Q: Why does this area need additional protection?

A: Designation as a national marine sanctuary supplements and complements the efforts of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument co-trustees, the state of Hawai‘i, the Department of the Interior, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, to conserve the nationally significant ecosystems and cultural resources of this area. The ecosystems are increasingly under pressure from threats such as marine debris, invasive species, and changing ocean conditions. National marine sanctuary designation provides additional protections to safeguard resources in the marine portions of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

The sanctuary designation also provides the first set of implementing regulations for directives outlined in Presidential Proclamation 9478 for the Monument Expansion Area, a critical step in implementing and enforcing protections within this directive.

Q: Does the sanctuary designation change the area's current status as a marine national monument?

A: No, Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary will not change the area's status as a marine national monument. The sanctuary will add to, and not diminish, monument management measures and protections. Through sanctuary designation, NOAA will supplement and complement existing management of the area and will manage the sanctuary in partnership with monument co-trustees.

Q: What does NOAA mean when stating that the sanctuary will "supplement and complement" the monument?

A: NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries is able to enhance or fill gaps in critical management priorities through the adoption of a sanctuary management plan. The sanctuary management plan was developed in consultation with the state of Hawaiʻi, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and provides the framework, core elements, and adaptive management strategies, required to address resource management needs in the areas of resource protection, research and monitoring, cultural heritage, and outreach and education. This collaborative approach was followed to explicitly ensure concurrence of plans between the sanctuary and the monument.

The National Marine Sanctuaries Act's authorities will also enhance resource protection by providing tools for NOAA to assess civil penalties for violations of sanctuary regulations and permit conditions; impose liability and provide natural resource damage assessment authorities for the destruction, loss of, or injury to sanctuary resources; and require interagency consultation for federal agency actions that are likely to destroy or injure any sanctuary resource. The level of protection within the monument will not be reduced by national marine sanctuary designation.

As the sanctuary overlaps with the monument, as well as two national wildlife refuges and a state marine refuge, the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries will work to implement its authority in a manner that supplements and strengthens existing protections and management.

Q: Does the national marine sanctuary include all of the existing monument area?

A: The sanctuary designation only includes the marine portions of the existing Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

Q: Why has NOAA chosen the boundary shown in the map?

A: NOAA's chosen boundary for the sanctuary is coextensive with the marine portions of the monument. The boundary includes the marine environment surrounding the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands from the shoreline of the islands and atolls seaward to 200 nautical miles, including all state waters and waters of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve, Midway Atoll and Hawaiian Islands national wildlife refuges, and state of Hawaiʻi Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine Refuge. This alternative includes all shallow-water coral reef habitats most vulnerable to both human and natural threats, including impacts from marine debris, invasive species, and changing ocean conditions. As the entirety of Papahānaumokuākea is sacred to Kānaka ʻOiwi, this alternative ensures that values of Native Hawaiian culture are considered.

Q:. Will NOAA coordinate with the monument co-trustees in managing the sanctuary?

A: Pursuant to the National Marine Sactuaries Act, states may choose to have a role in co-managing a sanctuary if all or part of the sanctuary is within the territorial limits of any state. As the sanctuary includes state waters, NOAA will co-manage the sanctuary with the state of Hawaiʻi. NOAA and the state of Hawaiʻi will manage the sanctuary in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Office of Hawaiian Affairs consistent with the management of the monument. The existing co-management structure of the monument will be critical to the success of the sanctuary.

Q: Does sanctuary designation change the co-management structure of the monument?

A: No, the co-management structure of the monument will not change. NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries has been a key partner and co-managing agency in the management of Papahānaumokuākea since the initial designation of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve in 2000. The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries will continue to work collaboratively with the Papahānaumokuākea Monument Management Board to conduct, support and promote research, characterization, and long term monitoring of marine ecosystems and species, and cultural and maritime heritage resources of Papahānaumokuākea.

Q: Will NOAA co-manage the sanctuary with the Native Hawaiian Community?

A: The Native Hawaiian community is a critical part of the co-management structure of the monument through the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The memorandum of agreement that incorporates the Office of Hawaiian Affairs as a monument co-trustee will continue to serve as the guiding document on the integration of the national marine sanctuary into the monument co-management structure.

Q: How will the Native Hawaiian community be involved in sanctuary stewardship?

A: NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries will continue to be an active co-manager of the monument, and will actively engage with the Papahānaumokuākea Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group (CWG), who have been actively engaged in caring for these islands and waters as the Native Hawaiian community voice for the past 22 years, providing advice to the Monument Management Board through the monument co-manager and co-trustee, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The CWG is composed of Native Hawaiian kūpuna, researchers, cultural practitioners, educators, and community members with deep connections and historical ties to Papahānaumokuākea. Through more than a decade of consultation with Native Hawaiian communities, specifically the CWG, and the managing agencies, Mai Ka Pō Mai, was published as a monument guidance document. Mai Ka Pō Mai is representative of a community of practitioners who have constructed a foundation for the monumentʻs co-trustees to appropriately acknowledge and incorporate various aspects of Native Hawaiian culture in management in ways that are more collaborative, meaningful and holistic. Mai Ka Pō Maiʻs framework is mirrored in the sanctuary management plan and its guidance informs all sanctuary goals.

The sanctuary will have a Native Hawaiian program specialist on staff to directly engage with the Native Hawaiian community. The sanctuary's education team will include education and outreach materials to specifically involve the Native Hawaiian community across the islands. The Sanctuary Advisory Council will also include seats specifically for members of the Native Hawaiian community.

Sanctuary status will also allow NOAA to advance joint collaborative projects with Native Hawaiian organizations and others to enhance understanding and prepetuation of cultural values in sanctuary management.

Q: Is commercial fishing allowed in the sanctuary?

A: No. Commercial fishing is prohibited in the entirety of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, including the Monument Expansion Area through Presidential Proclamations 8031 and 9478. The pre-existing commercial fishing prohibition will not be changed by national marine sanctuary designation.

Q. Is sustenance fishing allowed in the sanctuary?

A: Sustenance fishing is a type of fishing in which all catch is consumed within Papahānaumokuākea, and that is incidental to a permitted activity. This will not change through the sanctuary designation. Sustenance fishing will be allowed as a term or condition of a permit throughout the sanctuary and marine portions of the monument.

Q: Aside from sustenance fishing, are other forms of non-commercial fishing allowed in the sanctuary?

A: In the Outer Sanctuary Zone (i.e., Monument Expansion Area, 50–200 nautical miles), non-commercial fishing is prohibited unless conducted pursuant to a permit authorized under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This is consistent with Presidential Proclamation 9478 which created the Monument Expansion Area. The Proclamation states that non-commercial fishing may be permitted as long as it is consistent with the care and management of the objects within the Monument Expansion Area, and provided that the fish harvested, either in whole or in part, cannot enter commerce through sale, barter, or trade, and that the resource is managed sustainably. NOAA is preparing a separate proposed rule for regulations governing fishing in the Monument Expansion Area under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Q: Why are scientific exploration or research activities by or for the secretary of commerce and/or the secretary of the interior exempt in the Outer Sanctuary Zone (i.e., Monument Expansion Area)?

A: This directive was provided in Presidential Proclamation 9478 for the Monument Expansion Area. Presidential Proclamation 9478 further highlighted the significant scientific value of the Monument Expansion Area and underscores the opportunities for research and discovery to occur in that area, including understanding impacts of changing ocean conditions on deep-sea communities and identifying new species. NOAA is exempting scientific exploration or research activities from the sanctuary's prohibitions and permitting requirements for both the Department of Commerce and the Department of the Interior within the Outer Sanctuary Zone, to be consistent with Presidential Proclamation 9478. However, such activities must still comply with other federal environmental laws such as the National Environmental Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, the National Marine Sanctuaries Act section 304(d), and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Q: Where can the public comments and comment responses be found?

A: NOAA and the state of Hawaiʻi received 488 written comments, 61 oral comments, and 13,385 form letters, totaling 13,934 public comments on the draft designation documents. All public comments, including meeting transcripts, are publicly accessible as posted at regulations.gov (docket #NOAA-NOS-2021-0114). Additionally, copies of all comments and a transcript of oral comments can be found in Appendix K-1 of the final environmental impact statement..

All public comments were reviewed by NOAA and the state of Hawaiʻi and organized into 12 categories (sections A to L), resulting in 137 summarized substantive comments. A summary of these comments, including an acknowledgement of who provided the comment, and the corresponding responses from NOAA are provided in Appendix K of the final environmental impact statement.

Q: How were public comments on the proposal considered by NOAA and the state of Hawaiʻi?

A: After the public comment period closed, NOAA and the state of Hawaiʻi carefully reviewed and considered all public comments. In preparing the final environmental impact statement (EIS), final management plan, and final rule, NOAA and the state of Hawaiʻi cataloged all public comments by substantive issues contained in the comments, and provided responses commensurate with the comment. In response to these substantive comments, NOAA clarified information and made changes to the final EIS, and the final sanctuary management plan, as described in the final EIS Section 1.5. Additionally, the responses to comments throughout Appendix K of the final EIS reference numerous changes that were made between the draft and final documents to address issues raised in public comments. For more information on the public comment process, see the final EIS Section 1.3.2.