Federal officials are expanding protections for Hawaiian monk seals around portions of the main Hawaiian Islands in an attempt to help save the species,  which is believed to number only about 1,100 and is declining at a rate of about 4 percent a year.

In a decision released Tuesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration designated waters and certain beaches around all the main Hawaiian Islands as critical habitat for the seals. The designation means that any activity requiring a federal permit or receiving federal funding must be reviewed by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service to make sure that any potential harm to the seals is minimized.

While the new rules will afford greater protection for the seals, they will not likely stop any major development or infrastructure projects, said Michael Tosatto, regional administrator for NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service Pacific Islands Regional Office. Those that may have to be modified to protect the seals include offshore wind projects or dredging operations, he said.

Tosatto stressed that recreational activities, such as swimming and surfing, as well as fishing should not be affected.

“Critical habitat is always not well understood,” said Tosatto. “It always appears to be invasive. It sounds like we are creating kapu areas, but we really are not.”

In response to criticism from Hawaii officials that proposed protections were too onerous, the coastline covered by the critical-habitat designation has been scaled back by about 35 percent, according to NOAA. The federal agency received more than 20,000 public comments on the proposed rule.

Under former Gov. Neil Abercrombie, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources criticized the proposal as being overly broad and placing an “extraordinary regulatory burden on government officials” while doing little to actually help the seals recover, according to written testimony submitted to NOAA by DLNR.

Those criticisms were echoed by former Gov. Linda Lingle as well as some state lawmakers including Rep. Sharon Har (D, Kapolei-Makakilo) and Rep. Cynthia Thielen (R, Kailua-Kaneohe Bay). Meanwhile, fishermen who packed community hearings on the proposed rules expressed their opposition and fears that the new level of federal oversight would hamper their commercial operations.

On Tuesday DLNR released a statement praising NOAA for incorporating the state’s input.

“Hawaii has a responsibility to protect our natural and cultural heritage,” said DLNR Chairwoman Suzanne Case in a news release. “A part of that is making sure that our very special, unique, native Hawaiian monk seals have safe places to thrive. It is a shared responsibility among the people, the state and the federal government.”

The ruling has been anxiously awaited by environmental groups, which have been pushing for the expanded protections for seven years.

In 2008 the Center for Biological Diversity, KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance and Ocean Conservancy petitioned NOAA to expand the critical-habitat designation.

While expressing disappointment that NOAA’s final ruling didn’t go further, the environmental groups issued a joint news release applauding the added protections.

“Hawaiian monk seals have been in serious trouble for a long time, and these new habitat protections will give them a desperately needed chance at survival,” said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans program director for the Center for Biological Diversity, in the release.

The final ruling expands critical habitat in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands to greater ocean depths while designating marine waters and beaches around the main Hawaiian Islands as critical habitat for the seals for the first time.

Military bases and harbors have been exempted from the designation, as have some shorelines.

On Oahu, Waikiki and popular North Shore beaches have been deleted from the final rule because they weren’t deemed critical, according to Tosatto. The critical-habitat designation will still pertain to large portions of Oahu’s leeward coast, Kaena Point and areas around Makapuu Point.

Tosatto said that the critical-habitat area on Molokai, where there was stiff resistance to the proposal, has also been substantially scaled back. Only areas around Laau Point and Kahiu Point are included, according to NOAA’s maps. On Maui much of the shoreline from Honalua Bay to La Perouse Bay is designated critical habitat, as well as beaches around Hana and on the North Shore.

On Kauai the west side of the island, where the Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility operates, has been excluded for national security reasons. Other areas of the coastline around Kauai, as well as Hawaii island, Lanai and Kahoolawe, are protected.

The critical-habitat area extends 5 meters inland from the shoreline.

Much of the near-shore ocean waters surrounding the islands has also been designated as critical habitat for the seals, though this area has also been scaled back. The protected area includes the seafloor, extending to a 200-meter depth and 10 meters from the floor.