Except as provided in §§ 404.8, 404.9 and 404.10, the following activities are prohibited and thus unlawful for any person to conduct or cause to be conducted within the Monument without a valid permit as provided for in § 404.11:

(a) Removing, moving, taking, harvesting, possessing, injuring, disturbing, or damaging; or attempting to remove, move, take, harvest, possess, injure, disturb, or damage any living or nonliving Monument resource;

(b) Drilling into, dredging, or otherwise altering the submerged lands other than by anchoring a vessel; or constructing, placing, or abandoning any structure, material, or other matter on the submerged lands;

(c) Anchoring a vessel;

(d) Deserting a vessel aground, at anchor, or adrift;

(e) Discharging or depositing any material or other matter into Special Preservation Areas or the Midway Atoll Special Management Area except vessel engine cooling water, weather deck runoff, and vessel engine exhaust;

(f) Discharging or depositing any material or other matter into the Monument, or discharging or depositing any material or other matter outside the Monument that subsequently enters the Monument and injures any resources of the Monument, except fish parts (i.e., chumming material or bait) used in and during authorized fishing operations, or discharges incidental to vessel use such as deck wash, approved marine sanitation device effluent, cooling water, and engine exhaust;

(g) Touching coral, living or dead;

(h) Possessing fishing gear except when stowed and not available for immediate use during passage without interruption through the Monument;

(i) Swimming, snorkeling, or closed or open circuit SCUBA diving within any Special Preservation Area or the Midway Atoll Special Management Area; and

(j) Attracting any living Monument resource.