Northwestern Hawaiian Islands: A National Monument

President Bush has declared the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) a National Monument, making the pristine 140,000 square-mile area the largest Marine Protected Area in the entire world. Over the next 5 years, all extractive uses (e.g. current bottomfishing) will be phased out, and no such uses will be allowed in the future. This is even a stronger level of protection that would have been offered by the designation of a National Marine Sanctuary.

 Pacific Whale Foundation has been a key player in this entire process since the NWHI was first being considered for Sanctuary designation in 2000. We have gathered and submitted thousands of signatures requesting strong protections as a Marine Protected Area for the NWHI, and have submitted numerous official documents outlining what exact protections must be implemented...and it has finally paid off! We thank all of you for your hard work and support in making this possible.