Bush creates world’s biggest ocean preserve

Fishing, visitor concerns
Administration officials say their intent is to preserve zoned access for native Hawaiian activities, educational and scientific expeditions. Recreational and tourist visits that are no more harmful than scuba diving or photography also will be allowed. Permits, however, will be required for all activities.

The Bush administration said "permits will be required for activities related to research, education, conservation and management, native Hawaiian practices and non-extractive special ocean uses.

"The commercial and recreational harvest of precious coral, crustaceans and coral reef species will be prohibited in monument waters and commercial fishing in monument waters will be phased out over a five-year period," it added in a statement. "Oil, gas and mineral exploration and extraction will not be allowed anywhere in the monument."

The fishing ban will create the largest no-take marine reserve in the nation, second in the world only to the Great Barrier Reef.

According to Hawaii officials, nine bottomfishers now work the area, using weighted, baited fishing lines to catch about $1.5 million worth of snappers and sea bass.

Gov. Linda Lingle, who earlier signed rules banning all fishing from state waters extending three miles off the shores, had been pushing for a similar ban for federal waters extending out about 60 miles.

And some local groups want to further limit public access to the area, fearing a “gold rush” of researchers.

“The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are fast becoming a magnet for large research vessels and questionable research,” said Cha Smith, head of the Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance. “It will be of great importance to ensure that research is limited to activities necessary for management and restoration efforts and that educational activities bring the place to people and not take people to the place.”

Second monument by Bush
It is only the second time that Bush has invoked the 1906 National Antiquities Act, which gives the president authority to create national monuments to preserve the nation's ancient cultural sites and unusual geological features. The law itself turned 100 this month.

In February, Bush used the antiquities law for the first time when he declared part of the African Burial Ground in the lower Manhattan section of New York City a national monument. The site, covering less than half an acre, marks where an estimated 20,000 slaves and free blacks were buried in the 18th century.

Clinton used the act to create 19 national monuments and expand three others to set aside 5.9 million acres of land, mainly in the West, drawing widespread criticism from conservatives.

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