Saving Seafood

HAWAII: Hawaii Pacific University Research Center to Pay Bounty to Commercial Fishers to Protect Reefs from Derelict Fishing Gear

January 10, 2023 — The following was released by Hawaii Pacific University:

Hawaiʻi Pacific University’s (HPU) Center for Marine Debris Research (CMDR) has launched a project that is partially supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Marine Debris Program to remove derelict fishing gear from the ocean. This type of marine debris is made of both lost and abandoned fishing gear, including ghost nets. Derelict fishing gear is primarily made of plastic and constitutes most of the plastic pollution washing ashore on Hawaii’s beaches. Before reaching the shoreline, ocean currents tangle up derelict fishing gear into large masses. These masses of plastic debris entangle and drown marine animals and smother and kill Hawaii’s precious coral reefs as they drift to the shoreline.

Derelict fishing gear is one of the most harmful forms of marine debris to marine animals and habitats. “When I first saw the damage caused by these large ghost nets on corals in Kāneʻohe Bay I was motivated to prevent it from happening,” said Research Manager of HPU’s Center for Marine Debris Research Raquel Corniuk. “This project is poised to be a win-win for fishermen and our beautiful ocean environments.”

HPU has partnered with the Hawai’i Longline Association and Hawai’i’s Department of Land and Natural Resources’ (DLNR) Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) to accomplish the ambitious goal of removing 100 metric tons (220,462 pounds) of derelict fishing gear from the ocean over two years. A bounty will be paid to eligible commercial fishers to remove derelict fishing gear at- sea before it strikes Hawai’i‘s coral reefs. Fishers registered in the bounty project will be paid between $1 to $3 per dry pound for derelict fishing gear found at sea and brought back to O’ahu.

HPU ran a trial bounty project from 2020 to 2021 with the Honolulu-based longline fleet. “For decades, Hawaii longline vessels have been bringing back derelict nets/ropes encountered at sea, and since 2010, disposing the debris at the dedicated bin at Pier 38,” said Executive Director of Hawaii Longline Association Eric Kingma. “Derelict ghost gear is a serious safety at sea hazard and when entangled with fishing gear, lost time and economic impacts result. HLA is excited to partner with HPU in this project and contribute to its objective.” HPU’s partnership with NOAA will enhance the success of the bounty project. “Derelict fishing gear and ghost nets continue to be a persistent economic and ecological threat to Hawai‘i. Our ultimate goal is to have a sea free of debris,” said Coordinator for NOAA’s Marine Debris Program’s Pacific Islands Region Mark Manuel. “NOAA is proud to support removal and data gathering efforts like this that get us all a step closer to realizing our shared vision.”

HPU staff, students, and volunteers will collect the debris from fishers at the dock and document, measure and weigh debris in the net shed. The debris will be repurposed first by artists and educators and recycling researchers. The remaining debris will be converted to electricity for the City and County of Honolulu through the Nets-to- Energy Program with assistance from Schnitzer Steel Hawai‘i Corporation and H-Power (Covanta).

A current study at HPU is nearing its completion and initial reports indicate that most of the derelict fishing gear washing ashore in the islands is not from Hawaii-based fisheries. These findings will be used to discuss best practices with those fisheries in hopes of preventing the loss of fishing gear in the first place. How to get involved:

● Learn more on DAR’s website.

● Commercial fishers with appropriate vessels and experience lifting or towing

debris at-sea are encouraged to register by February 28, 2023 on HPU’s project

website.

● Community members on Oʻahu interested in volunteering are welcome to sign

up on CMDR’s online volunteer form.

Hawaii launches hotline to report ghost fishing nets

June 4, 2021 — Hawaii has a new hotline to report ghost fishing nets, derelict gear and other plastic debris that washes ashore across the Hawaiian archipelago.

In a statement Thursday, state officials announced the new hotline, which uses phrasing from the Hawaii Pidgin language in the number: 833-4-Da-Nets.

State wildlife officials partnered with environmental groups to create the hotline so people can report marine debris that can then be quickly removed.

As they drift throughout the ocean, ghost nets and other fishing line continue to catch fish, sometimes entangling Hawaii’s humpback whales, sea turtles, endangered Hawaiian monk seals and seabirds.

“The idea is to have people call in hazardous nets immediately,” Kristen Kelly of Hawaii’s Division of Aquatic Resources Protected Species Program said in the statement. “We can mount a rapid response to remove these nets from our shorelines as quickly as possible and before they drift back into the open ocean.”

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Study seeks origins of ghost nets that haunt Hawaii’s shores

May 27, 2021 — Ghost nets” from unknown origins drift among the Pacific’s currents, threatening sea creatures and littering shorelines with the entangled remains of what they kill.

Lost or discarded at sea, sometimes decades ago, this fishing gear continues to wreak havoc on marine life and coral reefs in Hawaii.

Now, researchers are doing detective work to trace this harmful debris back to fisheries and manufacturers — and that takes extensive, in-depth analysis on tons of ghost nets.

The biggest concern is that derelict gear keeps killing fish and other wildlife such as endangered Hawaiian monk seals, seabirds and turtles long after it’s gone adrift, said Drew McWhirter, a graduate student at Hawaii Pacific University and one of the study’s lead researchers.

“These nets bulldoze over our reefs before they hit shore,” McWhirter added. “They leave a path of destruction, pulling coral heads out, and can cause a lot of ecological damage.”

Ghost nets foul oceans throughout the world, but the Hawaiian Islands — with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to the east and another gyre of floating trash to the west — are an epicenter for marine waste.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at ABC News

HAWAII: Marine debris research team fishes for clues in tons of ‘ghost nets’

May 10, 2021 — In an open-air structure called the “Net Shed” a team from Hawaii Pacific University’s Center for Marine Debris Research picks through a tangled mess of fishing nets.

They’re surrounded by mounds of twisted twine.

“It’s about five tons inside the ‘Net Shed’ and probably three tons outside, waiting for analysis,” said Jennifer Lynch, co-director of HPU’s marine debris program.

She’s heading up the effort to untangle the nets, cut and measure pieces, and look for clues.

“Lengths and widths and twine diameter, twin twists, knotted versus knot-less nets. You name it. We’re documenting what these pieces are,” she said.

The netting came from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. HPU partnered with Papahanaumokuakea Marine Debris Project to bring it back last month.

“We brought back just under 95,000 pounds of plastics in total. And of that 80,000 pounds were specifically ghost nets,” said Drew McWhirter, who’s working on the project for his master’s degree in HPU’s Marine Science Program.

Read the full story at Hawaii News Now

‘If we’re not up there cleaning up this threat, nobody is’: Team hauls more than 47 tons of marine debris out of Pacific Ocean

April 23, 2021 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Wednesday that a team of scientists hauled 47.2 tons of marine debris out of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the North Pacific Ocean.

A crew of 12, which completed their expedition over 24 days, included staff from NOAA Fisheries, the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Hawaii Pacific University’s Center for Marine Debris Research.

Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is the largest contiguous fully protected conservation area in the U.S., encompassing an area larger than all the country’s national parks combined, according to the national monument’s website.

The monument is in the northern Pacific Ocean and surrounded by what is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch — a huge gyre of floating plastic and other debris that circulates in ocean currents. The islands act like a comb that gather debris on its otherwise pristine beaches.

Read the full story at USA Today