oceans
Originally Posted on September 16, 2016
The announcement was made at the third Our Ocean conference, hosted by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. #OurOcean
Great backgound on this historic Atlantic Marine Monument from Pew Environment here #EIRecommends
a few highlights:
The Monument designation phases out commercial fishing and prohibits other extractive activities such as mining and drilling.
“Science is clear that setting aside biologically important areas can increase resilience as ocean conditions change.”
- Lee Crockett, who oversees the U.S. ocean conservation project at The Pew Charitable Trusts
“The high-quality habitat in this monument supports an extraordinary array of marine life, from corals to whales to seabirds,”
- Peter Baker, who directs Pew’s ocean conservation work in the Northeast U.S
Among the species that call the new monument home are Atlantic puffins, which use the area as part of their wintering grounds—a discovery that scientists made this year.
Kudos to all involved!
Originally Posted August 31, 2016
Capping a week of 100th anniversary celebrations for the National Park Service, Barack created the largest protected area anywhere on Earth—a half-million-square-mile arc of remote Pacific waters known for both exceptional marine life and importance to native Hawaiian culture.
The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, established in 2006 by President George W. Bush, already covered 140,000 square miles of ocean around the uninhabited northwestern islands of Hawaii, Obama’s home state. Obama more than quadrupled Papahānaumokuākea’s size, to 582,578 square miles, an area larger than all the national parks combined.
May this be the sign of things to come.
Extending these no-take areas greatly enhances the chances for the Earth's fish stressed fish populations to rebound - and for species threatened with extinction to find refuge.
To learn more, and to learn how to pronounce Papahānaumokuākea :- ) see this from National Geographic