The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation welcomes President Bush’s Proclamations regarding new marine protected areas in the Pacific Ocean. The Proclamations establishing the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, Rose Atoll Marine National Monument, and Marianas Trench Marine National Monument are an important milestone in marine conservation. We particularly support efforts to expand the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and applaud this addition to the National Marine Sanctuary System.

At the same time, we want to emphasize the need for Congress to reauthorize the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (NMSA) as soon as possible, which is now long overdue. This reauthorization would support the well-established participatory process that occurs in the designation of sanctuaries, provide NOAA’s Office of National
Marine Sanctuaries the appropriate tools for managing marine national monuments for
which it is given jurisdiction, and strengthen, overall, America’s ability to preserve and
protect our special ocean places. Such changes would improve the implementation and
management of vital ocean resources such as those found around Rose Atoll and the
other protected areas in the sanctuary system, as well as those to be included in the future.

To read the President's remarks, click here.

Attending the January 6, 2009 White House ceremony announcing the new marine monuments
were NMSF Trustees Emeriti Jean-Michel Cousteau (center) and Dr. Sylvia Earle (right). Here
they are pictured with the Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Jim Connaughton (left).

Maps of the New Marine National Monuments
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Photos from the New Marine National Monuments
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(Photos: Jean Kenyon, Coral Reef Ecosystem Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, NOAA)

Large schools of herbivorous fish feed on the abundant cyanobacteria and algae that have developed along the southwest outer atoll slope following a ship grounding in 1993.

Rose Atoll derived its name from the dense populations of pink-colored coralline algae that form impressive formations along the outer atoll slopes.

Dense populations of coral and pink coralline algae are found along the outer slopes at Rose Atoll. The fan-shaped coral pictured here is Pavona duerdeni.

Rose Island, seen here from outside the atoll rim, is one of two small islands within the lagoon of Rose Atoll.

Dense populations of giant clams (Tridacna sp.) can be found in shallow lagoon patch reefs at Rose Atoll.