WASHINGTON – Today, President Obama announced the creation of the world’s largest marine protected area in the Pacific Ocean. By proclamation, the President is expanding the current Pacific Remote Islands National Marine Monument by more than six times its original size, from nearly 87,000 square miles to more than 490,000. The area, which includes three out of the five sites originally under consideration for expansion – Johnston Atoll, Wake Atoll and Jarvis Island, will now be off-limits to activities such as commercial fishing and energy exploration.
↧