Saving the reefs on remote islands northwest of Hawaii

ABOVE FRENCH FRIGATE SHOALS — The remote 1,400-mile long string of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are blanketed with the 14 million seabirds that nest there. Beneath the surface of the surrounding waters, fish crowd into pristine coral reefs.

The islands are home to about 7,000 species of birds, fish and marine mammals, a quarter of which are unique to Hawaii.

While the uninhabited islands have been protected for nearly a century as a natural refuge, the surrounding reefs are entering a critical year for their protection in 2006.

"This refuge that spans 1,400 miles is America's Galapagos, and Americans don't know it," said Jim Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and a pivotal player in the fate of the reefs.

Over the next year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be developing rules for managing the waters of the island chain under a proposed sanctuary status, which could prohibit or even expand fishing and activities such as coral and lobster harvesting. The only area open for regular visits from the public is Midway Atoll, a historic World War II military site.

Banning fishing in the 132,000 square-mile area would create the largest no-take marine sanctuary in the nation, second in the world only to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

According to Hawaii officials, there are currently nine bottomfishers working the area, using weighted, baited fishing lines to catch about $1.5 million worth of snappers and sea bass.

Information

Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge : www.fws.gov/midway/

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve:

http://hawaiireef.noaa.gov/ Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge: www.fws.gov/pacificislands

Gov. Linda Lingle, who in the fall signed rules banning all fishing from the state waters extending three miles off the shores, has been pushing for a similar ban for federal waters extending out about 60 miles.

Like the environmentalists, the fish and wildlife managers and the fishermen who want to continue their access to the islands' bounty of fish, Lingle is awaiting details of the federal plan to protect the islands' waters.

"We want it to happen. But we do want it to happen in a way that Hawaii continues to play a role in it," she said at Midway.

The key reason for granting the status to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is its relative permanence. Unlike the area's current reserve status, sanctuary status comes with permanent funding and cannot be easily changed or revoked by a new president, according to NOAA.