Tell the Co-Trustees of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument to do a better job, submit your comments by Wednesday, 5pm Hawai`i time!

We need your help to ensure that the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are protected for generations to come. The Co-Trustees of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument released a Draft Monument Management Plan that describes how they will manage everything in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands from the recovery of the critically endangered monk seals to visitors on Midway Atoll.

Their plan offers a good roadmap, but it needs significant improvements. Please let the Co-Trustees - the State of Hawai`i and the federal departments of Commerce and Interior - know that you want them to do a much better job.

The deadline for comments is Wednesday, July 23, at 5 p.m. Hawai`i time (8 p.m. Pacific, 11 p.m. Eastern). Your email must be sent by that time to count.

As written, the management plan:

1. Allows a sanctioned recreational fishery exclusively created for government employees and university scientists that will take up to SEVEN TONS of open ocean fish out of the Monument’s waters every year. They call this “sustenance fishing,” which makes it sound essential to survival. But the purpose is to provide a luxury to people working in the Monument - adding fresh tuna to their diet - and to save the government a few thousand dollars.
2. Fails to firmly and permanently protect, in perpetuity, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands - and to declare that the preeminent purpose of the monument is to protect their wildlife, ecosystems, ecological integrity, and natural character.
3. Ignores the public’s demand that Monument management and decision-making be transparent and informed by public input and review, by refusing to continue the existing Reserve Advisory Council as a Monument Advisory Council.

We urgently need you to make your voice heard, as this is one of the last opportunities for public involvement. Please take action by Wednesday’s deadline and help strengthen the management plan and ensure that the NWHI are adequately protected in perpetuity.

Mahalo,

Dennis Heinemann, PhD
Vice President, Ocean Climate Change
Ocean Conservancy

P.S. - Visit our website to learn more about the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and the proposed management plan.