Proposed Cooperative Institute for Pacific Islands Region

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NOAA is the primary U.S. federal agency responsible for stewardship of the environment and living marine resources (LMRs) in waters of the Pacific Islands region. The Pacific Islands region encompasses a huge geographic area including waters of the Hawaiian Archipelago, American Samoa, the Mariana Archipelago, and the U.S. Pacific Remote Island Areas (PRIA) as well as vast areas of the Pacific within the U.S. EEZ. NOAA is responsible for managing the LMRs (e.g., fishery and protected species) and marine protected areas (MPAs), and for conducting science to provide, science advice to support regional management activities. The region encompasses extensive insular marine ecosystems associated with islands, atolls, submerged banks, and seamounts of American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Hawaii (including the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands), and the PRIA (Howland Island, Baker Island, Jarvis Island, Palmyra Atoll, Kingman Reef, Johnston Atoll, and Wake Island). NOAA also has several programmatic authorities that apply to the Freely Associated States as if they were domestic, as well as engagement through a Compact of Free Association with several nations, and as international partners. In addition, the Pacific Islands region includes the oceanic habitat and pelagic ecosystems spanning the region from about 40° N latitude through the equator to 30° S latitude. The Pacific Islands region’s diverse ecosystems provide a wide array of services including sustainable commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries; sustenance of deeply-rooted traditional island cultures and customs; critical habitat for threatened and endangered species of fish and wildlife; unique biota and biodiversity; and education and research. The marine resources and habitats of the region are vital to the well being of the Pacific island communities, the nation, and the world.

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