In a joint effort to further protect vital marine habitats in the Pacific, the U.S. and the South Pacific island of Kiribati have signed a “cooperative arrangement” which calls for both countries to, among other things, conserve and protect pristine areas in the region.

According to a joint statement released by the U.S. Department of Interior, the cooperative arrangement document is to coordinate and jointly support research and conservation activities for nearly 490,000 square nautical miles in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM) of the U.S. and the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) in Kiribati.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Kiribati President Anote Tong signed the cooperative arrangement documents yesterday in Sydney, Australia, during the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s 2014 World Parks Congress.

“With this cooperative arrangement, our two nations are embracing a shared vision of marine conservation that crosses political boundaries and helps protect pristine areas in the Pacific,” Jewell said in a statement. “It is a commitment we are making together for the health of our ocean as it faces growing pressure from climate change, ocean acidification and other threats.”

Tong is quoted in the statement saying that the collaborative arrangement “will enhance efforts in strengthening enforcement and surveillance and we look forward to working closely with the U.S. on this.” (Tong was nominated this week by Fiji as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work around climate change issues.)

Kiribati established PIPA in 2008 to protect 157,630 square miles in the central Pacific and during the Ocean Conference in Washington D.C. in June this year, Tong announced the closure of PIPA to commercial activities to be enforced starting in January next year.

For the “cooperative arrangement”, it  strengthens cooperative management of the two protected areas (PIPA and PRIMNM)—collectively called the Phoenix Ocean Arc— that make up a wide swath of the Pacific, including entire island ecosystems, coral reefs, seamounts and marine areas, according to the DOI statement.

Collaborative activities may include scientific research, law enforcement, the removal of shipwrecks, conservation of seabirds and eradication of non-native species, such as rats from atolls, it says.

The PRIMNM, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, now protects nearly 490,000 square miles around tropical islands and atolls (including seven national wildlife refuges) in the south-central Pacific Ocean and is the largest marine reserve in the world that is completely off-limits to commercial resource extraction, including commercial fishing.

DOI says PIPA and the PRIMNM are sites with strong conservation mandates; opportunities for global research; challenges to managing and enforcing regulations; and threats from illegal or unregulated fishing and trespassing.

Jewell said the Pacific Ocean provides food security, global weather and climate stability, recreation and inspiration, jobs and prosperity.

“Protecting the health and integrity of these vast wild areas and their marine wildlife is good national and international policy and demonstrates to the world the benefits of cross-border marine protection,” she said.

The White House announced this year that the PRIMNM expansion will affect only three of the five main components of PRIMNM:  Wake Island, Jarvis Island, and Johnston Atoll and  will extend the current 50 nautical-mile boundary to the 200 nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

All commercial fishing as well as deep-sea mining of seabed minerals will be prohibited in the expanded zones, while recreational and traditional fishing methods will be permitted.

However, there have been some concerns over the expansion of the PRIMNM. For example, Tri Marine International told Samoa News in September that while appreciative that  Howland Baker and Kingman Palmyra were excluded, “we still have some concerns that the loss of traditional fishing grounds will negatively impact the availability of fish supply for the American Samoa tuna industry.”

On the other hand, Tri Marine is encouraged by the collaborative process and recognizes that the exceptions outlined in the PRIMNM “will help our business, and the Samoans who rely on continuous sustainable tuna for their livelihoods.”

Tri Marine’s operations in the territory include a locally based U.S. fishing fleet, a freezer storage facility and a tuna cannery set to open soon.