Anybody home? New protections come after 90% of large fish have vanished from the oceans.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—President George W. Bush announced earlier this week that he will designate nearly 200,000 square miles of the Pacific Ocean as protected areas, an unprecedented move that will safeguard aquatic biodiversity by banning commercial fishing, energy exploration, and mining. Environmentalists are pleased with the decision, though some organizations also question why the Bush administration hasn’t done more to protect the oceans. “While this is an historic action to create more resilient ocean ecosystems, we view the decision in the context of the last eight years, including a lack of action on climate change, which impacts oceans first and foremost, and the lifting of the 27-year offshore oil-drilling moratorium,” says Kelly Ricaurte, spokesperson for Ocean Conservancy, a group that advocates for healthy and diverse ocean ecosystems. “But we are optimistic that we have turned a page for the health of the ocean,” she adds.

THE DETAILS: Using his authority under the Antiquities Act, President Bush designated three new spots in the Pacific as Marine National Monuments, lending some protection to species like reef sharks, green sea turtles, and humpback and pilot whales, just to name a few. Military training will still be allowed in these extremely remote areas. The newly protected sites include:

1. Marianas Marine National Monument. Home to some of the deepest places on Earth, this area includes a spot that is deeper than Mount Everest is high. Included in the protection are the Marianas Trench and a chain of more than 20 submerged, active volcanoes and hydrothermal vents, and a coral reef ecosystem that’s home to 300 species of stony corals.

2. Pacific Remote Islands National Monument. Protecting these coral reef ecosystems that surround seven areas of federally owned land will benefit not only the oceans, but also the millions of seabirds and migratory shorebirds that frequent this area.

3. Rose Atoll Marine National Monument. This remote area is home to coral and rare species of nesting petrels, shearwaters, and terns.

WHAT IT MEANS: This is an important step towards healthier oceans, but climate change remains a significant threat. Since the 1950s, an estimated 90 percent of large ocean fish have disappeared, and a recent UN report found that current biodiversity changes worldwide are the fastest in human history. Because of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, the oceans are turning more acidic, and tiny, critically important creatures at the bottom of the food web are being affected, explains Ricaurte. Today, the northern Pacific Ocean is 30% more acidic than it was at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Even if you don’t live anywhere near a shoreline, a healthy ocean is in your best interest. "We are all connected to the ocean," Ricaurte says. "It provides much of the oxygen we breathe and the food we eat."

Follow this advice to help keep the oceans healthy: