February 2, 2007 at 11:27 pm · Filed under Conserving Coral Reefs, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Spam
Friday morning began by meeting with Kerry Irish to discuss the design of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument. On June 15th, 2006, President Bush designated an area 1200 statute miles long by 100 nautical miles wide as a protected monument by power of the Antiquities Act of 1906. This area houses about 7,000 species, a quarter of which are endemic to Hawaii. There has never before been an aquatic monument established under this act, so Kerry is working to determine how exactly to manage this monument. The Antiquities Act's lack of defined guidelines has presented Kerry with 'A real opportunity to make a difference' during the design of this monument. Previously, the area had been listed as a sanctuary by President Clinton, but President Bush's move to make the area a monument offers much greater legal protection. Currently, the State of Hawaii, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Commerce serve as co-trustees of this magnificent marine monument.
Despite the absolute protection now offered to this vast area of coral reefs and the marine life inhabiting it, there is much controversy surrounding the monument itself. Native Hawaiians, fishermen, the scientific community, lawyers, and the 
public all have differing and diverse opinions about the establishment and usefulness of this monument. This has caused much frustration in the community as progress has been made through the natural growing pains of the design process. It was a unique experience and absolutely fascinating to listen to Kerry talk as she walked us through the various issues that must be dealt with during the design process. Also, the amount of governmental red-tape that must be navigated to implement procedures for protection blew me away, and the task Kerry faces appears to be truly monumental.
After talking with Kerry, we hopped in our beloved econovan, and moved onto our next exotic locale, Hanauma Bay. Hanauma Bay is a remarkable example of marine conservation in action. As recently as 1988, an estimated 10,000 people visited the bay a day. This number is mind-boggling after seeing the small size of the beach and bay. Luckily, restrictive measures were employed during the 1990's, and now only around 3,000 people are allowed daily. Just imagine 10,000 people on this beach, and also look at the stream of people entering the bay as viewed from the reef:
Upon entering the park, we were required to listen to a brief orientation followed by an educational video. This orientation is designed to educate visitors to the delicate nature of this amazing reef ecosystem, teaching tourists safe and environmentally friendly snorkeling practices. After entering the beach, we immediately witnessed many individuals standing on the reef, an action that was specifically deemed as harmful during the orientation. There wasn't much we could do, so we found a nice spot to settle, and geared-up to go for a snorkel.
Now, Emily was excited to go on another sea turtle hunt, but I think I was equally excited to try out my new underwater casing for my digital camera. Amy, Emily and myself buddied up and headed in. After about 5 minutes we spotted our first Honu (green sea turtle).
Emily was PSYCHED, but like a good ecotourist, she withheld the urge to dive down and hug the turtles. As we continued our snorkel, we saw a variety of reef life, here are some pictures of just a few of the fish we saw:
Unfortunately, our Hanauma Bay experience had to come to an end, but I think it is safe to say that everyone enjoyed a wonderful day of snorkeling which just so happened to occur on the most beautiful day we experienced on our trip. To end a great day, Dave Johnston and Kerry Irish had us over for a dinner of Ahi, Opa, Mahi-Mahi, and veggie burgers, a fabulous night to help wind down a remarkable trip. Sadly, no Spam was served as Costco only sold six-packs.
-Andrew
January 29, 2007 at 10:31 pm · Filed under Conserving Coral Reefs, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Notices and Updates, Native Hawaiian Perspectives, Spam
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
January 19, 2007 at 8:54 pm · Filed under Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
Below is link to an article on the NWHI Marine National Monument from the NY Times last month.
Go here (registration required).
A paragraph from the article hints at the jurisdictional complexities (two federal departments and one state government as co-trustees) of this monumental designation:
The Interior Department includes the Fish and Wildlife Service, which had already banned fishing in the archipelago’s near reefs to a depth of 60 feet. Beyond that, the first three miles of water belonged to the State of Hawaii, which opposed an end to fishing, according to the Democratic governor at the time, Benjamin J. Cayetano. The waters extending from there to 200 miles were managed by NOAA, which is part of the Commerce Department.
public all have differing and diverse opinions about the establishment and usefulness of this monument. This has caused much frustration in the community as progress has been made through the natural growing pains of the design process. It was a unique experience and absolutely fascinating to listen to Kerry talk as she walked us through the various issues that must be dealt with during the design process. Also, the amount of governmental red-tape that must be navigated to implement procedures for protection blew me away, and the task Kerry faces appears to be truly monumental. 
