Cook Island News asked Marine Resources legal services’ Peter Graham what impact this might have on the country.
Graham said they don’t yet know enough about the declaration by President Bush that 505,000 square kilometers of Pacific Ocean is to become a monument to preserve some of the world’s most abundant environments.
The areas include the Mariana Trench in the Northern Mariana Islands, a chain of remote islands in the Central Pacific and American Samoa’s Rose Atoll.
The latter is near the Tokelau Islands and shares a maritime boundary with the Cook Islands.
As a result of the declaration, Graham said there will be a 50 nautical mile commercial fishing closure around Rose Atoll.
The atoll though is more than 100 nautical miles from the Cook Islands maritime boundary so it shouldn’t have much of an impact here.
The Rose Atoll area has been closed to commercial fishing for several years and the monument or reserve status extends the closure area a little further, said Graham.
The Rose Atoll Marine National Monument includes rare species of nesting petrels, shearwaters, and terns. Its waters hold many rare species, including giant clams and reef sharks, as well as an unusual abundance of rose-colored corals.
“The monuments will preserve sites of cultural and spiritual significance to native peoples,” Graham said.
“They will ensure full freedom of navigation, and include measures to uphold training missions and other military operations,” Graham added.
