GOVERNOR Arnold I. Palacios is asking the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries to make a meaningful engagement with the Marianas communities regarding the proposed designation of marine sanctuaries in the region.
In his letter to NOAA-ONMS Director John Armor last week, the governor requested for an additional 45 days to comment on the designation of Pacific Remote Islands Monument that includes an expansion of boundaries throughout exclusive economic zones or EEZ.
He said the CNMI was not consulted in advance in making the decision to proceed with the designation process, which, he added, “has not been transparent, is moving too quickly, and is placing the underserved Western Pacific communities at a disadvantage.”
The governor said NOAA-ONMS should “meaningfully engage with the Marianas communities in explaining the sanctuary process and be more transparent in their actions.”
The governor reminded Armor of his Feb. 4, 2023, letter, inquiring about the status of the Mariana Trench Sanctuary nomination. He noted that the second public comment period ended on April 25, 2022, and it has been over a year but ONMS has not officially made public whether the Marianas Trench remains on the inventory list or not.
He reiterated that both the CNMI government’s previous and current administrations do not support the proposed Mariana Trench Sanctuary.
However, the governor said he has yet to receive NOAA’s response to his letter.
Now, he said, the Western Pacific “is facing another sanctuary designation for the Pacific Remote Islands Monument that includes an expansion of boundaries throughout the EEZ.”
This particular sanctuary effort, which is the third in the Western Pacific, “is being advanced at an unprecedented pace complete with pre-determined sanctuary boundaries and with the highest level of protection as outlined in the nomination document and President Biden’s executive memorandum to the secretary of the Department of Commerce,” the governor said.
He noted that NOAA-ONMS just completed its series of public meetings in the Marianas for the PRI Sanctuary this past week. He was informed that the question-and-answer session was cut short in order to get the comments before the close of the hearing at 8 p.m.
“Unfortunately, our island communities are facing the same situation when ONMS was conducting their five-year review for the proposed Mariana Trench Sanctuary; there was a lot of confusion of what was being proposed and the general public doesn’t understand the difference between a monument and sanctuary. What good is it to collect public comments on a federal action when the affected communities don’t fully understand what the issues are?” the governor asked.
He said the CNMI island communities, as well as the entire U.S. Western Pacific family, “deserve better communication from your office as your agency attempts to designate one large marine sanctuary after another from Hawaii to the Marianas archipelago.”
The existing Marine National Monument system, the governor said, has already taken away our commercial fishing rights in over 50% of the entire U.S. Western Pacific waters.
Apparently, he said, this is not enough as the proposed PRI Sanctuary includes monument boundary expansions with further inferred commercial fishing closures.
This designation has the potential to impact future fishing efforts by the U.S. Pacific Island fishing communities, “and quite honestly, there is not much U.S. waters remaining in the Western Pacific where the U.S. fishing fleet doesn’t have to compete directly with foreign fishing vessels,” Palacios said.
He added that keeping U.S waters open for future sustainable fishing ventures is necessary to maintain island economies and support Pacific Island culture.
