Marianas Trench Marine National Monument
The Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, established by President George W. Bush in January 2009, is the second-largest marine monument in the United States, covering approximately 96,714 square miles of ocean near the Mariana Islands. This unique area consists of three distinct units: the Islands Unit, which surrounds three northernmost islands; the Volcanic Unit, which encompasses submerged lands around twenty-one volcanic sites; and the Trench Unit, which protects the Mariana Trench—the deepest underwater canyon in the world. The monument is notable for its remarkable biodiversity, featuring undersea mud volcanoes and hydrothermal vents that host unusual life forms.
The establishment of the monument was part of a broader initiative to enhance marine conservation in the Pacific Ocean. It limits commercial activities, thereby preserving vital ecosystems for future study and conservation efforts. In 2014, the governance of certain submerged lands within the monument was transferred to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, allowing for local management while still maintaining the protections afforded by national monument status. Additionally, efforts have been made to explore and document the region's geography and biodiversity, contributing to our understanding of these unexplored marine environments. The U.S. government has also sought recognition from UNESCO for the monument as a World Heritage Site, reflecting its global significance in marine conservation.
Marianas Trench Marine National Monument
In 2009, after being urged by marine conservation groups to improve on an otherwise poor record on environmental policy during his White House tenure, President George W. Bush established three marine protected areas in the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these areas, the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, protected one of the most unique and unexplored ocean environments on Earth.
The Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, established by President George W. Bush in January 2009, is the second-largest marine monument in the United States. It spans an estimated 96,714 square miles of ocean and protects submerged lands and waters near the Mariana Islands archipelago, which encompasses the fifteen islands of the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and the US territory of Guam. The monument is divided into three units: the Islands Unit, which includes the marine environment around the three northernmost Mariana Islands, Farallon de Pajaros (also known as Uracas), Maug, and Asuncion; the Volcanic Unit, which consists of the submerged lands within one nautical mile of twenty-one volcanic sites that make up the Mariana Arc; and the Trench Unit, which encompasses the submerged lands within the Mariana (or Marianas) Trench, the deepest underwater canyon in the world. The trench stretches for more than fifteen hundred miles and reaches nearly seven miles below the surface at its deepest point, known as the Challenger Deep. These protected areas are among the most biologically diverse in the Western Pacific Ocean, containing undersea mud volcanoes and hydrothermal vents that have produced unusual forms of life unseen anywhere else, as well as a vast frontier of previously unexplored underwater terrain.
President Bush created the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument as one of three national monuments in the Pacific Ocean, the others being the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument and the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument. He designated the sites by way of executive order as permitted under the Antiquities Act of 1906, which allows presidents to protect public lands without congressional approval. Bush’s establishment of the three sites, which comprise a total of more than 195,000 square miles, followed his designation in 2006 of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, which is the largest marine protected area in the world, covering 140,000 square miles around the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.
In 2014 the US government under President Barack Obama transferred submerged lands, and the mineral rights to them, within a three-nautical-mile radius of CNMI to the CNMI government, with a few exceptions around Asuncion, Maug, and Farallon de Pajaros that were part of the national monument. A memorandum of understanding was , and an environmental assessment done, in 2016 allowing the CNMI government to oversee management of those areas within the national monument.
As part of the Campaign to Address the Pacific monument Science, Technology, and Ocean NEeds (CAPSTONE), a two-month-long expedition was undertaken in 2016 to obtain a variety of baseline information about the monument area in order to better manage the national monument. The Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas recorded data about the geography, topography, physical conditions such as temperature and dissolved oxygen concentration, and biodiversity in and around the monument. Dives also returned numerous photographic images and video recordings on deep-sea life.
The US government applied to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre for the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument to be considered a World Heritage Site in December 2017. In late 2019 the monument remained on the tentative list.
In 2019 the US Fish and Wildlife Service granted a permit for a fiber optic telecommunications cable to be laid through the seabed of the monument in order to connect from Australia to Guam to Japan. In its environmental assessment of the Japan-Guam-Australia (JGA) South Telecommunications Cable Landing, the Fish and Wildlife Service found no significant impacts to the environmental resources of the monument area and deemed it beneficial for enhancing communication between Asia, Australia, and the United States.
Impact
The vast majority of the world’s oceans remain unexplored. The Marianas Trench Marine National Monument helps prevent desecration of some of the most biologically fascinating and unexplored areas on Earth. Its designation as a national monument preserves the area for future generations by limiting fishing and other commercial activities, thus giving scientists and researchers the opportunity to better understand how endemic marine species can survive in extremely harsh environments and contributing to efforts to fight and understand climate change. It ultimately improved Bush’s standing among marine conservationists and his administration’s overall record on the environment and helped him earn a legacy of ocean protection, as he was then responsible for protecting more of the world’s oceans than any other political leader in history.
Bibliography
Broder, John M. “Bush to Protect Vast New Pacific Tracts.” New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/us/06oceans.html. Accessed 22 May 2024.
Gorman, James. “Wonders of a Marine National Monument.” New York Times, 27 Mar. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/03/27/science/noaa-deep-sea-creatures.html. Accessed 22 May 2024.
“Mariana Trench Marine National Monument.” NOAA Fisheries, 20 May 2024,www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pacific-islands/habitat-conservation/mariana-trench-marine-national-monument. Accessed 22 May 2024.
"2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas: Expedition Summary, April 20–July 10, 2016." Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US Dept. of Commerce, oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex1605/logs/summary/welcome.html. Accessed 22 May 2024.
Weiss, Kenneth R. “Bush to Create New Protected Ocean Monuments.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 2009, www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jan-06-na-bush-pacific-conservation6-story.html. Accessed 22 May 2024.