Given the Opportunity
Thursday, April 1, 2004
By: Sara Bennington

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are a unique, nearly untouched ecosystem. We have the chance to keep it that way.

 
Hawaiian monk seals are found in waters off coral atolls
and on rocky islands of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
Photo by James Watt (courtesy NOAA)

If you looked at a map of the Hawaiian Islands and traced your finger 120 nautical miles to the northwest, past the popular islands of Maui and Oahu out into the Pacific Ocean, you'd find a series of small dots known as the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). While fairly unknown to mainland Americans, this isolated, uninhabited island chain is one of the few relatively pristine and untouched marine ecosystems in the world. But, like many of our marine ecosystems, a range of human activities threatens the NWHI. Fortunately, the United States has the opportunity to protect this region to ensure that it stays as healthy for the next generation as it is today.

Stretching northwest for more than 1,200 miles -- the distance between Boston and the Florida Everglades -- the NWHI are a series of 10 tiny islands, atolls and shoals that are remnants of the area's volcanic history. Most of the NWHI are less than a square mile in landmass. But hiding beneath the waves is one of the world's largest coral reef systems. This spectacular underwater landscape covers thousands of square nautical miles, encompassing the vast majority of coral reefs under U.S. jurisdiction. Nearly 70 species of stony and soft corals, such as lobe, gold, and black coral, can be found there. While not as diverse as other reef systems, the NWHI possess many massive coral colonies, some measuring almost 80 feet tall.

These incredible reefs support more than 7,000 marine species. Many of these are rare, and about one-quarter are endemic (found nowhere else on Earth), including the Hawaiian monk seal, the most endangered marine mammal exclusively found in U.S. waters. Several other threatened and endangered marine species, such as hawksbill and leatherback sea turtles, also reside or visit here. The islands are also a critically important nesting area for growing numbers of green sea turtles. Humpback whales and bottlenose dolphins transit the area, and nearly 14 million Pacific seabirds use the islands as nesting grounds. In addition-unlike most other ocean ecosystems around the world-the NWHI ecosystem is still dominated by sizable fish, including large reef fish and abundant top predators. Healthy populations of predatory animals such as sharks and other pelagic (open ocean) fish are indicators of a healthy ecosystem, and they have been fished out in much of the world's oceans.

In fact, the NWHI is considered to be one of the world's last intact marine ecosystems. "Unlike the main Hawaiian Islands and most of the world's oceans, where the impacts of fishing, tourism, coastal habitat destruction, and other threats are evident, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands ecosystem is still relatively intact," explains Dr. Cheri Recchia, Director of Ecosystem Protection at The Ocean Conservancy. "This is one of the few remaining areas that is mostly unaffected by human activities."

But the islands are not only ecologically important. While currently uninhabited, the NWHI have been important cultural and religious sites for indigenous Hawaiians for generations. Ancient Polynesians inhabited the islands during their sea voyages, and natives lived on some of the islands for hundreds of years.

View enlarged map

Paradise in Peril

The NWHI's isolation does not make them immune to human effects. At the turn of the 20th century, western ships plied the NWHI waters, taking seals, whales, sharks, pearl oysters, and sea cucumbers. The islands' seabirds were also aggressively hunted for their plumage. More recently, years of overfishing spiny and slipper lobsters greatly reduced their numbers, forcing the fishery's closure to protect the monk seals, which prey on lobsters. In October 1991, the waters surrounding the NWHI (out to 50 nautical miles) were closed to commercial longline fishing for swordfish and tuna to help protect sea turtles.

Today, fewer than a dozen commercial fishing boats make the long journey to the NWHI's productive waters. The amount of fishing in the NWHI is much less than that around the main Hawaiian Islands, where overfishing has virtually eliminated large predators and greatly reduced fish stocks. But questions have been raised about whether even the current limited fishing in the NWHI is ecologically sustainable over the long term. Additional threats could include taking corals for jewelry and other uses, expanding current fisheries, developing new ones, or even reopening the closed lobster fishery.

Marine debris is another threat to the NWHI ecosystem. Currents from the Pacific Gyre pass by the islands, depositing debris picked up thousands of miles away. Tons of derelict fishing gear snag on the coral reefs, smothering the coral and entangling marine life. Several of the islands' beaches are littered with an assortment of fishing nets, gear, and plastic pieces. "The NWHI are healthy, but under attack," says Jean-Michel Cousteau, President of Ocean Futures Society. "Pollution like this knows no nationality. We cannot blame one country or culture when the main enemies are the byproducts of the human world." For more than three years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been working with the U.S. Coast Guard and other groups to remove derelict fishing gear from the area's waters and reefs. To date, the project has removed more than 364 tons of debris. But there is no "quick-fix" to the problem.

The opportunity for tourism can also bring problems. Noise and water pollution, trampling of fragile corals by inexperienced ocean users, introductions of invasive species, and habitat damage from boats and their anchors are some of the possible hazards. Similar impacts from recreational fishing are also a concern, along with the potential for overfishing.

 
Seventy-one percent of the world's Laysan Albatross
population nests on Midway Island in NWHI.
Photo by Andy Collins (courtesy NOAA)

Saving a World Treasure

"The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are one of the world's treasures," says Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., a retired Navy vice admiral and current Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator. "It's one of the most gorgeous places on Earth."

It's no wonder that efforts to protect the area date back as far as 1909, when President Theodore Roosevelt issued an executive order establishing the Hawaiian Islands Bird Reservation, which later became the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge. Almost a century later, in May 2000, President Clinton issued an executive order to strengthen and expand the United States' network of marine protected areas, and specifically requested recommendations for increased protections in the NWHI. In the summer of 2000, visioning sessions were held to discuss the area's cultural, historical, ecological, economic, and scientific importance and appropriate protections. More than 400 people attended the meetings, representing scientists, fishermen, conservationists, non-governmental organizations, and the general public. More than 9,000 written comments were provided at the meetings and in the following months. The vast majority came from private individuals calling for strong protections for the NWHI's coral reef ecosystem.

While comments came from across the United States, local residents played a significant role. According to Louis Agard, a Native Hawaiian kupuna (respected elder) and fisherman whose family was involved in the fish processing industry, there is a sense of stewardship and an understanding in the Native community that activities in one area can affect others. "There is a community approach to ocean resources," he says. "You don't gamble with natural resources. You can't overfish, destroy, or mismanage them. You have to take care of the resources to ensure that you have them for the future."

The visioning sessions and strong input from the Native Hawaiian community helped shape two more executive orders. Issued in December 2000 and January 2001, these orders created the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve. At 84,000 square miles, the Reserve is the world's second largest marine protected area. It established immediate protections for the NWHI coral reef ecosystem, including prohibiting coral removal, establishing a "cap" on fishing, providing water quality safeguards, and creating five reserve preservation areas closed to fishing and 10 where fishing activity is tightly restricted. In addition, the National Marine Sanctuaries Amendments Act of 2000 required the Secretary to initiate the process to consider the Reserve for possible designation as a national marine sanctuary. So what does this mean for the NWHI?

'A Sanctuary Like No Other'

NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program was created in 1972 "to serve as the trustee for the nation's system of marine protected areas, to conserve, protect, and enhance their biodiversity, ecological integrity, and cultural legacy." The primary objective of marine sanctuaries is resource protection. Currently, there are 13 national marine sanctuaries, from Massachusetts to American Samoa. The NWHI Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve is today in the midst of the sanctuary designation process.

Becoming a marine sanctuary could provide more secure and comprehensive protection for the NWHI. The Reserve was established by presidential executive order and has the force of law, but it can be weakened or revoked by any future president. In contrast, a National Marine Sanctuary can only be rescinded through congressional action or a lengthy public process. While the federally established Reserve does not include the highly productive state waters -- which extend three nautical miles out from the islands and atolls -- Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle has expressed strong support for the executive orders establishing the Reserve. The State of Hawaii is permitting consideration of state waters in management alternative discussions for the proposed sanctuary, and Gov. Lingle will make a decision about the possible inclusion of these waters at the end of the process.

According to Adm. Lautenbacher, creating a Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Marine Sanctuary "presents a unique opportunity -- as all sanctuaries do -- to bring people together to best use and protect these natural resources."

But many people have voiced concern that a sanctuary designation won't extend the necessary protections to the NWHI. Dr. Cheri Recchia has been involved with the NWHI for several years, and works on a number of existing sanctuaries. She supports a sanctuary designation as long as it codifies and builds upon the existing protections of the Reserve. "Many sanctuaries do little or nothing to counteract the adverse effects of fishing on the fish and habitats within their boundaries, and poorly managed fishing has emerged as a major cause of damage to sanctuary resources," she observes. "If the same approach is taken in the NWHI, damage to the area's reefs and wildlife is inevitable."

Louis Agard lived on Tern Island in the French Frigate Shoals in the late 1940s and early '50s as a commercial fisherman and saw first-hand the damage one person could inflict. "The area is so remote, I realized that just a few men could have a tremendous impact on the ecosystem," he recalls. "The ecosystem is too fragile." He advocates that the region be kept as undisturbed as possible and is worried that a sanctuary would offer insufficient protections.

"This needs to be a sanctuary like no other," states Ellen Athas, Program Counsel and Director of Clean Oceans at The Ocean Conservancy. She was one of Clinton's advisors when he issued his executive orders. "This sanctuary must strive for true ecosystem protection and carry forward the vision that this area is a treasure to all Americans, as well as a valuable scientific resource."

The Reserve Advisory Council clearly agrees, and is an unyielding voice for strong protection. The National Marine Sanctuaries Amendments Act of 2000 and the executive orders mandated the Council's creation to provide advice and recommendations on the management of the Reserve and on the designation and management of the proposed sanctuary.

In January 2004, the Council voted on a vision and mission for the proposed sanctuary. In it, the Council envisions that the NWHI be "intact, healthy, diverse, and abundant forever." It also voted on a mission that would preserve the natural character of the NWHI marine ecosystem. Emphasizing natural character preservation would be a first for the National Marine Sanctuary Program and would establish a higher conservation standard than has been applied to previous sanctuaries.

"The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are an incredible place that needs the protections that will allow it to exist and flourish in the future. But all of our sanctuaries are unique," affirms Lautenbacher. "They were built to serve the needs and wants of the area, taking into account the resources, heritage, and the economy of the region."

"The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are an area where there is an opportunity for conservation, not just restoration," he says.

The executive orders establishing the Reserve clearly aimed to seize this opportunity. But whether the proposed sanctuary will adopt and build upon this vision remains to be seen.

What's Next?

So what are the next steps to protect the NWHI? The Reserve Advisory Council is continuing to develop its recommendations for the Sanctuary, including how best to manage fishing, tourism, research, and other activities. NOAA will review the Council's recommendations and other available information and develop a draft management plan and environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed NWHI sanctuary.

The draft plan and EIS are scheduled for release for public comment in early 2005. The plan will describe the goals and objectives of the proposed sanctuary, and a range of alternatives with different types and levels of protection and management measures. One of the alternatives will be identified as NOAA's preferred approach. Public input on the draft plan, including the preferred alternative, will inform NOAA's final decision about whether or not to proceed with designating the sanctuary, and about what types of protection it will provide if designated. Final sanctuary designation-if it proceeds-should be completed by the end of 2005.

"We have every reason to be optimistic," says Recchia. "NOAA, the Sanctuary Program staff, and the Reserve Advisory Council are doing a terrific job developing the proposed sanctuary. If they stay on track, this will be a nationally and globally significant conservation achievement."

Some hope that, in addition to protecting this spectacular ecosystem, the sanctuary will raise the bar for sanctuaries elsewhere.

But perhaps Louis Agard says it best. "If the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are protected correctly, even those who don't visit will feel the benefits. It will be a blessing to everyone."

Ocean Conservancy Update

The Ocean Conservancy has been working for increased protection for the coral reef ecosystem of the NWHI since the late 1990s. We participated in the process to establish the Reserve, and have been actively working to ensure a strong sanctuary, providing written comments and participating in public meetings to voice conservation concerns. We support a sanctuary that would reflect and strengthen the protections provided by the current Reserve, and also protect this special place from those activities that are degrading ocean ecosystems worldwide.

Such a sanctuary would help keep coral reefs intact by prohibiting coral extraction and would not reopen the closed lobster fishery. In addition, because removing marine species can seriously alter and degrade ocean ecosystems, we support areas that are free from such activities, and which allow marine species a chance to thrive. We also endorse the "closed unless open" approach recommended by the Reserve Advisory Council, which would prohibit activities in the sanctuary that are not specifically listed as permissible. We are encouraged by NOAA's recent efforts to ensure that conservation is at the forefront of the sanctuary plan and are looking forward to reviewing the agency's proposed draft management plan and providing comments.