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2014-2015 -- 56% of Big Island Coral Died
#1
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/36758...in-2014-15

Nearly half of Hawaii's coral reefs were bleached during heat waves in 2014 and 2015 and fisheries close to shore are declining, a group of scientists told state lawmakers.

The scientists from the Nature Conservancy briefed the lawmakers on Thursday about what they called an unprecedented situation for Hawaii's sea life.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials said 56 percent of the Big Island's coral were bleached, along with 44 percent along West Maui and 32 percent around Oahu.

The scientists said more severe and frequent bleaching is predicted.

"In the 2030s, 30 to 50 percent of the years will have major bleaching events in Hawaii," said Kuulei Rogers of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology.

When ocean temperatures rise, coral expel the algae they rely on for food. This causes their skeletons to lose their color and appear "bleached."

Coral can recover if the water cools. But they die if high temperatures persist. Eventually reefs degrade, leaving fish without habitats and coastlines less protected from storm surges.

As for Hawaii's fish, University of Hawaii researchers compiled data for 15 years and found a 90 percent decline in overall catch from the last 100 years, which includes fish such as ulua, moi and oio.

"What we found was pretty overwhelming," University of Hawaii scientist Alan Friedlander said. "About 40 percent of the species will be classified as overfished. The correlations are more people, less fish."

Friedlander suggested expanding marine reserves and said gear restrictions and size limits help, but bag limits and quotas don't work.

Those who fish argued against more regulations.

"If the fishermen don't stand up and come down here and fight for fisherman's rights now, we'll lose more than we can possibly ever imagine," said Makani Christensen of the Hunting, Farming and Fishing Association.


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#2

"If the fishermen don't stand up and come down here and fight for fisherman's rights now, we'll lose more than we can possibly ever imagine,"

I just keep reading this line over and over again. Kind of reminds me of a Yogi Berra statement. Except, compared to this, Yogi's statements made sense.
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#3
can't help but wonder the impact of the radiation from japan on our ocean and if this is really a water temperature thing...
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#4
It's a water temperature thing. I'll spare everyone the math and science (radiation safety used to be my career) and just point out:

1. All ocean's reefs are suffering bleaching, not just the Pacific.
2. Fukushima was six years ago (time flies!), so that's some slowww radiation poisoning.
3. Back in the day, we routinely set off H-BOMBS in the Pacific. While this obviously harmed (or obliterated) reefs in the vicinity, the other reefs throughout the Pacific were unaffected.
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#5
This is happening everywhere, not just Hawaii.

Makani is 100% right.

Just like we see all the state (public) lands fenced off and unavailable to the public. If we fail to act soon fishing and use of the ocean will be unavailable as well.
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#6
Fish and coral and other sea life are integrated systems functioning in unison. If you remove one, coral for instance, or ulua, everything else is affected. If one fish population is reduced beyond its ability to survive, another species might move into the territory and affect all of the remaining sea life.

The radiation from Fukushima may not have had an affect on American coasts and waters, but the earthquake and tsunami did send invasive species from Japan across the ocean to our shores, on floating debris washed into the ocean from the disaster. Scientists are now starting to determine the affects to our coasts. A healthy ecosystem that has not been fished to a point of depletion may be our best defense.

“Facts fall from the poetic observer as ripe seeds.” -Henry Thoreau
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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#7
Fisherman's rights won't mean squat if we overfish and deplete them all, or if global warming kills them all.
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#8
I agree randommg, however, it is much easier to put restrictions in place than remove them.

If there is no direct and irrefutable evidence that recent losses are due to overfishing then we are just hurting our local fishermen.

I will also note here that restricting our local fishermen just means restricting honest people. Dishonest people and foreign fishermen will fill the gap in the meantime and any perceived impact will be moot anyways.
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#9
Dishonest people and foreign fishermen

http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/news/stat...-fishermen

Hawaii grants fishing licenses to men from impoverished Southeast Asian and Pacific nations who are not allowed to enter the country. The foreign fishermen are paid a fraction of what an American worker would get, with some making as little as 70 cents an hour.

Under federal law, U.S. citizens must make up 75 percent of the crew on most American commercial fishing boats. But in Hawaii, a loophole carved out to support one of the state’s biggest industries exempts commercial fishing boat owners from federal rules enforced almost everywhere else.




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#10
quote:
Originally posted by lquade

can't help but wonder the impact of the radiation from japan on our ocean and if this is really a water temperature thing...


False. This has been proven over and over. There was no radiation here from Japan!
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