Protective Designations

Over the past century, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands have been the focus of various conservation efforts by the United States, receiving increasing protections that culminated in Proclamation 8031, which created Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. This is a list of some of those protections:

In addition to the numerous overlays of protection designated within Papahānaumokuākea through the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, the Battle of Midway National Memorial, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve, the Hawai‘i State Seabird Sanctuary at Kure Atoll, and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine Refuge, numerous other laws are in effect and enforced to ensure compliance. These combine to create the following protections in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument:

• All commercial fishing eliminated in 2010
• All extractive activities restricted
• Access only by permit or notification
• No mining, drilling or exploring for oil or gas
• No anchoring on coral
• Tourism limited only to Midway Atoll
• Vessel monitoring system required for all vessels permitted to enter Papahānaumokuākea
• No use of explosives, poisons, or electrical charges
• Not introduction of non-indigenous species
• Discharge or disposition of any materials prohibited or severely restricted
• Quarantine protocols for moving between islands, access, disease, introduced species and organism sampling applied to all activities
• Rigorous permit review system in place for approval of all activities
• International Maritime Organization Particularly Sensitive Seas Area designation
• Specific laws to protect endangered species, cultural and historic resources
• Hull inspections and rat-free certification required for all vessels permitted to enter Papahānaumokuākea
• Numerous general and specific permit conditions for all permitted activities