Saving Seafood

Loss Of NOAA’s Primary Honolulu Ship A Setback For Research

June 18, 2019 — Honolulu’s flagship National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel — the Hiʻialakai — has spent the last several months rusting in an Oregon boat dock, and there are no plans to return it to service.

While in Hawaii, the Hi’ialakai harnessed its specialized scuba diving capabilities to perform a variety of missions, including monitoring deep-sea wildlife and cleaning up fishing debris from the shores of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.

NOAA discovered structural issues — including extensive corrosion, pipe failures and propulsion problems — during an inspection late last year, according to David Hall, public affairs specialist at NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations.

Read the full story at the Honolulu Civil Beat

HAWAII: Talk on marine debris is Friday

June 7, 2019 — Kilauea Point Natural History Association, which provides support to the Kauai National Wildlife Refuge Complex, has teamed up with Kristen Kelly of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources, Marine Wildlife Program, to present a talk on ocean debris in celebration of World Oceans Day 2019.

The talk will focus on marine debris in the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and its impacts on wildlife in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument at a free event Friday from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Princeville Community Association clubhouse.

“The problem of plastic pollution in the environment is a global one. In Hawaii, we feel the impacts all along our beaches and shorelines,” said a press release.

“From ghost nets and ropes that entangle wildlife, to plastic bits that find their way into the bodies of our ocean-dependent animals, to the littered beaches where we all love to spend time, it is becoming impossible to ignore this environmental crisis.”

Read the full story at The Garden Island

NOAA teams departing for expedition to Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument

May 15, 2019 — It’s time again for a team of researchers to head out to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands at Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, where they will set up camps for the next five months.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Ship Oscar Elton Sette departs on Wednesday for Papahanaumokuakea, one of the largest, protected marine conservation areas in the world and home to endangered Hawaiian monk seals, threatened green turtles and millions of seabirds.

NOAA researchers this year will conduct the usual tasks — measuring and tagging all weaned Hawaiian monk seal pups, conducting beach counts and removing marine debris. A team of biologists will also measure and tag basking and nesting sea turtles and monitor nesting activities at French Frigate Shoals.

Another field team, however, will focus on researching how animals responded to the loss of East Island at French Frigate Shoals, where a majority of Hawaii’s green sea turtles nest, and dozens of Hawaiian monk seals pup. East Island was washed away by Hurricane Walaka in October 2018.

Field researchers from NOAA, along with six partner organizations, will focus their research and conservation activities at French Frigate Shoals as well as Laysan Island, Lisianski Island, Pearl and Hermes Reef and Kure Atoll. They will also take day trips to survey Niihau, Nihoa, and Mokumanamana islands and Midway Atoll.

The NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette will transport state Department of Land and Natural Resources staff and supplies to Kure Atoll. At Lisianski Island, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will help the NOAA team find routes through the dense vegetation that blocks the shoreline and access to monk seals.

Read the full story at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser

NOAA: Scientists Monitor Coral Reef Ecosystems Throughout the Hawaiian Archipelago

April 22, 2019 — The following was published by NOAA Fisheries:

Our scientists and managers depend on research surveys to monitor the status and trends of the coral reef ecosystems across the Hawaiian Archipelago over time. Coral reefs around the globe, including Hawaiʻi, are threatened by climate change, disease, land-based sources of pollution, and unsustainable fishing practices.

During expeditions this spring and summer, teams of scientific divers from NOAA’s Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program will assess reef fish and corals in the context of changing environmental conditions. They will collect images of the ocean floor to create 3D models of the reefs. The abundance and distribution of reef fish and coral reef organisms are used to characterize the conditions and integrity of our coral reef ecosystems. Over time, we can see how they have changed—an important part of managing and conserving reef-associated life in the region.

This expedition marks the 20th anniversary of the Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program’s inception in 2000, and will be conducted using the NOAA Ships Oscar Elton Sette and Rainier. We will add our research this season to collections from baseline monitoring surveys across the Pacific and in Hawaiʻi in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2013, and 2016.

Study Locations

The Sette will survey the main Hawaiian Islands: Kauaʻi, Niʻihau, Maui, Lānaʻi, Molokaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Oʻahu, and the island of Hawaiʻi. The Rainier will survey portions of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands: French Frigate Shoals, Lisianski/Neva Shoals, Pearl, and Hermes Atoll, and Kure Atoll. At each site, the ships will deploy small boats to reach study areas, including locations along the leeward and windward exposures, near the channels between islands, and in forereefs, backreefs, and lagoons.

Of particular note, our researchers are fortunate to return to the protected island of Kahoʻolawe, where few people have access. Kahoʻolawe was once a bombing range for the U.S. Navy, and it is now an island reserve under the state of Hawaiʻi.

Following our initial visit in 2016, this expedition is the second time that our program will survey the reef systems of Kahoʻolawe. Those surveys found that the reefs in certain areas were in good condition, and roving predators such as jacks were abundant when compared with other sites around the main Hawaiian Islands.

Research Methods

As the threats to coral reefs and marine ecosystems grow, our researchers lean more heavily on digital imaging to increase our monitoring capabilities.

We create a mosaic (2D) and 3D model of an area using structure from motion, a photogrammetry technique (mapping using the distance between objects). It estimates 3D structures by aligning 100s to 1000s of overlapping images.

Combining seafloor images to create 3D models of large areas of reef tract is a process called “structure-from-motion” photogrammetry, which is a new effort for our program. During this mission, we will conduct structure-from-motion surveys across the archipelago to measure the density, surface area, partial mortality, and health of corals. Our team will conduct structure-from-motion surveys at fixed stations to assess the growth, mortality, and recruitment of individual coral colonies, which will provide valuable information on the resilience of coral reefs to local and global threats.

Scientists aboard the Sette and Rainier will measure water temperature, salinity, carbonate chemistry, and other physical characteristics of the coral reef environment with an assortment of oceanographic monitoring instruments. Researchers will assess the potential early effects of ocean acidification on coral reef growth with calcification accretion units and bioerosion monitoring units.

This story was originally posted by NOAA Fisheries

Divers haul in large amount of debris from marine monument

November 13, 2018 — A team of divers hauled in nearly 165,000 pounds (75,000 kilograms) of abandoned fishing nets and plastic waste during a cleanup expedition at Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, federal officials said.

The 18 divers left Sept. 19 and returned Oct. 29 from a trek to the chain of isles and atolls located 1,200 miles (1,931 kilometers) northwest of the main Hawaiian islands, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which runs the expeditions.

The divers hauled in about 82 tons (74 metric tons), which is comparable to the weight of 45 mid-sized cars or one space shuttle, NOAA said.

The team of divers from NOAA Fisheries and University of Hawaii’s Joint Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Research sorted out the debris Friday.

The group split the debris into categories such as plastic laundry baskets, fishing nets, tires, buoys and smaller personal-care items such as plastic toothbrushes and combs.

Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument is uninhabited by humans. But due to its central location in the system of circulating currents called the North Pacific Gyre, the debris has been carried by currents to its shores for decades.

NOAA’s marine debris team has been going on expeditions to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands almost yearly to survey and remove litter since 1996. Cumulatively, including the last mission, teams have collected about 2 million pounds (0.91 million kilograms) of debris.

The litter does ecological damage at Papahanaumokuakea, said NOAA’s Kevin O’Brien, who served as chief scientist for the mission this year.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Protecting Paradise: Marine Debris Team Does the Heavy Lifting

The team removed more than 160,000 pounds of lost or abandoned fishing nets and plastics from the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, an ecologically and culturally significant area, part of the Papahānaumokuāea Marine National Monument.

November 12, 2018 — Stretching 1,200 miles northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands, a chain of remote islands and atolls known as the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are hundreds of miles from the nearest human populations. Yet, these beautiful coral reefs and uninhabited shorelines are centrally located in the North Pacific Gyre, where currents gather marine debris from all around the Pacific Ocean.

NOAA’s marine debris team travels from island to island by ship and small boat, carefully pulling derelict “ghost” fishing gear off of underwater reefs and collecting plastic debris from shorelines. They clean up nets and other debris that damage coral reefs and threaten wildlife, including endangered Hawaiian monk seals and green sea turtles. Hauling debris is often a dirty, exhausting, and sometimes fly-filled task, but the team loves its work.

Read and view the full story at NOAA Fisheries

HAWAII: NOAA ship evacuates biologists from Papahanaumokuakea ahead of Hurricane Walaka

October 5, 2018 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s research ship Hi‘ialakai has taken seven NOAA field biologists away from French Frigate Shoals ahead of Hurricane Walaka, which is approaching Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument today.

The field crew of three green sea turtle biologists and four monk seal biologists was not scheduled to leave French Frigate Shoals until mid-October, said Megan Nagel, spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — Pacific Region.

Instead, Nagel said in an email, they were “recovered ahead of their scheduled mid-October departure date by the NOAA ship Hi‘ialakai.”

On Monday, a U.S. Coast Guard crew flew a HC-130 Hercules from Air Station Barbers Point to Johnston Atoll and evacuated four U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biology field workers from the wildlife refuge.

Hurricane Walaka was a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 130 mph when it passed the tiny four-island atoll Tuesday.

Read the full story at The Star Advertiser

HAWAII: Federal money coming for ocean management

June 18, 2018 — The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee this week passed the Commerce, Science, and Justice Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2019.

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) worked to include $1 million to preserve Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, more than $36 million to improve tsunami warnings, and nearly $30 million to protect coral reefs in Hawaii and across the country.

“We were successful at including more federal funding to help us manage Papahanaumokuakea and protect our coral reefs,” said Schatz, a member of the Appropriations Committee. “This bill also funds our tsunami warning system so that we can strengthen tsunami forecasting and better protect Hawaii’s coastal communities.”

Key funding in the Commerce, Science, and Justice Appropriations Bill sought by Schatz includes:

  • $1 million for Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. The bill authorizes NOAA to make a competitive grant of up to $1 million for research and management activities in Papahanaumokuakea. The funding is subject to a 100 percent non-federal match, and will bring new resources to keep our Hawaiian archipelago healthy and productive.
  • $31.6 million for the NOAA Tsunami Program. The program provides funding to coastal states for preparedness activities such as inundation mapping, disaster planning, and tsunami education. Despite deep cuts proposed by President Trump, Senator Schatz helped protect funding for this critical program.

Read the full story at The Garden Island

Should Papahanaumokuakea Be Open For Business?

November 22, 2017 — Republican House members are urging President Trump to “think big” in his ongoing review of 27 national monuments, including opening up the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument not just to commercial fishing — but to oil, gas and mineral exploration.

The Trump administration has been pondering the future of the monuments for months, with a final announcement expected in December.

The proposal to open Papahanaumokuakea to commercial uses came in a Nov. 9 letter from a group of 24 Republicans who are active in the western caucus.

The letter writers want the boundaries of three of the four Pacific reserves —  Pacific Remote Islands, Rose Atoll and Papahanaumokuakea — to be reduced in size and fishing restrictions to be lifted in all of the reserves.

But they only mentioned the possibility of energy extraction for Papahanaumokuakea and the Pacific Remote Islands reserve.

Problem is, there is no oil and gas development potential at Papahanamokuakea. The fight in Hawaii has been over whether to loosen commercial fishing restrictions in the monument

“It’s not applicable,” said William Aila Jr., former chairman of the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources who’s now deputy director of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. “There is no oil or gas at Papahanaumokuakea.”

He said the only possible resource of that kind is something known as “manganese nodules,” metallic minerals found in rock-like formations in deep water on the seabed. But Aila said that it is so costly and difficult to obtain minerals in such remote locations that it is more “futuristic” than a viable economic opportunity.

Read the full story at the Honolulu Civil Beat

 

NCFC Members Bring Concerns of Commercial Fishermen to House Hearing on Fisheries Bills

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – September 26, 2017 – Members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities testified this morning at a hearing of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans on four bills that would modify federal fisheries management.

Jon Mitchell, mayor of the nation’s top-grossing fishing port New Bedford, Massachusetts and head of the New Bedford Harbor Development Commission, and Mike Merrifield, Fish Section Chairman of the Southeastern Fisheries Association (SFA) testified on the needs of commercial fishermen and reforms they would like to see to the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Mayor Mitchell and Mr. Merrifield were joined by several other witnesses, including Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries Chris Oliver, who testified on the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the possibility of allowing additional flexibility in stock rebuilding. Earlier this year, commercial fishermen from around the country united to support Mr. Oliver’s appointment to NOAA.

At this morning’s hearing, the subcommittee considered two bills to amend and reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Act, as well as bills that would alter recreational fisheries and red snapper management.

While Mayor Mitchell called the Magnuson-Stevens Act “generally speaking…a success story” that has helped make America’s fisheries “at once among the world’s largest and most sustainable,” he called for more flexibility in fisheries management to allow fishermen to catch their full scientifically justified quota. In particular, he criticized the ten-year rebuilding requirement for overfished stocks.

“The ten-year rule is arbitrary, and its establishment was at odds with the underlying premise of regional management,” Mayor Mitchell said. “Regional councils should have the flexibility to set rebuilding timelines for stocks under their jurisdiction based on the unique biological and ecological conditions, and by giving appropriate weight to the economic wellbeing of fishing communities.”

The mayor was also critical of the Antiquities Act, by which presidents can designate large national monuments with little or no input from scientists and local stakeholders. The Act was recently used to create and enlarge several marine monuments, including the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in New England and the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hawaii.

“The continued use of a parallel process outside the Magnuson-Stevens Act, however well-meaning, ultimately works against the long-term interests of all stakeholders,” Mayor Mitchell said. “We all lose when the checks and balances employed in the council process are abandoned.  A decision-making process driven by the simple assertion of executive branch authority ultimately leaves ocean management decisions permanently vulnerable to short-term political considerations.”

Mr. Merrifield voiced skepticism of efforts to shift federally managed species over to state management, saying that states manage many fisheries in such a way that recreational fishermen get most or, in some cases, all of the fish.

“SFA firmly believes there should be no reward for exceeding [annual catch limits] and that all stakeholders – commercial, for-hire and private anglers – should each be held accountable for their impacts on our nation’s fish resources,” Mr. Merrifield testified. “We must resist changes to the law that could be interpreted to remove this accountability.”

Mr. Merrifield also testified about the SFA’s strong opposition to the RED SNAPPER Act, introduced by Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana, which would give states more authority over red snapper management.

“The justification [for this legislation] is built entirely on the misconception that anglers can only fish for red snapper for 3 days (now 39 days) in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico,” Mr. Merrifield said. “This is a false narrative. Anglers can fish 365-days per year for red snapper and all of the other 38 species in the Gulf reef fish complex. They can only kill red snapper on 3 (or 39) of those days. To be clear, there is unlimited fishing opportunity for recreational anglers in the federal waters of the Gulf which calls into question the actual need for, and defense of, this legislation.”

Read Mayor Mitchell’s full testimony here

Read Mr. Merrifield’s full testimony here