Christopher Pala investigated the activities of a Honolulu-based fishing advisory council called Wespac. He found that it liberally distributed grants and travel perks to leading politicians in the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas for years to ensure their loyalty. They then obligingly backed Wespac in vociferously opposing the creation by President George W. Bush of the Marianas Trench National Marine Monument, which would have protected a corner of the Pacific archipelago from commercial fishing. Their campaign resulted in a much smaller protected area than the White House had first envisioned, with few practical benefits.