United States Minor Outlying Islands · Spearfishing zone
Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge and Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument (Kingman Reef unit)
What this zone is
Overview
How spearfishing is treated at Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge and Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument (Kingman Reef unit).
Kingman Reef is an almost entirely submerged atoll: the Fish and Wildlife Service describes the refuge as consisting of "all emergent areas of Kingman Reef and its surrounding 487,016 acres of submerged lands and waters that extend out 12 nautical miles, including over 25,000 acres of thriving coral reef habitat", with dry land barely a few feet above sea level. It is one of the least disturbed reef systems in the Pacific and, precisely for that reason, one of the most tightly closed: the Service states the refuge "is not open to the public and entry is only allowed through a Special Use Permit when the activity is deemed appropriate with purposes to the refuge establishment". Taking any animal is prohibited under 50 CFR 27.21, no unit here is opened to sport fishing by 50 CFR 32.7, and non-commercial fishing is prohibited throughout the monument under 50 CFR 665.933(b) and absolutely within 12 nautical miles of emergent land under 50 CFR 665.934(d). Spearfishing is prohibited.
On the coast
Location
Approximate reference point for this zone. See the full picture on the interactive map.
6.4016°N, 162.3664°W
View on the mapSource
This zone is documented in the official source below.
Before you dive
License for United States Minor Outlying Islands
Whether you need a license to spearfish here, and how to get one.
Special Use Permits are issued by the refuge manager of the relevant refuge complex (Pacific Reefs National Wildlife Refuge Complex for the Pacific units; Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex, based at Cabo Rojo, for Navassa). Monument fishing permits are applied for through NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands Regional Office as described in 50 CFR 665.13. In practice these permits are issued for research, management and (at Palmyra) catch-and-release bone-fishing, not for spearfishing.
Get your licenseOpens the official portal · ecfr.gov
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