New Research Shows Tuna Stocks Benefit From Expansion Of Papahanaumokuakea Monument 2 The spillover effect created outside the marine protected area seems to have benefited Hawaii’s commercial fishermen as well.
When President Barack Obama greatly expanded Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in 2016, the goal was pretty basic: protect the marine life found within that vast stretch of the Pacific Ocean up to 200 miles around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
But new research out of the University of Hawaii indicates there’s been another benefit to what was at the time the world’s largest marine protected area, which the commercial fishing industry staunchly opposed.
The monument, researchers found, has actually helped to revive the stocks of the migratory tuna that have swum through its borders over the past several years since fishing has been banned there.
