Hawaiian Marine Reserve To Be World's Largest

"Declaring the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a national monument will mean immediate protection, immediate implementation of the management measures included in the plan that was developed in the marine sanctuary process," the senior official said last night.

Ellen Athas of the Ocean Conservancy said the monument designation is "permanent and does not undergo periodic review like a marine sanctuary." She added: "National monuments can provide lasting protection for the environment."

Eight Hawaiians hold permits to fish commercially in the area, targeting red snapper, black grouper and other species. The fishery made a profit of only $300,000 in 2003, and one of the permitted fishermen, Zenen Ozoa, has lobbied to close it on the grounds that it is too environmentally destructive.

The island archipelago is remote -- it takes fishermen two days to reach the area from the main islands -- but debris from vessels that troll the Pacific have ensnared marine animals and damaged the delicate ecosystem. Filmmaker Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of legendary marine explorer Jacques Cousteau, spent six weeks there in 2003 and found debris from 52 countries, including cigarette lighters and toy soldiers.

"That was really shocking," said Cousteau, who produced two one-hour documentaries that aired on public television in April. "There's a lot of really nasty stuff happening over there."

Although the islands are remote, they remain vulnerable: Fishing vessels took about 12 million lobsters from the area between 1977 and 1997, and though a federal judge ordered the lobster fishery closed in 2000, the area has yet to recover.

In contrast to the controversies over administration stands on a number of other environmental issues, advocacy groups, activists and Democrats hailed Bush's work on this matter. Case, the Hawaii congressman, said the president "deserves credit" for undertaking "the most revolutionary act by any president, any administration, in terms of marine resources."

James L. Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, toured the islands in December with Cousteau and Lingle.

First lady Laura Bush has also taken a personal interest in the island chain, said the senior administration official. She and the president hosted a White House screening of Cousteau's film on April 5.

Case, whose district includes the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, said that, ironically, the designation means fewer Americans will see the region.

"We are all going to have to take it on faith that it's that special, because . . . most of us will never see it, and we never should see it," Case said. "We're just going to have to let it go."