Speaking on behalf of the House leadership, Palacios, R-Saipan, said although the Marianas Marine National Monument will be a protected zone, CNMI residents will still have access to the area to continue the indigenous people’s traditional fishing culture.
He said James Connaughton, the chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Policy, successfully convinced the president to include what the CNMI wanted in the monument.
“As a result, we have in the monument a focused ecosystem management approach,” Palacios said.
“There will be 50-nautical mile conservation management zones, rather than the 200-mile exclusive economic zone, within and around the three northernmost islands which are already protected under our CNMI Constitution,” said the speaker, a former director of the Division of Fish and Wildlife.
“Residents of the CNMI will have access to the area and traditional indigenous fishing will continue. There will be co-management sharing between federal and local governments and a revenue sharing component on mineral resources. I can safely say that this Marianas Marine Monument is something that I can embrace,” he added.
Palacios said a lot of lawmakers were skeptical about the original monument proposal.
He thanked Connaughton for meeting with lawmakers before finalizing the monument declaration.
The White House, he added, “took into account not only my input but those of our local leaders, including the governor and the Senate president, and incorporated them into the final declaration.”
