HONOLULU — U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Kiribati President Anote Tong have agreed to support research and conservation activities around isolated islands in the Pacific.
HONOLULU — U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Kiribati President Anote Tong have agreed to support research and conservation activities around isolated islands in the Pacific.
The agreement covers the U.S. Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument and the Phoenix Islands Protected Area in Kiribati.
The Interior Department said Thursday the two countries may work together on scientific research, law enforcement, removing shipwrecks and eradicating non-native species like rats.
The U.S. monument sits between Hawaii and American Samoa. Kiribati is between Hawaii and Australia.
The department said the U.S. monument is currently the largest marine reserve in the world that is completely off-limits to commercial resource extraction, including commercial fishing.
Kiribati recently announced it would close the Phoenix Islands Protected Area to commercial fishing next year.