“Even if you never have the chance to see or touch the ocean, the ocean touches you with every breath you take, every drop of water you drink, every bite you consume. Everyone, everywhere is inextricably connected to and utterly dependent upon the existence of the sea.” ~ Dr. Sylvia Earle

1. Clifton M. Hasegawa
President and CEO
Clifton M. Hasegawa & Associates, LLC
1322 Lower Main Street A5
Wailuku, Hawaii 96793
Email: clifhasegawa@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cliftonhasegawa
VIA FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN SLIDESHARE AND TWITTER
November 27, 2017
The Honorable Donald J. Trump
President of The United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Re: Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument
Dear Mr. President:
President George W. Bush by Presidential Proclamation 8031 established
Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument on June 15, 2006.
The current clash, controversy and political football is being played out on the
broadness of boundary expansion of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National
Monument by Presidential Proclamation 9478 signed by President Barack Obama on
August 25, 2016.
The Western Caucus' position is restrictions on fshing, mining and energy
exploration be lifted. The fshing restrictions contained in President Bush's Presidential
Proclamation were exceeded within 1 year of signing and have continued unreserved
and unrestrained. Permissive oversight and indulgent enforcement are apparent.
Please refer to the background material provided.

2. The matters of seabed mining and energy exploration involve international law
issues that by all discussion have not been fully vetted by proponents. Specifcally,
Under customary international law, and as refected in the Law of the Sea
Convention (LOSC), diferent legal regimes manage seabed activities.
These regimes govern activities in various seabed zones, including the
continental shelf, which is subject to the jurisdiction of coastal nations,
and the Area, which lies beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. The
LOSC provides the legal framework for the regimes governing seabed
activities such as mineral development and the laying of cables and
pipelines. The International Seabed Authority (ISA), established under
LOSC, facilitates international cooperation in the management of mineral
development in the Area. For the United States, the Deep Seabed Hard
Mineral Resources Act, administered by NOAA, governs the deep seabed
mining activities of U.S. entities.
Source: Ofce of The General Counsel. National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration. Seabed Management. Accessed November 27, 2017
http://www.gc.noaa.gov/gcil_seabed_management.html
Respectfully, we seek your favorable decision keeping Papahanaumokuakea
Marine National Marine Monument boundary, as expanded, intact.
Thank you very much
Aloha
Respectfully,
Clifton M. Hasegawa

3. Background Material
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NORTHWESTERN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
MARINE NATIONAL MONUMENT
A PROCLAMATION BY GEORGE W. BUSH
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
JUNE 15, 2006
Commercial Fishing
1. The Secretaries shall ensure that any commercial lobster fshing permit shall be
subject to a zero annual harvest limit.
2. Fishing for bottomfsh and pelagic species. The Secretaries shall ensure that:
a. Commercial fshing for bottomfsh and associated pelagic species may
continue within the monument for not longer than 5 years from the date of this
proclamation provided that:
(i) The fshing is conducted in accordance with a valid commercial bottomfsh
permit issued by NOAA; and
(ii) Such permit is in efect on the date of this proclamation and is
subsequently renewed pursuant to NOAA regulations at 50 CFR part 660 subpart E
as necessary.
b. Total landings for each fshing year may not exceed the following amounts:
(i) 350,000 pounds for bottomfsh species; and
(ii) 180,000 pounds for pelagic species.
c. Commercial fshing for bottomfsh and associated pelagic species is
prohibited in the monument after 5 years from the date of this proclamation.
[Emphasis Supplied]
Source: The White House. George W. Bush, President
https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/06/20060615-18.html

4. SHOULD PAPAHANAUMOKUAKEA BE OPEN FOR BUSINESS?
GOP lawmakers want restrictions lifted on fshing, mining and energy exploration —
even though experts say there is no oil and gas there
By Kirstin Downey Honolulu Civil Beat
November 22, 2017, accessed November 26, 2017
http://www.civilbeat.org/2017/11/gop-lawmakers-open-papahanaumokuakea-to-commercial-uses/
_______________________
THE WESTERN PACIFIC REGIONAL FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL
http://www.wpcouncil.org/about-us/
The Western Pacifc Regional Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional
fshery management councils established by the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and
Management Act of 1976. Amended in 1996 to prevent overfshing, minimize by catch
and protect fsh stocks and habitat, it is now called the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (MSA).
During its frst 35 years, the Council’s accomplishments have run the gamut from
being the frst Regional Fishery Management Council in the nation to prohibit drift gill-
net fshing and to develop an ecosystem-based fshery management plan to being the
pioneer of the vessel monitoring system (VMS) for fshing vessels, which is now being
implemented in fsheries worldwide.
The Council is made up of 16 Council members, the Council staf and several Council
advisory bodies. The Council process is a bottom-up process, emphasizing public
participation and involvement of fsheries management at the local and community
levels.
Council decisions are based on the best available scientifc information provided
largely by the Pacifc Islands Fisheries Science Center and the Pelagic Fisheries
Research Program and are transmitted to the Secretary of Commerce for approval.
Management measures created by the Council and approved by the Secretary are
implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Pacifc Islands Regional
Ofce and enforced by the NOAA Ofce of Law Enforcement, the U.S. Coast Guard
14th District and local enforcement agencies.

5. THE WESTERN PACIFIC REGIONAL FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL
http://www.wpcouncil.org/managed-fshery-ecosystems/pacifc-pelagic/fsheries-today-pelagics/
Fisheries Today – Pelagics In the Western Pacifc Region today, tunas and tuna-like
species account for over 95% of the landed weight and value of all seafood caught by
vessels from Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam and CNMI. Most of this catch comes
form the two longline fsheries in Hawaii and American Samoa. A small CNMI longline
feet is emerging.
The US purse seine fshery catches a larger volume of tunas, primarily skipjack and
yellowfn tuna. This fshery is managed under an international treaty and is subject to
measures developed by the Western Pacifc Regional Fishery Management Council
when fshing within the US EEZ.
Trolling is practiced throughout the Western Pacifc Region, including commercial,
recreational and charter fshing. Handlining and pole-and-line fshing are restricted to
Hawaii, where these fsheries have contracted substantially, with pole-and-lining being
restricted to less than three vessels.
The provisional total WCP–CA tuna catch for 2007 was estimated at 2,396,815 mt, the
highest annual catch recorded, and more than 120,000 mt higher the previous record
in 2006 (2,273,322 mt). During 2007, the purse seine fshery accounted for an
estimated 1,739,859 mt (73% of the total catch, and a record for this fshery), with
pole-and-line taking an estimated 214,935 mt (9%), the longline fshery an estimated
232,388 mt (10%), and the remainder (8%) taken by troll gear and a variety of artisanal
gears, mostly in eastern Indonesia and the Philippines.
The WCP–CA tuna catch (2,396,815 mt) for 2007 represented 84% of the total Pacifc
Ocean catch of 2,800,740 mt, and 55% of the global tuna catch (the provisional
estimate for 2007 is just under 4.4 million mt).
The estimated delivered value of the purse seine tuna catch in the WCPFC area for
2007 is US$2,373 million the highest level since at least 1997. This represents an
increase of US$743 million or 43 per cent on the estimated delivered value of the
catch in 2006. This increase was driven by a US$680 million (54 per cent) increase in
delivered value of the skipjack catch, which is estimated to be worth US$1,249 million
in 2007, resulting from a 9 per cent increase in catch and a 42 per cent increase in the
composite delivered price. The value of the yellowfn catch also rose to around
US$393 million with a rise of 21 per cent in the composite price being ofset by an 8
per cent decline in catch.

6. The estimated delivered value of the longline tuna catch in the WCPFC area for 2007
is US$1,160 million. This represents a decrease of US$103 million on the estimated
value of the catch in 2006. The value of the albacore catch decreased signifcantly by
US$78 million (35 per cent) while the value of the bigeye catch increased by US$33
million (5 per cent) and the value of the yellowfn catch declined by $US28 million (6
per cent). The albacore catch was estimated to be worth US$148 million in 2007 with
the 35 per cent decline being driven by 27 per cent decrease in the composite price
and a 10 per cent decrease in catch. The bigeye catch was estimated to be worth
US$668 million with the catch declining 2 per cent and the composite price increasing
7 per cent. The estimated delivered value of the yellowfn catch was at US$422 million
as the 7 per cent decline in catch more than ofset the 1 per cent rise in the composite
price.
The estimated delivered value of the total catch in the WCPFC pole and line fshery for
2007 is US$362 million. This represents a 1 per cent decrease on the estimated value
of the catch in 2006 with prices unchanged but catch dropped also by 1 per cent. The
estimated delivered value of the skipjack catch in the WCPFC pole and line fshery for
2007 is US$286 million.
This represents a similar level on the estimated value of the catch in 2006 with a 1 per
cent increase in prices ofset by a 1 percent decrease in catch.
Albacore catches in the WCPFC convention area comprise a range of fsheries
targeting stocks in the North Pacifc and South Pacifc. The main US fshery directly
targeting albacore is troll fshing, by vessels based along the West Coast of the United
States.
Some of these vessels have also fshed in the South Pacifc during the Austral summer.
The 2007 troll albacore catch (2,093 mt) was the lowest for nearly 20 years, and
mainly due to a reduction in active vessel numbers due to economic conditions and
hence a reduction in overall efort. The New Zealand troll feet (137 vessels caught
1,734 mt in 2007) and USA (6 vessels caught 218 mt 2007) typically account for most
of the albacore troll catch, with minor contributions coming from the Canadian, the
Cook Islands and French Polynesian feets. Based on the average price paid at the
Pago Pago canneries in 2007, then the value of the South Pacifc albacore troll catch
was $3.7 million. In the North Pacifc, the total troll catch amounted to about 6,200 mt
and based on the price for blast froze albacore in 2007, this would be worth $12.4
million.
Note Supplied. 1 Metric Ton (mt) equals 2,204.62 pounds (lbs)

7. OVERVIEW OF THE FISHERIES- PELAGICS
http://www.wpcouncil.org/managed-fshery-ecosystems/pacifc-pelagic/historical-overview-of-the-fsheries-pelagics/
Tuna fsheries in the Pacifc Ocean as a whole catch about 3.3 million mt1
of fsh, with
US fsheries catching about 5 percent of the total. Most of the catch is taken by feets
of high seas longliners and purse seiners from countries such as Japan, Taiwan, Korea
and the nations of Central and South America. More recently, Pacifc Island countries
such as Papua New Guinea and Kiribati have grown in importance in terms of their
large scale purse-seine and longline fsheries. Small scale artisanal longlining is also
conducted in Pacifc Island countries like Samoa and in South America, where there
are thousands of small scale longline vessels fshing in coastal waters.
The largest US pelagic fsheries in terms of tonnage of fsh landed is the US purse-seine
fshery, with catches of tuna amounting to about 250,000 mt (mostly skipjack and
yellowfn).
The US feet of albacore trollers, based at West Coast ports, amounts to about 400
vessels, fshing primarily in the North Pacifc and landing about 12,000 to 14,000 mt.
Some vessels from this feet also fsh seasonally for albacore in the South Pacifc,
catching up to 1,500 mt.
Of all fsheries managed under the Pacifc Pelagic Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP), the
Hawaii-based longline fshery is the largest accounting for the majority of Hawaii’s
commercial pelagic landings. Troll fshing for pelagics is the most common
recreational fshery in the islands of the Western Pacifc Region (American Samoa,
Guam, Hawaii, Northern Mariana Islands and US Pacifc remote island area).
1 Footnote Supplied. 1 Metric Ton (mt) equals 2,204.62 pounds (lbs)

8. SEISMIC ACTIVITY – ENERGY EXPLORATION
PACIFIC RING OF FIRE
ATLANTIC
The projected drilling of new deepwater oil wells and the re-drilling of existing oil wells
with the application of new technologies produce multi-tremor, seismic disturbances, create
points of lesser resistance below the sea foor are signifcantly amplifed by extreme oceanic
pressure, the consequent applied torques beneath the earth ocean interface, accentuate
naturally shifting plates, particularly sensitive in the Pacifc Rim, Ring of Fire, Alaska and
Hawaii inclusive, where tsunamis, seismic sea waves, are caused by earthquakes, submarine
landslides, undersea eruptions and by eruption of island volcanoes.
RING OF FIRE
Tsunamis in the Atlantic Ocean
Most tsunamis are generated by shallow earthquakes in subduction zones, since those
are the commonest earthquakes which distort the seafoor. The only subduction zones
around the Atlantic are the Puerto Rico Trench and the Antilles subduction zone
around the eastern Caribbean and the South Sandwich Trench south of South
America. These subduction zones are both smaller and much less active the
subduction zones that circle the Pacifc, so the Atlantic has many fewer tsunamis.
[Emphasis Supplied]
Source: Gerard Fryer, Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of
Hawaii https://www.soest.hawaii.edu/GG/ASK/tsunamis.html