HONOLULU — The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary isn’t expanding. That’s due to a decision from the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration to not move forward with a proposed expansion to an ecosystem-based sanctuary. “After listening to input
HONOLULU — The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary isn’t expanding.
That’s due to a decision from the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration to not move forward with a proposed expansion to an ecosystem-based sanctuary.
“After listening to input from the community and the state, NOAA is withdrawing the proposal to expand sanctuary conservation around Hawaii,” John Armor, acting director, NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, said in a prepared statement.
Armor said the sanctuary “will continue in its present form, conserving and protecting humpback whales and providing needed research support and public education.”
The proposed expansion would have added 235 square miles of state and federal waters around Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and Niihau, bringing the total area to 1,601 square miles and covering a depth of about 600 feet.
At the sanctuary’s advisory council meeting Tuesday, representatives from the state’s Department of Land and Natural Resources and from NOAA’s office of national marine sanctuaries detailed the decision.
Armor said because the state is a partner in the management of the sanctuary, “any management actions must be supported by the state.”
NOAA received a letter on Jan. 22 from DLNR’s chairwoman, Suzanne Case, detailing concerns regarding the proposal and responded with a letter of its own on Jan. 26.
Both letters detailed their disagreement.
The main difference is the definition of “sanctuary resource,” which was set by the United States Congress when it designated the sanctuary in 1992.
In her Jan. 22 letter, Case proposed to change the definition to encompass “any marine mammal within the bounds of the sanctuary,” but said DLNR couldn’t support including habitat in the definition.
“Including the habitat of all Hawaii’s marine mammals, in contrast, would significantly extend jurisdiction and risk duplication with existing state regulations,” Case wrote in the letter.
In his letter to Case, Armor wrote “It is our view that the definition of sanctuary resource does not allow us to exclude habitat, since habitat clearly contributes to the value of the sanctuary.”
Though they couldn’t agree throughout the multiple meetings between NOAA and DLNR since March, Case and Armor both said they had a good relationship and looked forward to working together on future projects.
“The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources consistently works to implement an integrated, ecosystem-based approach to management,” Case said Tuesday. “We believe strongly that this can only be achieved through partnerships in which each entity builds upon and leverages its unique strengths. The Sanctuary has done this extraordinarily well with humpback whales for over 20 years and we had hoped that this expertise could be extended to other marine mammals. Although ultimately the Sanctuary will not have an expanded purpose, we look forward to building upon its accomplishments, as well as highlighting its successes.”
Each winter, Hawaiian waters are home to the largest breeding population of humpback whales in the world. Humpbacks are a flagship species in an ecosystem full of marine mammals, fish, coral, and other valuable marine and cultural resources.
Greg Holzman, a fisherman fro Kekaha, said he thinks the decision to halt the proposed expansion was “the right thing to do.”
“Suzanne Case did the right thing and I thank her for the letter,” Holzman said. “Now is the time to think as an island community on how we would like the state to manage our ocean resources without putting fisherman and ocean users always in the crosshairs.”
He said, in his opinion, “the feds did not show that they had the experience or the support of the communities to do ecosystem management in state waters.”
