Fish

Learn About Toxic Sunscreen Chemicals

    Come this Monday, November 13th, 2017 at 1:30 to Maui Council Chambers (200 S. High St. 8th floor) to learn about the toxic sunscreen chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate, which are killing our reefs. Dr. Craig Downs and Joe DiNardo will be giving presentations on the science behind these killer chemicals. Agenda: https://mauicounty.legistar.com/View.ashx… #oxybenzonefreemaui #killersunscreen #notreefsafe County of Maui#coralreef

Listen to Palau’s Prez Tell How He Protected Their Ocean

Come hear an environmental hero share how he and his nation, the Republic of Palau, balance local culture and natural resources against the demands and challenges of economic growth, tourism, and climate change.  President of Palau Thomas (Tommy) Remengesau  is speaking on Sunday, June 2, 2013 from 5:00-6:30pm at Maui College ‘Ike Le’a Building #114.

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State Hears Aquarium Collection Lawsuit

by Robert Wintner  (Opinions expressed are the authors)
(Note: Above photo copyrighted and courtesy of Robert Wintner)

The Honolulu District Court yesterday heard closing summaries a case against the State of Hawaii for issuing aquarium collecting permits without assessing Environmental impact—or impact to the Hawaiian culture.

The public trust law firm Earthjustice, representing a cross section of plaintiffs against the State, had no burden to establish harm but presented overwhelming evidence of harm to Hawaii reefs from massive aquarium extraction.

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Fish Resources Gill Nets (Laynets) and Aquarium Collecting

Lay Nets

Problems Associated With Laynets

  • Overly efficient method causing a decline in fish
  • Indescriminant catch and kill of all species (sometimes only 1/15 of catch is usable)
  • Entanglement and killing of endangered turtles and ocean mammals
  • Breaking coral while retrieving net
  • Danger to swimmers and divers
  • Fish spoiled when left too long
  • Attract sharks to shoreline waters
  • Pieces of net tear off and endanger marine wildlife and boating
  • Enforcement of regulations difficult
    • Too few DLNR agents
    • Difficulty locating net owner
    • Time consuming to enforce time limits  

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Looting of the Seas

Looting the Seas is an award-winning project by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists looking at forces that are rapidly emptying oceans of fish. In its first installment ICIJ documented the massive black market in threatened bluefin tuna. In the second, it revealed that billions of dollars in subsidies flow into the Spanish fishing industry despite its record of flouting rules and breaking the law. For the last of the three-part investigation, ICIJ reporters focused … Read more

Initiative To Benefit Nearshore Fisheries

Please write to Governor Abercrombie and ask him to pick Maui for the Pilot project for restoring the near shore fisheries. Honolulu, Hawaii — Governor Neil Abercrombie today announced a joint initiative between the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), Conservation International (CI), and the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation (HKL Castle) to increase enforcement that will help sustain Hawaii’s nearshore fisheries. The initiative will create new Fisheries Enforcement Units, a priority program of DLNR’s … Read more

WHERE HAVE HAWAII’S FISH GONE?

By Rene Umberger This article was originally featured in the Sierra Club Newsletter of September 2009 Increasingly snorkelers and divers in Hawaii are asking “Where have all the fish gone?” Reef fish decline can be attributed to several factors, however none weigh so heavily as the losses due to extraction, including collecting reef animals for the home tanks of hobby aquarists. According to the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, “Severe overfishing for the aquarium trade … Read more