We learned another important lesson today. This one had nothing to do with marine conservation, but instead reminded us to read parking signs more carefully. It was more than a little disconcerting to come out of the Earthjustice office this afternoon to find that our van had vaporized. Fortunately, we were able to retrieve it, although it took the monetary equivalent of a couple of cases of spam to repossess the big white vehicle. All is well that ends well…
Andy
Before I start I'd like to say a few words about Spam: It is a delicious tender meat that is under-appreciated and often overlooked. Known as "Hawaiian steak" it is near and dear to my diet as it is for many locals living in these islands. Please, give this sweet cube of succulence a tasteful chance.
Going back to our trip: After we toured the fish auction we ate breakfast. This time my cravings did not call for Spam, however, I had a very tasty or "ono" plate of loco moco - another local treat. Our bellies full, we 
ventured towards Ka'ena point on the Northwest coast of Oahu (close to where Lost is filmed) in search of monk seals and albatrosses. However, before we even began our 2 mile hike to the point, I was priviliged to see an amazing event. As soon as we had parked the van at the trailhead I looked out the window and in the far distance beyond the 20 foot waves I witnessed a humpback whale breaching. I called out, "Whale!" which instantly caused a flurry of activity amongst my fellow adventurers. Everyone cast their gaze towards the Pacific in hopes to catch a glimpse of the animal. However, it had already submerged and only a foamy white patch on a rolling blue ocean spoke of its presence. Everyone rushed out of the van to see if it would breach again and indeed it did once more. After watching for a few more minutes we did not see anymore whales and started off in earnest towards Ka'ena point. Two NOAA empolyees active in Monk seal conservation, Charles and Tracy, led the way down a very muddy path - a result from the previous night's precipitation. We zigzagged our way through the mud, hoping to find dry spots to plant our steps. To our left sharp jagged cliffs set a scene of terrifying beauty. On our right huge 20-25 foot goliath waves fiercely proclaimed their presence with thunderours roars. I think I could have enjoyed the experience more had I not been concentrating so intently on the 5 lbs of mud sticking to my shoes.
Three quarters into the hike the trail became kinder and we were able to walk on solid ground. Shortly thereafter, another creature was spotted… a Laysan Albatross abiding in its nest. The great bird looked at us unconcerned while we took pictures of it from many different angles. It was the first time I had ever seen an Albatross and the sight of it made me smile.
Not far from the the Albatross we saw what we had primarily come to see, the Hawaiian monk seal. Located safely out of reach from the violent sea that surrounded them, two monk seals (a female and male) were laying out approximately thirty feet away from us. Despite being known as being very inactive and lazy while on shore these two seals shifted their bodies, looked up at us and snorted a few times. True, not a whole lot of action, however, more than what I was expecting. This was also another first for me. Both seals looked so peaceful laying there on the warm sand while the sea stirred angrily around them and I felt a calm in my own spirit while I watched. However, this calm was soon replaced by urgency to return to the van as a rainstorm quickly approached us.
Back we went through the field of mud. And as it rained I had to laugh, because even though I was soaked and had instantly grown 3 inches with the help of some mud, I was having fun. When I finally reached the van I exchanged a nod with Andy and could tell he was enjoying himself as well. We all left muddy and wet, but happy and satisified with what we saw.
aloha,
Justin
There's nothing quite like the smell of fish to wake you up in the morning, but let me tell you, it is quite an experience. Our third day began bright and early this morning (although it was most definitely dark out) at a brisk 5am, and somehow I think it managed to be the first time we all showed up at exactly the right time. After loading up the big white bus and picking up Dave we made our way over to the Honolulu Fish Auction. As soon as we stepped out onto the dock there was a definite smell of fish wafting through the air. Although the city was still asleep, we could already see some sign of life, with men in boots pushing around large bins of ice. Sean Martin, who generously agreed to guide us through the auction, met us outside to lead us into the action. I, for one, had really no idea what to expect so stepping into the warehouse what quite a scene to see. The room was filled with rows of fish lined up on small carts topped with ice.
All of the fish were tagged and had chunks or cores cut out and placed on top of the fish. Sean explained to us that as the boats came in each morning, the fish were all weighed, tagged, and lined up (grouped by kind) in the order that each boat arrived. The cut pieces of fish were used to determine the quality of the fish, by color and texture, and we would see many of the buyers picking up the pieces to carefully examine them. Only three boats came in this morning, totaling 28,000 pounds of fish. Apparently this was a very slow day. The actual auction was pretty interesting. Every fish is bid on separately, which seems like it would take forever but they usually go through 15-20,000 lbs per hour! There is an auctioneer that calls out prices until someone is interested, and then the bidding rises from there. There was a small crowd of bidders that slowly drifted down the lines of fish. We learned that some of the bidders were even people from the mainland- New York, California, really anywhere- and we could see representatives on cell phones with these clients filling them in and bidding for them. One of the fish we watched auctioned was a 198 lb Bigeye. It ended up going for $8.60/lb, which means that one fish was worth over $1700! 
While the catch was coming from long-line boats targeting tuna there was a wide variety of fish, such as bigeye, yellowfin, swordfish, moonfish, mahi, and wahoo. We were also lucky to witness a bottom fishing boat unloading catch from the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.
The auction itself was exciting and fascinating, but our objectives for coming were definitely not overlooked. We have studied the serious detrimental effects pelagic long-lines can have on endangered sea turtles, sea birds, and marine mammals, but by talking to Sean Martin and the men at the auction we were able to get a first hand view of the human and economic side of fishing, regulation, and management. Mr. Takenaka of the United Fishing Agency patiently explained to us the steps the fishery has taken to reduce by-catch of certain species, such as using circle hooks, dyed bait, or fish bait instead of squid to reduce sea turtle by-catch. There are also still strict take quotas for sea turtles (16 leatherbacks, 17 loggerheads per year) which ended up closing the tuna long-line fishery in March of last year. However, regulations such as the closing of an entire fishery bring up certain sticky problems. For one, the United States is one of the few countries to put forth a substantial effort to reduce by-catch and to protect threatened species. The methods mentioned before, such as using circle hooks etc. have been shown to reduce by-catch of sea turtles, and methods for reducing seabird 
by-catch have virtually eliminated incidents with birds. However, once the turtle take is exceeded and the fishery is closed, this prevents the US fishermen from setting hooks, but does nothing to prevent other countries, whose fishing practices are not as regulated and may be much harder on turtle populations or even target turtle catch, from coming in to fish these open waters. Furthermore, without the US fish on the market, the US is forced to import more fish, giving power to other countries to raise prices and withdrawing money from the US economy. The list of repercussions of fisheries closures is even longer, including increased pressure on other open fisheries (if tuna is closed fishermen may switch to targeting swordfish) and loss of jobs and income for fishermen and their families, which shows that some other measure may have to be taken to manage fisheries effectively. Every side of the problem has valid goals and yet at the moment every side seems to be pointing fingers to try to solve a problem. Conservationists point at the fishermen who are interacting with endangered species, fishermen point at the average American throwing garbage into the river that will poison the water that sustain their fisheries, and the average American probably has no idea where their fish is coming from. The point, basically, is that everything is a mess at the moment and instead of passing the blame we need to be able to integrate and work together to solve the problem. The revision and integration of many sides for effective management seems to be a common theme from our trip thus far, from the switch from species-based to ecosystem-based management to the integration of traditional and western science to find the best fit to preserve Hawaii's present and future. The reality for us, or for me at least, is that it seems the right questions are finally being asked but it will be our responsibility in the future to sort out the answers.
With all of these conflicting thoughts still buzzing in my head, we followed Sean to a long-line boat and were able to tour the inside to get a feel for the normal life of fishermen. He showed us the thousands of hooks that would be set each day (between two and three thousand per day) and pointed out that they used circle hooks to mitigate turtle by-catch. We were able to wander the tiny cabins and he described the average day of a fishermen, which included grueling 18 hour days, being out at sea for 16-18 days and spending as much as 300 days off the dock; enough to make anyone appreciate the fish they were eating. Our final journey of the morning took us to Sean's office where we saw how he could track all of his boats by computer. He also showed us log books of previous auctions, where every fish and its price is listed, and then how the pay is distributed to the crew after everything is sold and accounted for. It was another interesting reality to see exactly how important each fish is to the livelihood of these men and the effort that must go in to bringing back a profitable catch.
By this point, the sun was finally rising over Honolulu and we headed downstairs for a wonderful hot breakfast and cup of coffee at Nico's. As we discussed the fish we saw and the species we want to save, we were hit with torrential rains and huddled inside with our coffee, waiting to make a break for our afternoon adventures. -amy
We had a great day - fish auction, exploring a longliner, big waves on the North Shore, albatross and monk seals…more pics from where this came from - let's make sure to put together a "best of" CD for everyone! Thanks again to Tracy and Charles! Cheers, Dave
Welcome to Day 2! What better way to begin a day in Hawai’i than with a delicious breakfast of spam and eggs? Yep, spam and eggs. Okay, it doesn’t sound that great to me, either. But, as Justin (our resident expert on all things Hawaiian) will tell you, spam is very popular here. So, he enjoyed a nice breakfast of spam and eggs…the rest of us will have to work our way there! After breakfast, we all congregated downstairs to head out for the day. However, as those of you who have done field work before know, things rarely go according to plan. The morning was supposed to include a nice boat trip to see ecotour operators and their patrons interacting with spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) and perhaps to catch a glimpse of the humpbacks (Megaptera novaeangliae) that spend the winter months in Hawaii’s waters breeding and calving. Alas, high winds and choppy seas prevented that excursion, so you’ll have to check back here later in the week to see how that goes. Instead, we piled into the van and headed out to the Bishop Museum (www.bishopmuseum.org). The Bishop Museum is located in Honolulu and includes exhibits on Hawai'ian history, the native flora and fauna of the islands, global climate change, and the history and culture of the island nations across the Pacific. The exhibits were fascinating and highlighted the importance of ocean resources in both Hawai'ian and other Pacific island nations’ culture. We saw jewelry and tools made of whale teeth and turtle shell, woven cloth decorated with images of dugongs, weaponry made from whale bone, as well as a “sword” made of wooden material and ferociously outfitted with rows of shark teeth! We learned of the evolution of the islands – how each island was created by the outflow of lava from a volcano beneath the sea floor and has slowly subsided over millions of years, leaving a series of islands and atolls. The oldest of the islands are those at the far reaches of the Northwestern Hawai'ian Islands and the newest is the big island of Hawai’i at the southeastern end of the archipelago. The museum also included an exhibit on many of the species of birds, mammals, and plants on the islands; many of the flora and fauna present on the islands today were brought here by humans, meaning that they are non-native (invasive) species. While our time at the museum was certainly educational, we had to leave after a couple of hours to travel back across Honolulu.
Our trip to the museum was particularly useful today because our afternoon began with a lecture given by Leimana Damate and her husband Bob. Leimana and Bob work for the Pacific Islands Resource Management Institute (PIRMI) and are both native Hawai'ians. They are working to help integrate traditional ecological knowledge and ancient Hawai'ian conservation practices into the current governmental structure for the management of marine resources in Hawai'i. The ancient Hawai'ians managed the islands from the top of the mountains out to the open ocean. Leimana described the traditional Hawai'ian system of governance and the necessity of integrating the native Hawai'ian point of view into resource management in Hawai'i. She and Bob also told us some of the practices the ancient Hawai'ians utilized for the harvest of ocean resources, such as following monk seals to find fish and regulating fishing based on the phase of the moon. Native Hawai'ians have passed these traditions down as part of their oral history since 600 A.D. and are now trying to use that information to help inform sustainable use and conservation decisions.
Our last stop of the day was at the Oceanic Institute near Makapu’u Point on the southeastern tip of the island. Here we met with Alan Friedlander, a reef fish biologist. He told us about the research he has done both in the main Hawai'ian islands (MHI) and the northwestern Hawai'ian islands (NWHI) to examine the benefits of using marine protected areas to help increase the number of fish and hopefully address the issue of overfishing around the MHI. The protected areas around the MHI are closed to fishing, but are small. The NWHI (recently designated a marine national monument – see our upcoming blog on this issue) are basically one enormous closed area. The difference between the number and kinds of fish around the MHI and the NWHI is staggering – as much as 7000% more biomass of top predators such as ulua (jacks) and sharks in the NWHI where fishing pressure is almost non-existent. In addition to research on protected area efficacy, Alan's job includes working with native Hawai'ian communities to use traditional ecological knowledge – like the kind Leimana and Bob talked about – to better manage fisheries.
So, that was our day. The wind is supposed to keep up for another day or so, but after that we should be able to get out on the water! Be sure to check back tomorrow because Tuesday’s itinerary includes a trip to the tuna auction as well as a hike out to a remote beach to see monk seals and albatrosses…
Aloha! ~ Jen
