Biden-Harris Administration, NOAA Designate 18th National Marine Sanctuary

By noaa.gov.

Papahānaumokuākea sanctuary status to bring strengthened conservation, management to area.

NOAA is designating the marine portions of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, a 582,570 square-mile area in the Pacific Ocean, as America’s 18th national marine sanctuary. Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary will be the largest sanctuary in the National Marine Sanctuary System, and is one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world.

Located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary will provide additional ways to manage and protect the area’s nationally significant biological, cultural and historical resources.

Sanctuary designation will not change the area’s status as a marine national monument. The sanctuary designation advances President Biden’s ocean conservation legacy and his America the Beautiful initiative, which supports locally-led, collaborative conservation efforts across the country.

“National marine sanctuary designation will bring a stronger framework for marine conservation and protection to the waters of Papahānaumokuākea,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “The Sanctuary will also facilitate scientific research, resource monitoring and coordinated efforts to ensure the long-term health of this natural, cultural and historically significant area.”

NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries will co-manage the sanctuary with the State of Hawaiʻi and in partnership with NOAA Fisheries, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, consistent with the existing management of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

The newly designated Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary area is approximately 582,250 square miles of the marine portions of the monument. The boundary includes the marine environment surrounding the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands from the shoreline of the islands and atolls seaward to 200 nautical miles, including all state waters and waters of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve, Midway Atoll and Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuges, and state of Hawaiʻi Northweste

The sanctuary boundary will include the marine environment surrounding the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands from the shoreline of the islands and atolls seaward to 200 nautical miles. It will encompass an expansive area of coral reefs, seamounts, banks and shoals that are home to a wide variety of invertebrates, fish, birds, marine mammals and other wildlife — many of which are found only in the Hawaiian Islands.

read more at noaa.gov.