Hawaii FEP - Western Pacific Fishery Council

The Caroline Islands (~850 square miles) are composed of many low coral atolls, with a fewhigh islands. Politically, the Caroline Islands are separated into two countries: Palau and theFederated States of Micronesia.The Marshall Islands (~180 square miles) are made up of 34 low-lying atolls separated by twochains: the southeastern Ratak Chain and the northwestern Ralik Chain. Wake Island isgeologically a part of the Marshall Islands archipelago.Nauru (~21 square miles), located southeast of the Marshall Islands, is a raised coral reef atollrich in phosphate. The island is governed by the Republic of Nauru, which is the smallestindependent nation in the world.The Mariana Islands (~396 square miles) are composed of 15 volcanic islands that are part of asubmerged mountain chain that stretches nearly 1,500 miles from Guam to Japan. Politically, theMariana Islands are split into the Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of NorthernMariana Islands (CNMI), both of which are U.S. possessions.The Gilbert Islands are located south of the Marshall Islands and are made up of 16 low-lyingatolls.The Line Islands, located in the central South Pacific, are made up of ten coral atolls, of whichKirimati is the largest in the world (~609 square miles). The U.S. possessions of Kingman Reef,Palmyra Atoll, and Jarvis Island are located within the Line Islands. Most of the islands andatolls in these three chains, however, are part of the Republic of Kiribati (~ 811 square miles),which has an EEZ of nearly one million square miles.The Phoenix Islands, located to the southwest of the Gilbert Islands, are composed of eight coralatolls. Howland and Baker Islands (U.S. possessions) are located within the Phoenix archipelago.3.2.12.2 MelanesiaMelanesia is composed of several archipelagos that include: (a) Fiji Islands, (b) New Caledonia,(c) Solomon Islands, (d) New Guinea, (e) Bismarck Archipelago, (f) Louisiade Islands, (g)Tobriand Islands, (h) Maluku Islands, (i) Torres Strait Islands, and (j) Vanuatu Islands.Located approximately 3,500 miles northeast of Sydney, Australia, the Fiji archipelago (~18,700square miles) is composed of nearly 800 islands: the largest islands are volcanic in origin and thesmallest islands are coral atolls. The two largest islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, make upnearly 85 percent of the total land area of the Republic of Fiji Islands.Located nearly 750 miles east–northeast of Australia, is the volcanic island of Grande Terre orNew Caledonia (~6,300 square miles). New Caledonia is French Territory and includes thenearby Loyalty Islands and the Chesterfield Islands, which are groups of small coral atolls.The Solomon Islands (~27,500 square miles) are located northwest of New Caledonia and east ofPapua New Guinea. Thirty volcanic islands and several small coral atolls make up this former46