals Office to completely remove or reduce the immigration fee of $100 of boaters from Guam, and;
• A resolution amending the existing scholarship program of AMIN to include the students of trade and vocational schools.
Calvo said the general assembly was very fruitful and AMIN members were “confident” they can achieve the goals set out by the resolutions they adopted.
