The world’s largest fully protected marine will be created in the central Pacific Ocean by the United States President Barack Obama.

The proclamation will broaden the existing Pacific Remote Islands National Marine Monument from almost 87,000 square miles to more than 490,000 square miles.

President Obama has now protected 297 million acres of federal lands and sea by an executive power than any other president in at least 50 years and this action makes the area in question off limits to commercial fishing, reported the Washington Post.

This will mean added protections for deep sea coral reefs and other marine ecosystems that administration officials believe are among the most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change.

While the islands in question are uninhabited, U.S tuna operators and some officials in Hawaii and American Samoa have opposed the expansion because it would make it more difficult to catch tuna and other species at certain times of the year.

The Pew Charitable Trusts said fish caught in the area around all seven atolls and islands account for up to 4 percent of the annual U.S tuna catch in the western and central Pacific.

At the same time, Claire Poumele the Director of the American Samoa Port Authority said she was concerned about the $600 million worth of fish her territory processes each year.

"It's definitely could have an impact."

President Obama will have exercised his power under the 1906 Antiquities Act to protect environmental assets. This decision is to allow fishing around roughly half the area’s islands and atolls aims to limit any economic impact on the U.S fishing interests.