Ocean Issues Archive
Herbivore Enhancement Area to strengthen reef
At a Fish Identification Network event at Kakekili Beach in Ka'anapali in October, "finnies" learned that what they were seeing in their fish counts was evidence of how fish diversity suffers when invasive algal species take the place of endemic species in a coral reef.
"The alien algae problem can be a symptom and a cause of reef degradation," explains Darla White, a marine biologist who works with community groups to develop volunteer monitoring protocols derived from Department of Aquatic Resources (DAR) data sets.
"An Herbivore Enhancement Area (HEA) is not going to work for every reef," she explains. The health of the reef differs from site to site for different reasons." However, in some areas, enhancing the herbivore population can curtail the growth of invasive algal and restore the health of the reef, she said. 12.04.07
Reef woes, injuries tied to fish feeding
Until only recently, it was not uncommon for snorkelers or scuba divers to bring a can of Easy Cheese, pizza crust or peas with them on an underwater adventure. The fish would come in swarms to eat out of the swimmers' hands. But after decades of hand-feeding fish, environmentalists and charter operators said something went wrong: The fish became habituated or addicted to getting the food. Sometimes the fish were so well fed that they refused to graze off of the reefs' natural algae and seaweed. 11.26.07
At Waihe'e beach, healing begins at the bottom of the food chain
The Waihe'e Limu Restoration Project is the story of a dedicated Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) inspiring her community to restore a reef she came to know through the stories of her tutu wahine. Not a native of Maui herself, Barrows raised her children at Waihe'e Beach and saw what happens to the herbivorous fish population when a major food source-limu-becomes scarce. Opportunistic fish in the food chain, including sharks, fill the niche that the herbivores once occupied. 11.20.07
The Drowning of Hawaii
Warmer waters. Melting ice caps. Disappearing glaciers. They are all expected to raise ocean levels by 39 inches in the next century, forever reshaping Hawaii. That's using the projection of one meter, or 39 inches, of sea level rise, a figure many scientists and planners who have reviewed global climate change predictions say is likely for Hawaii. 09.23.07
Superferry ordered to do environmental assessment
The Hawai'i Supreme Court this afternoon ruled that the state should have conducted an environmental study on its improvements to island harbors for the Hawaii Superferry operation scheduled to start next week. The decision is a major legal setback for the Superferry, but Superferry lawyers were not immediately available for comment as to whether the operations will start as scheduled on Tuesday. 08.23.07
Hawaii wants study on cruise industry impact
Two state agencies are looking to hire a consultant to conduct a comprehensive study of the impact of the cruise industry on Hawai'i. The Hawai'i Tourism Authority and the Department of Transportation will pay for the study, working in collaboration with the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, and the Department of Land and Natural Resources. 07.05.07
Maui Tomorrow and County of Maui Move Forward with their Case
Judge Joel August ruled that the Hawaii Department of Transportation's FONSI (Finding of NO significant impact) for the changes at Kahului Harbor was insufficient. He stated specifically that the examination of traffic issues was inadequate.
This is the case in which Maui Tomorrow, the Kahului Harbor Coalition and the County of Maui have joined together as plaintiffs, charging that the State's (Environmental Assessment) was incomplete.
Sound Effects
Activists say sonar kills whales. The Navy isn't listening.
Marsha Green, founder of the Ocean Mammal Institute and the International Ocean Noise Coalition, led a protest in Kahului against what she calls the Navy's "lawlessness." Her flyers display beached whales bathed in blood. Any arguments questioning the lethality of active sonar lost their credibility in March 2000, she says, when 17 beaked whales in the Bahamas beached themselves and died after being exposed to 150 to 160 decibel sonar. 05.16.07
Kahului Harbor Master Plan 2030
The Harbors Division is undertaking the Kahului Commercial Harbor 2030 Master Plan concurrent with its Environmental Impact Statement. These concurrent efforts will enable the master plan task force's consideration of any potential environmental impacts while planning Kahului Commercial Harbor's 2030 improvements.
Senate weakens fishermen-backed bill
A state Senate committee has gutted a fishery management bill. The new Senate version of House Bill 1848 House Draft 2 "emphasizes community participation in marine managed areas," said its author Sen. Russell Kokubun (D, Kalapana-Volcano). But that community input would not take away the state Department of Land and Natural Resources primary responsibility for managing fishing rules in state waters, the Senate version of the bill makes clear. 03.22.07
Cohesive fish policy is needed
State officials hope to increase public fishing opportunities off 'Ewa by building an artificial reef of at least 50 acres near Kalaeloa, while marine researchers are suggesting that the most important way to improve the number of marine species is simply to stop fishing in some areas by creating permanent marine reserves. 03.19.07
Sudden ban meant to help 7 bottomfish species recover
An emergency ban on catching seven bottomfish species in the main Hawaiian Islands will take effect for five months beginning May 1. The May-September seasonal closure is supposed to help onaga, ehu, gindai, opakapaka, kalekale, lehi and hapuupuu stocks recover from overfishing, its supporters say. Both commercial and recreational fishing will be banned. During those months, the onaga or opakapaka on restaurant menus and in stores will have to come from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or be imported. 03.17.07
Kahului Harbor EIS needed a decade ago
An environmental impact statement is needed to identify and propose mitigative measures on traffic increases on congested Kahului roadways, on the need for space in land-tight Kahului and Lihue, on a need for safety measures to separate cargo from passengers, on the potential for introduction of unwanted pests, not only aboard the Superferry but in cargo and on passengers from cruise ships, overseas containers and Young Brothers barges. 03.11.07
Study considers Kahului Harbor alternatives
The Harbors Division has sketched out its alternatives to build a Kahului Harbor capable of providing for a Maui population with an estimated 200,000 residents by 2030. One version moves cruise and interisland ferry piers to the almost-unused west breakwater. The other develops the west breakwater for cargo but keeps the Hawaii Superferry at Pier 2 and cruise ships at Pier 1. Both versions call for extensions of both breakwaters and dredging to widen the turning basin and improve the entrance. 03.09.07
Climate change brews ocean trouble
Scientists tie global warming to increased upwelling of deep ocean water, which can create crippling aquatic dead zones. Evidence is starting to accumulate that global warming may contribute to – or even trigger – troubling ecological changes taking place in these key regions of coastal upwelling, where some of the world's richest fisheries exist. 03.08.07
County cited for more landfill violations
WAILUKU - The county faces $62,300 in fines from the state Department of Health for water pollution violations at landfills in Hana and on Lanai and Molokai. The county was cited for failing to maintain drainage swales, detention basins and containment areas, which allowed polluted rainwater to run into the ocean last year, according to a Health Department statement. The county also failed to maintain oil containment areas and didn't keep up with required rainwater sampling at the landfills, it said. 03.07.07
Refuting the Myths: Hawaii Superferry facts add clarity to the murky debate
by Ron Sturtz, President of Maui Tomorrow Foundation, Inc
Many people have asked that I provide a factual overview of the potential environmental impacts of the Hawaii Superferry, and the status of current legal challenges. I hope that the following facts - in response to a few well-intentioned and passionate, but misinformed letters, editorials and news reports – will be helpful to the discussion. 02.25.07
959 Whale Sightings During Great Whale Count
More than 135 people from around the globe joined together to count endangered humpback whales off the coast of Maui today as part of The Great Whale Count, an annual systematic count of whales led by the nonprofit Pacific Whale Foundation. They tallied a total of 959 whale sightings at 12 shoreline sites ranging along the south and west coasts of Maui. 02.24.07
State Environmental Council Issues Opinion: Superferry Exemption from EIS is wrong
The State Environmental Council, the advisory commission to the Office of Environmental Quality Control, issued an opinion on Thursday that “the State Department of Transportation erred when it granted to the Hawaii Superferry an exemption from the requirement to do an Environmental Impact Statement.” In a 9:1 vote, with one abstention, the Council stated that the exemption granted by the DOT failed to take into consideration the cumulative and secondary environmental impacts of the Hawaii Superferry project. 02.23.07
'Big concerns' over Superferry remain
A joint Senate committee approved a bill requiring an environmental impact statement be prepared on the Hawaii Superferry, although senators said significant legal issues need to be addressed. Senate Bill 1276 was approved by a joint session of the transportation and environment committees, after the committees went to Maui and Kauai last weekend to receive public comment that was virtually unanimous in favor of requiring an EIS. 02.15.07
Maui testifiers unanimous, want EIS for Superferry
Public misgivings about this summer's scheduled launch of the Hawaii Superferry resurfaced Saturday during a joint Senate committee meeting while a bill to demand an environmental study of the interisland ferry appeared to pick up steam. With public testimony statewide on a bill to require an environmental impact statement for the ferry running 13-to-1 in favor, Maui state Sens. J. Kalani English and Shan Tsutsui predicted Senate Bill 1276 would advance out of the Senate Transportation and International Affairs and Energy and Environment committees en route to debate on the Senate floor. 02.12.07
More On Super Shibai
Senator Gary Hooser's blog offers comments on Superferry. 02.11.07
EIS for Superferry has strong support from Kaua‘i
The majority of residents who testified at a meeting on Kauai threw their support behind a Senate bill that would require Hawaii Superferry conduct a detailed environmental impact statement before beginning ferry operations in July. More than 120 people crowded into the historic County Building to hear all or part of the Senate committee hearing convened to discuss the bill. Those attending voiced concern the ferries might collide with federally protected marine life, increase traffic congestion, and bring more crime, homeless people and drugs to Kaua'i. 02.10.07
How you can promote our oceans' sustainability and health
"The ocean is giving us so much. It's only right that we give back." So says marine biologist Hannah Bernard, co-founder in 1996 of Hawaii Wildlife Fund. Whether you're surfing, paddling, diving, fishing or just gazing at the deep blue horizon, the ocean gives us more than we give back. In fact, scientific studies locally and worldwide indicate our oceans and nearshore waters are in grave danger. 02.08.07
Pacific Whale Foundation Testifies to Protect Whales
Pacific Whale Foundation President and Founder Greg Kaufman traveled to Honolulu to testify before two Hawaii State Senate Committees on the need for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prior to allowing operation of the Hawaii Superferry. Kaufman's testimony before the Senate Transportation and International Affairs Committee, and the Energy and Environment Commiteee, was in support of Senate Bill 1276, which would require an EIS for the Superferry. 02.07.07
Mutiny for the Bounty
Humans can't live under water, so we tend to overlook the fact that most life on this planet exists not on land but in the oceans. Half the world's population lives within fifty miles of a coastline; going to the beach is the number-one outdoor recreational activity for Americans. Homo sapiens could not survive without oceans, but you wouldn't know it from how we have been treating them. 01.29.07
Superferry review sought
Four influential Neighbor Island state senators, who believe Hawai'i Superferry has not convincingly explained its possible effect on the Islands, will try to require an environmental impact statement before the scheduled launch of ferry service between O'ahu, Maui and Kaua'i in July. The senators want a more thorough review of the Superferry even if it means delaying the launch. 01.07.07
Superferry to launch Thursday
This week will mark a milestone for Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama when it launches the first of two Hawaii Superferry craft from its south ship shed on the Mobile River. Work is under way in Mobile on the second vessel, scheduled for delivery in early 2009. 01.14.07
Shark-protection efforts struggle to gain support
About 100 million sharks and their close relatives are killed each year, either deliberately or as fishermen's bycatch, according to the Shark Alliance, a five-month-old international coalition of advocacy and ocean-recreation groups. 01.15.07
Healthy reefs may help shield against tsunami damage
Nature may be best at reef repair
Read two articles that point out the importance to all island residents of healthy offshore reef systems. 12.25.06
Energy from the motion of the ocean
A former surfer designs a buoy that can convert wave motion into electricity.
If you wanted to choose the perfect location for capturing the ocean's energy, you couldn't do much better than the Oregon coast. Waves arrive there with immense power, having traveled across thousands of miles of open water with few barrier islands, reefs or other obstructions to slow them down. Some are so large that they can be tracked by Satellite days before they arrive. Starting in 2007, those massive, ceaseless waves will help light homes and businesses along the West Coast, thanks to an entrepreneur named George Taylor. 12.15.06
Ferry compromise encouraged
An attorney for Maui County said she's "hopeful" that various groups can get together and resolve their differences rather than engage in a legal dispute over the proposed interisland Superferry. 12.13.06
Sand Castle
Many of Maui's beaches are disappearing at an alarming rate. Can we stop the erosion before our economy and way of life crumble into the sea? 12.07.06
State harbors chief grilled by judge over Kahului plans
The question before the court is whether three citizen groups and Maui County have a legitimate claim in a lawsuit seeking to require the state Department of Transportation to prepare a full environmental impact statement on the environmental effects of harbor expansion - including improvements for the Hawaii Superferry. 12.08.06
Open Arctic Sea in Summers? Arctic Sea Ice "Faces Rapid Melt"
Read two recent articles that indicate there is trouble brewing in the Far North that has implications for coastal residents across the planet. 12.12.06
Companies attempt to draw energy from ocean
In the quest for oil-free power, a handful of small companies are staking claims on the boundless energy of the rising and ebbing sea. The technology that would draw energy from ocean tides to keep light bulbs and laptops aglow is largely untested, but several newly minted companies are reserving tracts of water from Alaska's Cook Inlet to Manhattan's East River in the belief that such sites could become profitable sources of electricity. 11.04.06
Trail will ease access to ocean
A recent Hawai'i Supreme Court ruling reiterated the state's commitment to retaining as much of the shoreline as possible for use by the public. 11.06.06
Troubled Seas
One report after another over the last decade has documented the degradation of the world's oceans and predicted a catastrophic decline in important fish species. But in terms of sheer gloom none compares to a recent study in the journal Science. It asserts that the progressive unraveling of entire marine ecosystems up and down the food chain could lead to the "collapse" of all commercial species, possibly by the middle of this century. 11.14.06
The game is over for shoreline developers
The Hawai‘i Supreme Court has issued a ruling strongly reaffirming that the shoreline in Hawai‘i, which marks the boundary between public beach and private land, extends to the highest wash of the waves, and rejecting the use of artificially planted vegetation to determine the shoreline. 11.20.06
Marine violators will be targeted
Ocean poachers and others who violate state environmental protection laws and rules may face prosecution under a new state program. The state Department of Land and Natural Resources, the attorney general's office, the Hawai'i Coral Reef Initiative and the University of Hawai'i's Environmental Law Program are creating a one-year law fellowship to focus on prosecuting violators of state laws that protect marine resources. 11.21.06
Slowing down could reduce whale injuries
It's distressing to see the increase in the number of collisions between ocean vessels and humpback whales. Researchers say we've had six collisions so far this year, up from four last year. And while that number might seem small, that increase should initiate discussion for speed limits in certain segments of our waters, with the hope of reducing the number of these accidents. 11.21.06
Choosing Seafood for Healthier Oceans
Get to know where your fish comes from and how it’s caught. Seafood guides, like the ones put out by Maui's own Pacific Whale Foundation, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Blue Ocean Institute often include this information. Avoid seafood caught using large-scale indiscriminate techniques, such as long-lines (tuna and swordfish) or bottom trawling (shrimp and cod). 11.06.06
Panel approves Maui gill net ban
The state Board of Land and Natural Resources has approved a rule to ban use of lay gill nets around Maui island, although some sections of the proposed rule affecting Molokai and other islands will be subject to further public hearings. 11.18.06
Kahului judged too busy for Superferry
Kahului Harbor can't meet all the future demand of cargo ships, cruise ships, the interisland Superferry and other users, said Maui Planning Director Mike Foley. The harbor is already too crowded, and there won't be enough room to accommodate increased traffic brought by barges, ferries, recreation vessels, small boats, fuel imports and storage. 11.19.06
Scientists Call for Deep-Sea Trawling Ban
Scientists have called for a worldwide ban on deep-sea trawling following a major UN-backed report on the damage it is causing to vulnerable deep-sea corals. The study will provide ammunition for countries calling for a moratorium on the fishing practice on the high seas. The latest round of negotiations on the issue will begin at the UN general assembly on Friday. 11.15.06
Planner: Kahului Harbor is not enough
When the public at large got its first chance to offer suggestions for the next Kahului Harbor master plan, the state was told to expand its horizons - to plan not just for the island's only commercial port but for maritime needs generally. 11.16.06
Advocates hail beach-access ruling; Critics question the effects on owners of beachfront homes
The state Supreme Court affirmed Tuesday that the public shoreline extends to the highest wash of waves, at high tide during the highest surf season. Hawaii residents may be encouraged by the court ruling to insist that an eroding beach means the private landowner loses part of his property, as public property moves inland. But whether that's a good thing depends on one's point of view. 10.30.06
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