Obama expands size of marine national monument in Pacific Ocean near Hawaii

With a stroke of his pen, President Obama quadrupled the size of a national monument off the coast of Hawaii Friday, banning commercial fishing from more than 582,500 square miles of the Pacific Ocean.

With the action, Mr. Obama is making the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument the world’s largest marine protected area.

Mr. Obama will visit the protected area on Thursday to call attention to the impact of climate change on oceans. He’ll travel to Midway Atoll, the remote coral reef that was the site of a key World War II battle and is also known for its variety of marine wildlife.

The monument was originally created in 2006 by President George W. Bush, and was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010. Since that time, the White House said, “new scientific exploration and research has revealed new species and deep sea habitats as well as important ecological connections between the existing monument and the adjacent waters.”

Mr. Obama was born in Hawaii and spent most of his childhood there.

Even before Friday’s executive action, Mr. Obama had set aside more than 265 million acres of land and water as off-limits from development and commercial activity.