Way out in the central Pacific, there’s a swath of ocean twice the size of Texas where millions of marine animals now have safe haven from commercial killing, entanglement in fishing lines, and other human-caused dangers. Using special authority first exercised by Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, yesterday President Obama expanded the existing Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument to 490,000 square miles, making it the largest marine monument in the world.
The expansion spells greater protection for deep coral reefs, on which countless species depend for survival. The coral trade, which threatens to destroy vulnerable reefs just like those in this area, won’t be permitted.
Douglas Hoffman
The preserve is off-limits to commercial fishing.
The marine monument also creates more refuge for animals who migrate and forage across miles of sea, like manta rays and sharks. Sharks have been maligned for decades and are currently caught up in the cruel trade of shark finning (the brutal practice of hacking off the fins of sharks, often while they’re still alive, and throwing the mutilated animals back overboard to die slowly in the ocean) around the world.
HSLF and The HSUS worked in Congress to pass the Shark Conservation Act of 2010, to strengthen the U.S. law against finning in domestic waters, and with our partners at Humane Society International, have banned the trade in shark fins in nine states and three U.S. territories to dry up consumer demand for shark fin soup. This expansive sanctuary in the Pacific further helps to keep sharks safe from this commercial cruelty.
The newly designated area also protects dozens of species of marine mammals and five species of endangered sea turtles from the countless deaths that occur when the animals become entangled in commercial fishing gear. And for the millions of birds who depend on this section of sea—foraging over hundreds of miles of water to bring food back to their rookeries on shore—the preserve means a greater opportunity to flourish and continue sustaining ecosystems on nearby land.
The Obama administration’s record on animal issues is a mixed one, but with more ups than downs. There has been meaningful progress made on issues such as cracking down on abusive puppy mills, tackling the poaching of elephants for their ivory tusks, and retiring chimpanzees from labs to sanctuaries, but they have fallen short on policies that harm animals such as stripping wolves of their federal protections and mismanaging wild horses and burros. The President’s proclamation designating the world’s largest marine reserve is a positive step not only to protect marine animals from cruelty, but also to help rebuild biodiversity and improve ecosystem resilience. At a time when the world’s oceans are under assault in myriad ways, these are good waves to make.
