The Cook Islands in the Marae Moana Amendment Act 2026 under Section 24 stipulates that a marine protected area of 50 nautical miles (measured from each coastline) is established around all islands of the Cook islands. This equates to a total of 324,000 square kilometres. The purpose of this marine protected area is to protect the pelagic, benthic, coral reef, coastal, and lagoon habitats of the marae moana and, accordingly, all seabed minerals activities and large-scale commercial fishing in the area are prohibited, but other ecologically sustainable uses are permitted.
