FINDINGS.

SEC. 2302. FINDINGS. The Congress finds the following: (1) Many of the diverse marine resources and ecosystems within the Western Pacific region are of national significance and importance. (2) There are at present no ocean areas in the Hawaiian Islands designated as national marine sanctuaries or identified on the Department of Commerce’s Site Evaluation List of sites to be investigated as potential candidates for designation as a national marine sanctuary under title III of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.). (3) The Hawaiian Islands consist of eight major islands and 124 minor islands, with a total land area of 6,423 square miles and a general coastline of 750 miles. (4) The marine environment adjacent to and between the Hawaiian Islands is a diverse and unique subtropical marine ecosystem. (5) The Department of Commerce recently concluded in its Kahoolawe Island National Marine Sanctuary Feasibility Study that there is preliminary evidence of biological, cultural, and historical resources adjacent to Kahoolawe Island to merit further investigation for national marine sanctuary status. 106 STAT. 5056 (6) The Department of Commerce also concluded in its Kahoolawe Island National Marine Sanctuary Feasibility Study that there are additional marine areas within the Hawaiian archipelago which merit further consideration for national marine sanctuary status and that the national marine sanctuary program could enhance marine resource protection in Hawaii. (7) The Hawaiian stock of the endangered humpback whale, the largest of the three North Pacific stocks, breed and calve within the waters of the main Hawaiian Islands. (8) The marine areas surrounding the main Hawaiian Islands, which are essential breeding, calving, and nursing areas for the endangered humpback whale, are subject to dam-age and loss of their ecological integrity from a variety of disturbances. (9) The Department of Commerce recently promulgated a humpback whale recovery plan which sets out a series of recommended goals and actions in order to increase the abundance of the endangered humpback whale. (10) An announcement of certain Hawaiian waters frequented by humpback whales as an active candidate for marine sanctuary designation was published in the Federal Register on March 17, 1982 (47 FR 11544). (11) The existing State and Federal regulatory and management programs applicable to the waters of the main Hawaiian Islands are inadequate to provide the kind of comprehensive and coordinated conservation and management of humpback whales and their habitat that is available under title III of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.). (12) Authority is needed for comprehensive and coordinated conservation and management of humpback whales and their habitat that will complement existing Federal and State regulatory authorities. (13) There is a need to support, promote, and coordinate scientific research on, and monitoring of, that portion of the marine environment essential to the survival of the humpback whale. (14) Public education, awareness, understanding, appreciation, and wise use of the marine environment are fundamental to the protection and conservation of the humpback whale. (15) The designation, as a national marine sanctuary, of the areas of the marine environment adjacent to the main Hawaiian Islands which are essential to the continued recovery of the humpback whale is necessary for the preservation and protection of this important national marine resource. (16) The marine sanctuary designated for the conservation and management of humpback whales could be expanded to include other marine resources of national significance which are determined to exist within the sanctuary.