Palacios warn WH of impacts of expanding marine monument

Department of Lands and Natural Resources Secretary Arnold Palacios, fulfilling his duties as chair of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, took time off the campaign trail this week to travel to Washington, D.C., to express his opposition to the proposed expansion of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. President Barack Obama’s proposal would ban Pacific fishermen from the waters surrounding several Pacific islands and atolls, which currently serve as key fishing grounds for the Western Pacific fleet.

Accompanied by a delegation of officials and stakeholders from across the Pacific, Palacios met Tuesday in the Roosevelt Room of the West Wing with ranking officials from the White House Council on Environmental Quality—including Counselor to the President John Podesta—to discuss the negative ramifications of Obama’s proposal.

Palacios summed up the delegation’s concerns when he noted that “the current proposal is destined to fail our fishermen and environment.”

Specifically, the delegation warned that the Monument expansion would unduly penalize and disadvantage regional fishermen that already abide by some of the strictest regulations and the most sustainable management in the Pacific. Without access to traditional fishing grounds, Pacific fishermen will see the cost of fishing rise, as they will be forced to rely increasingly on fishing farther out on the high seas, or in the waters of foreign countries that are looking to increase the fees they charge for access. It would deny the fleet a key amount of flexibility to cope with the effects of climate change, threaten the fishing and fishing-related businesses of the Western Pacific, and increase the nation’s already heavy reliance on imported seafood.

Environmentally, the delegation contended that an expansion of the Monument would do little to improve on the conservation measures already in place. Critical habitats are already under protection, and the highly migratory fish such as tuna that travel through these areas do not spend enough time in them for a closure of the area to benefit their populations in any meaningful way.

The meeting was an opportunity for officials at the White House to finally hear in person from those who are most directly affected by the President’s proposal. Since its announcement almost three months ago, federal officials had previously have only held one public forum on the proposal, in Honolulu. (DLNR)