Papahānaumokuākea sanctuary status to bring strengthened conservation, management to area of Hawaiian National Marine Monument
January 15, 2025
Signed in the final hours under the Biden- Harris Administration, NOAA is currently 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. The Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary is 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. In 2006, President George W. Bush established the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) Marine National Monument, the first marine monument yo be established under executive order. A year later it was renamed the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument to honor Hawaiian cultural and spiritual practices.
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.
A National marine sanctuary designation brings a stronger framework and management for marine conservation and protection to the waters of Papahānaumokuākea. Sanctuary status will 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 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.
Sanctuary designation will take effect after 45 days of continuous session of the U.S. Congress, following publication of the final rule, during which time the Governor of Hawaiʻi may review the terms of designation where the sanctuary overlaps with state waters. The sanctuary designation is anticipated to take effect March 2025 unless interfered with under the Trump Administration.
Hawaii Governor Josh Green has accepted the final environmental impact statement for the Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary under the Hawaii Environmental Policy Act.
The area also contains the Northwest Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve, the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, the Battle of Midway National Memorial, Kure Atoll Wildlife Sanctuary and the Hawai‘i State NWHI Marine Refuge.
NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries serves as the trustee for a network of underwater parks encompassing more than 620,000 square miles of marine and Great Lakes waters. The network includes a system of 18 national marine sanctuaries and shared management responsibilities for Papahānaumokuākea and Rose Atoll marine national monuments. The system works with diverse partners and stakeholders to promote responsible, sustainable ocean uses that ensure the health of the nation’s most valued ocean places.
Beginning in 1903 with President Theodore Roosevelt, protection in the region have been enacted for over a century, under six Presidents. In 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order announcing a plan to scale back protection of 27 national monuments around the country with serious potential impacts on marine, land and cultural resources. Movement to open the Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Monument to fishing interests was also initiated under Trump’s Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, but was dropped after protests by Hawaiian leaders and environmental groups. The Bears Ears and Staircase Escalante National Monuments were opened to mining interests before being blocked in court by lawsuits from Native American and Environmental groups. The monument status was reinstated under President Biden in 2020 following his election.
Update February 5, 2025
A new bill has been introduced in the US Congress that would amend the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. The Act protects US marine habitat, underwater natural resources and cultural heritage treasures, and empowers community input on the use of our national marine sanctuaries. The proposed law would allow industry to avoid permitting fees and public scrutiny to circumvent extraction activities like oil extraction and fishing prohibited under the Sanctuary Act.
Under review is the elimination for organized comment from stakeholders including commercial and recreational fishermen, local business owners, tour operators, outdoor recreation lovers and non profits all with an interest in maintaining and supporting the 18 sanctuaries in the National Marine Sanctuary system.
Add your voice to stop Trump from reducing or imperiling National Marine Sanctuary Protection from mining, oil exploration, or fishing in our most protected areas.