Vast Hawaiian Sea Area Protected

June 18, 2006 By: Marshall Cutchin

1,200 nautical miles of the northwest Hawaiian Islands will be protected from commercial and recreational fishing within five years, thanks to U.S. president Bush granting National Monument status to the area this week. “Many presidents have long tried to protect this wild stretch of the Pacific. A century ago, Theodore Roosevelt named most of the islands a wildlife refuge. Six years ago, Bill Clinton designated the waters around the islands as a coral reef reserve.” Elizabeth Shogren on NPR.org.