HONOLULU (AP) - The state of Hawaii has banned fishing and limited public access in state waters surrounding the tiny islands and atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, which stretch 1,200 nearly pristine miles across the Pacific Ocean.

Gov. Linda Lingle signed the new ules Thursday creating the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands State Marine Refuge.

State waters extend three miles from the shores of the largely uninhabited area, which starts about 155 miles northwest of Kauai and is home to delicate coral reefs, scores of fish species and endangered Hawaiian monk seals and sea turtles.

The new state rules would continue to allow traditional Native Hawaiian cultural practices in the area.

Peter Young, chairman of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, said the state is asking the federal government to also ban fishing in a proposed National Marine Sanctuary extending 50 miles off shore - an announcement that drew applause and cheers from several environmentalists in the room.

"The broader, bigger message is: It's important for us to have a place in the world where we don't take something," Young said.

The federal waters include 132,000 square miles of ocean that were designated the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve in late 2000. The reserve is in the process of being designated a National Marine Sanctuary, which includes deciding upon regulations for the area.

Young said that if fishing and other types of harvesting - such as precious coral gathering - are banned from all waters in the islands, the area would become the largest protected marine area in the world.

The coral reef reserve is now the largest conservation area - on land or water - in the nation.

There are currently nine bottomfishers working around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, primarily in federal waters, who bring in a catch worth about $1.5 million, Young said. The fishermen would be bought out of their permits using federal and private funds, and fishing in the area would ideally be phased out within about five years, Young said.

Sean Martin, a Hawaii member of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, questioned whether that could or should be done. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands have been fished since about 1900 and are still frequently described as "pristine," said Martin, who is fisherman.

"It's troubling to manage fisheries by basically prohibiting them," he said Martin.

But Stephanie Fried, senior scientist with the New York-based Environmental Defense, said the state's proposal to ban fishing throughout the islands was historic.

"It is an extraordinary surprise and extraordinary day," Fried said.

The state is also seeking global recognition of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands by pursuing UNESCO World Heritage Site status for the area, Young said. Hawaii already has one World Heritage Site within its borders - the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island.

On the Net:

Department of Land and Natural Resources: http://www.hawaii.gov/dlnr/

Northwestern Hawaiian Island Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve: http://www.hawaiireef.noaa.gov/welcome.html

Environmental Defense: http://www.environmentaldefense.org