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Pacific News Minute: Concern raised over Biden's marine sanctuary initiative

President Joe Biden speaks at the White House Conservation in Action Summit at the Department of the Interior, Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Evan Vucci
/
AP
President Joe Biden speaks at the White House Conservation in Action Summit at the Department of the Interior, Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

American Samoa's representative in Congress is raising urgent concerns about President Biden's initiation of a new National Marine Sanctuary in the Central Pacific.

The Biden administration has directed the Commerce Department to protect nearly 780,000 square miles of ocean around the Pacific Remote Islands southwest of Hawaiʻi.

The White House said the new sanctuary would help ensure the U.S. reaches the administration's goal to conserve at least 30% of ocean waters under U.S. jurisdiction by 2030.

The marine sanctuary designation bans fishing operations within the protected area, which is larger than Alaska and Colorado combined.

The Pacific Island Times reported that the president's announcement was inconsistent with a statementissued last year by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The agency said then that Biden had no plans to expand the sanctuary’s boundaries, which at the time were 495,000 square miles.

American Samoa Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata is questioning why the administration did not discuss this issue with her and other Pacific delegations.

Amata wrote a letter last week to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.

“This action would destroy American Samoa’s fishing industry, which makes up about 80% of our local economy," Amata stated.

“Seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to placate environmental activists who are hostile to, or at the very least ignorant of, the ways of life of people who actually live in the Pacific. I urge you again to reconsider this dangerous policy," she said.

Derrick Malama is the local anchor of Morning Edition.
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