President Joseph R. Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Biden,

We, the undersigned marine scientists and Indigenous cultural practitioners from across the US and Pacific, write to express our strong support for the expansion of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. Our research, Indigenous ecological knowledge, and broader engagement have afforded us the opportunity to monitor our changing ocean from the coasts to the deepest depths and to document the causes and effects on humankind. The continuing impacts of biodiversity loss, climate change, overexploitation, pollution and other stressors place us at the front lines of witnessing what may be irreparable, long-term damage to the very ecosystems we study and on which all of humanity depends. These problems also negatively affect those of us with generational, Indigenous knowledge and heritage within this region, as these losses and changes also threaten our cultural identity. As such, we firmly support expanding protections for the Pacific Remote Islands (PRI) as an important and timely action in response to the damage we are currently witnessing, that which is projected to accelerate in the future, and to expand protections for the areas of healthy ocean that still exist.

The diversity and abundance of life that the PRI supports is clearly worth protecting. Hundreds of species, including threatened or endangered sharks, manta rays, other fishes, marine invertebrates, turtles, seabirds, and marine mammals, reside in and transit through the PRI and the surrounding region. These species contribute to an efficient biological machine, working in tandem to feed and redistribute nutrients throughout ocean ecosystems, fostering textbook examples of healthy pelagic, reef, and deep-sea communities. Foraging seabirds, for example, rely on pelagic tunas, sharks, and other fish to drive prey to the surface for feeding, in return depositing nutrient-rich guano once ashore. This fertilization contributes to adjacent reefs growing up to four times faster than those lacking seabird nutrient input, providing additional habitat for larval and juvenile pelagic fish species that will go on to continue this self-replenishing cycle. The lack of protections afforded to offshore and deep-sea areas weakens the overall health of their nearby interconnected, protected nearshore environments by uncoupling this biological web. Further, many of these animals have natural habitat ranges that extend beyond the current protected PRI boundaries and face high amounts of negative pressures, species including yellowfin tunas, grey reef sharks, manta rays, red-footed boobies, frigatebirds, sooty terns, melon-headed whales, and countless deep-sea organisms. Expansion of the PRI affords vital protections for these animals as they hunt, reproduce, and migrate through this region.

The area proposed for expansion also contains 98 currently unprotected seamounts, which are unique habitats that serve as biological hotspots for diversity and endemism, and can act as undersea stepping stones for various pelagic species transiting these waters. Exploration of these and other seamounts within the region have resulted in discovery of some of the oldest living organisms on Earth, new genera and species, and compounds that have the potential to accelerate the development of novel and more effective treatments for human diseases. Without expanded protection, these habitats are at risk for additional exploitative practices that may wipe-out ancient animals, new species, and our next breakthroughs in medical science before we have the chance to even realize they exist.

Indigenous Pacific peoples were the original explorers and scientists of this ocean. Transiting the waters of the Pacific with their sailing canoes, Indigenous ancestors observed and recorded biotic and abiotic patterns in chants and protocols, passing them down through generational succession. This living oral guide informed Pacific peoples of principles by which to live responsibly with nature, including mating and reproductive cycles of food species, predator and prey interactions to instruct catch limits, and even wind, current, and species associations with direction and land in order to travel large expanses of open ocean. Setting aside areas of the ocean for the preservation and recovery of species is a native practice of the Pacific and foundational to the existence of ocean people. Expansion of the current monument not only affords additional protections for the continuation of cultural practices and duties, but also applies traditional regulatory lessons used by Indigenous peoples throughout the Pacific to meet global conservation ambitions and foster responsible management and recovery of various species.

Finally, and equally important, the impacts of climate change are occurring now around the world and will continue to accelerate. Biodiversity loss, habitat degradation, and overexploitation threaten the overall health of our global ocean ecosystems, and reduce their ability to withstand climatic changes and other impacts caused by humanity. Research shows us that relatively healthy and undisturbed ecosystems, such as those in and around the PRI, are better able to resist and rebound from disturbances in their systems. The PRI’s unique position far from current human impacts makes it an ideal candidate for expanded protection. The region can serve as a safe haven for marine life and provide a biological baseline for a diversity of central Pacific marine habitats in the face of continued global biodiversity loss and the growing climate crisis. Expanded protection would not only inform refuge managers, scientists, and other stakeholders of the capacity for climate resilience and adaptation in these ‘intact’ and healthy waters, but also the rates at which unprotected areas of the central Pacific are degrading and what management actions may need to be taken.

Through the expansion of the PRI to the full extent of the U.S. EEZ, the Biden Administration has the opportunity to build upon the successes of its predecessors and protect this invaluable diverse and healthy marine ecosystem as a whole. Though the impacts of climate change will continue to provide challenges for all marine ecosystems, expansion of PRI will limit compounding factors that could otherwise overwhelm the ability of this region and its peoples to remain resilient to such effects.

Through your leadership, we can act now to preserve these distant and healthy waters before they are depleted and degraded, establishing an expanded monument as a biological and cultural oasis and legacy for generations to come. We stand ready to support these efforts.

Sincerely,

Alan Friedlander, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and National Geographic Society

Yimnang Golbuu, Palau International Coral Reef Center, Palau

Mark Hixon, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument Reserve Advisory Council

Sol Kahoʻohalahala, PRI Native Hawaiian Community Group; Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument Reserve Advisory Council; Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council

Brian Kennedy, Boston University

Sara Maxwell, University of Washington

Douglas McCauley, University of California at Santa Barbara; Benioff Ocean Initiative

Lance Morgan, Marine Conservation Institute

James Murphy, Researcher and Consultant; formerly University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

Robert Richmond, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

Randi Rotjan, Boston University and The Blue Nature Alliance

Enric Sala, National Geographic Society

Gorka Sancho, College of Charleston

Scott Shaffer, San Jose State University

Hillary Young, University of California at Santa Barbara