May 22, 2023 — THE local opposition to a proposed expansion of a marine national monument in the Pacific Remote Islands was clear Friday, as most public commentators expressed their frustrations and aired their concerns to representatives of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NOAA was on island to collect public comments regarding a proposal to expand the boundaries of marine protections at Howland and Baker Islands, and Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll, as well as encompass the areas under one marine national monument.
Most speakers against the expansion of the national marine monument shared one or more of the following basic arguments: the NOAA process to establish the sanctuary was too unilateral, in that it came from the federal government with not enough input from the Pacific; Pacific peoples were already conserving marine resources prior to NOAA’s establishment; and American Samoa’s fish canning industry will be damaged if the PRI national monument is expanded.