Sanctuary system moves forward

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Environmental protections for marine life in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, sanctioned during the last days of the Clinton administration, were given the green light to continue yesterday by Bush administration officials.

Robert Smith of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced yesterday that federal officials will maintain the area as an ecosystem reserve and will eventually create a National Marine Sanctuary, a long-term protection strategy.

"We are very pleased," he said during a meeting with environmentalists, fishermen and reporters at the Hawai'i Maritime Center.

"We are ready to move ahead."

The Clinton executive order that created the reserve and launched the sanctuary program at the end of his administration has been under review by the Bush administration for the past year. Bush could have reversed or modified Clinton's order. Instead, he decided to let it stand.

Cha Smith, executive director of Kahea, an alliance of environmentalists and Hawaiian rights activists who lobbied for the protections, was extremely pleased with the announcement.

"I'm thrilled this process has weathered scrutiny by the Bush administration," she said. "That's not a minor accomplishment."

She credited the thousands of people who spoke out in favor of the protections, along with the fact that Bush has recently been called to task by Congress to account for his record on the environment.

"I just thank God there is no oil in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands," she said.

The executive order prohibits exploring for oil and gas, along with a long list of other activities. Longline fishing was prohibited in the area prior to Clinton's order, but the order capped other forms of fishing until further determinations could be made.

Timm Timoney, a bottom fisherman who holds a permit to fish in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, took on a hangdog look yesterday when she learned the federal sanctuary system would be moving forward. She and the others who fish the area have been doing so in a sustainable manner for years, she said, but they are not very savvy at presenting their cases in public hearings.

"This is just going to strangle us, slowly," she said.

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are a chain of islands, atolls, banks and reefs that begin about 100 nautical miles west of Kaua'i and stretch across the Pacific for more than 1,200 nautical miles. The area is home to the endangered Hawaiian monk seal, leatherback sea turtle, and an array of coral, fish and sea birds, many of which are unique to Hawai'i.

With more than 84 million underwater acres, the reserve constitutes the largest wilderness area under U.S. protection.

The process to make the area a marine sanctuary begins with a series of public meetings April 9-19. For information and reservations, call the Honolulu office of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve at 397-2657 or 397-2661, or e-mail nwhi@noaa.gov.