Hawaii Papahānaumokuākea Calls to Become Largest World Ocean Sanctuary

Image. Hawaii Relaxing Ocean Sounds. Papahānaumokuākea is connected to Sacred Hawaiian Traditions

Hawaii Papahānaumokuākea...once it was the largest Ocean Sanctuary in the World, today 10 years since its creation its waters call for expansion. Papahānaumokuākea calls out strong to retake its Legacy and Crown. 

Papahānaumokuākea is a land deeply connected to Ancient Traditions still alive. From the very creation of the islands of Hawaii to ancestral connections to Gods and Legends and spiritual connections with nature on land and on water the land is sacred for Hawaiians. 

Surfrider Foundation reported on July 6 on the new movement to expand the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. The movement was made public on the edge of the celebrations of its 10 years. Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii backed up with scientific report and a petition signed by 1.5 thousand Top International Scientists sent a letter to President Obama to press for the creation of the expansion. Since then the movement just keeps growing.

Ocean waters in this region were part of a 400-500 year voyaging sphere in ancient times, and

continue to be vital to the survival of the traditional practice of wayfinding and voyaging. Beyond that the life and science of Papahānaumokuākea is incredible.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs -formal institution representing the Native Hawaiian people, has

requested to be elevated as a co-trustee, giving them an equal role in resource management of the monument. 

To the day the only concern is local fisheries and how will they be managed to be able to continue their traditional ways of life. Some misguidedly believe that fishing in Marine Protected Areas MPAs is completely banned but this is hardly ever the case. While large industrial mining and large industrial fishing operations do not take place in protected ocean waters legally small sustainable fisheries which provide way of life to local economies have proven to not only operate efficiently in protected waters but also restore environments as in the case of Madagascar MPAs, Indonesia Raja Ampat and numerous other locations in the World. Waters in question in Hawaii are not home to large industrial fishing operations. 

“Hawaiian fishermen will still catch the same amount of fish,” Dr Rashid Sumalia Global Fisheries Expert of the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre, Canada one of the authors of the paper presented assured and spoke about existing fishing quotas. 

One thing is certain if Papahānaumokuākea is expanded it will once again take the Crown for the largest marine reserve in the World with a monumental area of 442 thousand square miles. It would not only be the largest protected area in the Ocean but also the largest protected area on Land. 

The 1.5 thousand International Scientists which supported the petition are not just any Scientists. Honolulu Hawaii hosted the 13 International Coral Reef Symposium in June. Thousands of Top International Coral Experts from around the World spoke, revealed and addressed the global coral situation. A clear voice to act for coral conservation was heard loud and clear. 1.5 thousand of the scientists who attended the Summit at Hawaii signed and supported the expansion of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

“The decision is scientifically supported and provides substantial hope of leaving a legacy of ocean resources and benefits for future generations,” Dr. Robert Richmond Director of the Kewalo Marine Laboratory at the University of Hawaii said at the International Coral Symposium 

“The International Marine Conservation Science Community is unified in our support to expand the Monument,” ended the debate. 

Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is a bipartisan legacy of six US Presidents who over time used executive actions to protect the area. But beyond the politics there are very urgent issues at Papahānaumokuākea. NOAA -also present at the International Coral Symposium revealed that the Global Coral Bleaching situation which started in 2014 and is expected to continued throughout 2016 driven by El Niño and its aftermath effects is “extremely serious”. As in other parts of the World, in the US coral reefs will be severely impacted. Recent surveys at Hawaii despite discovering new species and calling for more investigation recognized with lament that Papahānaumokuākea Coral Reefs are under serious coral bleaching effects. Coral Bleaching can be reversed and coral reefs can be restored but action is needed. International Coral Experts at the Summit assure that today Coral Reef Restoration actions need to be taken to new levels. 

The Government of Australia in sync with the International Coral Symposium announced 1 billion USD of funding for the restoration of the Great Barrier. Coral bleaching and mortality in the Great Barrier is expected to rise as much as 50% due to the current Global Bleaching Event. Australia will invest in new ways to protect corals and is thinking outside the box. They see agriculture runoff pollution, waste and water management and other land processes as direct magnifiers of coral impacts and will fund actions to address these issues as well as others.

Thinking outside the box is also breaking with the outdated concept that an MPA is an “isolated-protected-island-area”. A protected area is influenced by its surroundings and by global issues. Expanding the Hawaiian reserve could be groundbreaking if an innovative Management Plan legally bounds the actions which could restore it to its full glory the waters. Coral Reefs in remote islands have been brought back from the “brink of extinction and collapse” under innovative actions. 

The support of the petition to expand Papahānaumokuākea was made public with the coordinated release of the new scientific report: “Pu’uhonua: A Place of Sanctuary”. The 72 page report is an in depth dive into the significance of the call for expansion. 

None other than Dr. Sylvia Earle - a living Ocean legend recruited today by National Geographic as an Explorer Resident was one of the authors of the paper. Other Authors included 12 leading scientists such as Dr. Callum Roberts  -marine conservation biologist at the University of York, England; Dr. U. Rashid Sumalia - global fisheries expert at the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre, Canada, Dr. Doug McCauley -marine biology professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara and Dr. Richmond.

At Hawaii it is local people who make conservation actions work. Surfrider Foundation inspired by the announcement took the petition as a personal mission. In the past three decades they have a track record of more than 300 victories at their campaigns. They say that “they are not playing around”. 

“At a time when 90 % of the World’s predators are believed to have been driven into extinction, the Papahānaumokuākea sanctuary is especially esteemed for its healthy predator population, including a diversity of sharks.  The sanctuary currently protects over 7,000 known marine species in total, 25% of which are found nowhere else on the planet, including 23 endangered species,” the Foundation warns.  

Estimates suggest that the proposed expansion area would also help protect 97% of the remaining 1,100 wild Hawaiian Monk Seals and 90% of the remaining Hawaiian Green Turtles.  It would also provide a safe haven for migratory species that travel thousands of miles to spend time in these waters, including Humpback Whales from the North.

Papahānaumokuākea today scales over a size equivalent to 46 of the 50 US States.  When it was created it was not only considered the Largest Marine Reserve in the World but Countries across the Globe were inspired by it and began establishing their own MPAs. Today International efforts -made clear at United Nations Summits through the Development Goals urge for the protection of at least 20 to 30% of all Ocean waters. New MPAs and MPAs expansion are not only serving a local cause but provide invaluable ecological services to the World and help in the reaching of set goals. Oceans keep in balance global cycles vital to life as we know it such as the Carbon Cycle much affected today. 

“Expanding the sanctuary fivefold would help protect these and other species from resource extraction, overfishing, entanglements, and fatal ingestion of marine debris.  Indeed the largest threat to species living within the existing sanctuary is garbage, made up predominantly of plastics.  Over the last ten years, an ongoing marine debris cleanup program has removed 586 tons of garbage in this relatively remote area; the annual 2016 clean-up expedition removed 2,400 pounds of wayward trash,” Surfrider Foundation ads.  

Scientific reports from Papahānaumokuākea are simply incredible. This year the Scientific Journal Marine Biodiversity published an article which assures that the highest level of endemic species occurring in any marine ecosystem on Earth is found at the Kure Atoll within Papahānaumokuākea. Endemic species live in a particular area and nowhere else in the World. NOAA Expedition was responsible for the finding. 

Other recent scientific findings include discovery of new species, reports of the largest marine sponge in the World -about the size of minivan, coral health findings, unique DNA manifestations, unique environment caused by the unique underwater topography of Hawaii and the oldest animal alive -a black coral a living fossil which tracks 400 years old.  

“The best available science indicates that expanding the Papahānaumokuākea will strengthen an ecosystem that sustains tuna, swordfish, sharks, seabirds, sea turtles, and Hawaiian monk seals,” Senator Schatz wrote to the President.  

NOAA  in June returned concluded a 25-day research expedition to the Papahanaumokuakea. They collected specimens of never-before-seen deep-water fish using advanced dive technology to survey reefs at depths beyond those of conventional diving. 

"Discoveries of rare and unique species of marine life remind us why Papahanaumokuakea is so special and why we need to continue exploring, managing and protecting it," Athline Clark NOAA Superintendent of Papahanaumokuakea said. 

Unfortunately NOAA´s expedition was not all good news. Researchers documented significant coral mortality resulting from the Global Mass Bleaching Event. 

“In 2015, we found most of the corals had died, 90-percent mortality on some of the reefs at Lisianski Island, and what we found this year is that those dead corals have been overgrown by invasive algae,” Chief Scientist of the NOAA Expedition and Deputy Superintendent for Papahanaumokuakea Randall Kosaki PhD recognized.  

“Now the question for the future is this an intermediate point in succession in recovery, or is this a permanently degraded endplay?” Kosaki kicked it. 

In 2013 the University of Hawaii at Manoa revealed that the unique Submarine Canyons of Hawaii are responsible for high levels of biodiversity. 

The study was based in 34 submersible dives into six Underwater Canyons and their nearby slopes. Reaching depths of up to 1.5 thousand meters the dives were logged across the Hawaiian archipelago, from the main Hawaiian Islands to the Papahānaumokuākea in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

“Hawaiian underwater canyons are an “oasis” for species. They challenge ocean currents and capture and trap nutrients and particles. They funnel migrating animals and promote high species diversity.” the study -first of its kind concluded and added that the depths of Hawaii and its depth fauna is “poorly sampled and poorly understood”. 

“Every time we go to sea and sample a new area, it's likely that we'll find a new species," the paper stated. 

This year a team led by Researcher Kimberly Selkoe from the UHM  Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology HIMB discovered DNA connections which are linked to genetic diversity. After assessing genetic diversity from over 17 thousand samples taken from 47 common reef-associated species across the Hawaiian Archipelago they uncovered a link between species diversity of an ecosystem and the genetic diversity encoded within the DNA of those species.

Genetic diversity is what makes species capable of adapting, avoid extinction, create new species and is part of the main grind of the integral motor of ecosystems and life. 

The study found that Papahānaumokuākea safeguards the majority of Hawaiian reef biodiversity, but populations in the Main Hawaiian Islands are genetically distinct and warrant additional protection. An expansion would take care of that situation.

Dr. Doug McCauley one of the authors of the paper which supported the scientific baseline for the petition of expansion spoke about key species and wonders living beyond the current boundaries of Papahānaumokuākea.

“The expansion zone being proposed right now includes the oldest animal - black coral that is more than 4000 years old,” Dr. McCauley told the media. 

“This is an animal that was alive before even the pyramids were built!” McCauley added. 

Expansion or no expansion today Papahānaumokuākea is still a very cool place. NOAA explained in what makes this place so special. It is home to 7 thousand marine species, spans more than 139 square miles into the Pacific Ocean, when it was created less than 1% of the Oceans were protected and is since 2010 a UNESCO World Heritage Site -infact the first US UNESCO World Heritage site. 

Even more cool are the conservation actions which have taken place in Papahānaumokuākea in the past decade. Over 900 tons of marine debris have been removed -including microplastics and large fishing gear which threatened seals, whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles, seabirds and many other organism,  463 Hawaiian monk seals have been saved and traditional sailing culture was reawakened by Native Hawaiians for the first time in hundreds of years using ancestral Hōkūleʻa canoes. 

“The name Papahānaumokuākea comes from an Ancient Hawaiian Tradition concerning the genealogy and formation of the Hawaiian Islands. Papahānaumoku is a Mother figure personified as the Foundational Earth from which islands are born and Wākea is a Father figure personified in the expansive sky. Their union resulted in the creation, or birthing, of the entire Hawaiian archipelago -the naming of the monument is to honor and preserve these names, to strengthen Hawaii's cultural foundation and to ground Hawaiians to an important part of their history,” NOAA ended it.