Enforcement

While the remote location of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands has helped to protect them, it also provides a potential source of cover for those interested in exploiting the area illegally. Illegal access to the monument, discharge, dumping, and poaching are particular causes of concern. While the establishment of the monument provides an additional layer of protection to the area, protections remain difficult to enforce. Historically, enforcement has relied on occasional U.S. Coast Guard over-flights and vessel patrols, as well as reports passed along by fishermen, researchers, and agency personnel working in the area. Now the monument co-trustees plan to use remote surveillance (satellites, radar, vessel monitoring systems) to inform on-the-water law enforcement officers of potential violations as well.