{"id":163494,"date":"2022-08-16T13:18:32","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T23:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=163494"},"modified":"2022-08-16T13:18:32","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T23:18:32","slug":"marine-debris-removed-papahanaumokuakea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2022\/08\/16\/marine-debris-removed-papahanaumokuakea\/","title":{"rendered":"100K<\/abbr> pounds of marine debris removed from Papah\u0101naumoku\u0101kea"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"big
Kamaliʻi<\/span> Andrade and Kaʻehukai<\/span> Goin crane their boat\u02bbs load of marine debris from Kamokuokamohoaliʻi<\/span>. (Photo credit: James Morioka\/PMDP<\/abbr>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nearly 100,000 pounds of marine debris that was smothering coral reefs and beaches in the Northwestern Hawaiian islands has been removed, thanks to a group that included University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa alumni and students.<\/p>\n

\"net
Diver Max Lee works on removing a derelict fishing net at Kamokuokamohoaliʻi<\/span>. (Photo credit: James Morioka\/PMDP<\/abbr>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sixteen free divers from the non-profit organization Papah\u0101naumoku\u0101kea Marine Debris Project<\/a> (PMDP<\/abbr>) collected 97,295 pounds of marine debris from Papah\u0101naumoku\u0101kea Marine National Monument over a 27-day mission in July. More than 88% of that, or 86,000 pounds, consisted of ghost nets cleared from a single reef. Nine of the 16 team members were either UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa alumni and\/or current students at UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa and UH<\/abbr> Hilo.<\/p>\n

“The fact that we are seeing this kind of accumulation in such a single small area is really indicative of the scale of the global marine debris issue,” said Kevin O’Brien<\/strong>, PMDP<\/abbr> president and founder, and 2006 UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa zoology graduate.<\/p>\n

A majority of the debris collected will be incinerated to generate electricity to power hundreds of Oʻahu<\/span> homes, according to PMDP<\/abbr>. In addition, some of the recyclable plastics will be set aside for PMDP<\/abbr>\u2019s local student-led ocean plastics recycling project.<\/p>\n

Dangers of ghost nets<\/h2>\n
\"bird
A blackfoot albatross inspects a derelict fishing net at K\u0101mole\/Laysan Island. (Photo credit: Andy Sullivan-Haskins\/PMDP<\/abbr>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ghost nets are large, tangled masses of lost or discarded fishing nets made of plastic. They can snag on the shallow coral reefs, smothering and breaking the living coral colonies. These nets also pose a hazard for most marine wildlife, including honu (Hawaiian green sea turtles), many species of seabirds and the endangered Hawaiian monk seal.<\/p>\n

The reef where the ghost nets were removed is known as Kamokuokamohoaliʻi<\/span> (island of the shark god) or Maro Reef. It is one of the most diverse coral reefs in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, harboring 37 coral species. Kamokuokamohoaliʻi<\/span> lies in the heart of Papah\u0101naumoku\u0101kea Marine National Monument, a string of remote and uninhabited islands that make up the last 1,300 miles of the Hawaiian island chain. The shallow portion of the reef (depth of less than 10 feet) that marine debris accumulated on is roughly eight miles long. It supports a vibrant ecosystem, including Hawaiian monk seals, honu, rays, sharks and thousands of reef fish, many of them found only in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.<\/p>\n

O’Brien described the amount of ghost nets removed from the reef as equivalent to taking a walk through Central Park and a few surrounding blocks, and finding trash equal to the weight of a commercial airliner.<\/p>\n

Locating ghost nets<\/h2>\n
\"person
Diver Ryan Naluai works on removing a large derelict fishing net at Kamokuokamohoaliʻi<\/span>. (Photo credit: James Morioka\/PMDP<\/abbr>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Divers swim in patterns over the reef to search for the nets. When a net is located, the divers carefully cut the net free from the reef to avoid further damage and haul them by hand into a boat. Nets vary in size, but may weigh upwards of 2,000 pounds each. All removal work is completed using breath-hold diving techniques to keep the team quick and nimble.<\/p>\n

Other marine debris<\/h2>\n

In addition to the 86,000 pounds of ghost nets collected, PMDP<\/abbr> also cleaned up an additional 11,000 pounds of nets and plastics from the shorelines of two other locations: Kamole (Laysan Island) and Kapou (Lisianski Island).<\/p>\n

An estimated 115,000 pounds of marine debris accumulates annually on Papah\u0101naumoku\u0101kea reefs, according to PMDP<\/abbr> Executive Director James Morioka<\/strong>, who is a 2012 UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa graduate in marine biology. PMDP<\/abbr>\u2019s next clean-up mission is planned for September, with the goal of removing another 100,000 pounds of debris.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s our goal at PMDP<\/abbr> to continue regular clean-up efforts into the future to maintain coral reef health and protect countless animals from entanglement and potential injury or death,” Morioka said.<\/p>\n

\"people
Kevin O’Brien, N\u0101mele Naipo-Arsiga, Gabriela Echeverry, Kaʻehukai<\/span> Goin, Derek LeVault, and Charlotte Frank work to remove a large derelict fishing net at Kamokuokamohoaliʻi<\/span>. (Photo credit: James Morioka\/PMDP<\/abbr>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other PMDP<\/abbr> team members with UH<\/abbr> ties:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Derek LeVault<\/strong>—UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa, 2006, BA<\/abbr> zoology<\/li>\n
  • Kaʻehukai<\/span> Grant Goin<\/strong>—UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa, 2021, BA<\/abbr> Hawaiian studies; currently pursuing a MS<\/abbr> in tropical conservation biology and environmental sciences at UH<\/abbr> Hilo<\/li>\n
  • Maximiliano Lee<\/strong>—UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa, 2020, BS<\/abbr> marine biology<\/li>\n
  • Sydney Luitgaarden<\/strong>—UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa, 2019, BS<\/abbr> marine biology<\/li>\n
  • Louise Currie<\/strong>—UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa, 2017, BS<\/abbr> marine biology<\/li>\n
  • N\u0101mele Naipo-Arsiga<\/strong>—UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa, 2017, BS<\/abbr> kinesiology and rehabilitation science<\/li>\n
  • Charlotte Frank<\/strong>—currently enrolled at UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa in the Graduate Ocean Policy Certificate program in the College of Social Sciences<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    \"large
    97,295 pounds of marine debris (primarily derelict fishing gear) removed from the Papah\u0101naumoku\u0101kea Marine National Monument. (Photo credit: James Morioka\/PMDP<\/abbr>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    An estimated 115,000 pounds of marine debris accumulates annually on Papah\u0101naumoku\u0101kea reefs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[308,301,1500,1085,175,568,1473,1026,232,14,9,150],"class_list":["post-163494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-college-of-natural-sciences","tag-college-of-social-sciences","tag-hawaiian-studies","tag-life-science","tag-marine-biology","tag-natural-science","tag-school-of-life-sciences","tag-social-science","tag-tropical-conservation-biology-and-environmental-science","tag-uh-hilo","tag-uh-manoa","tag-zoology","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163494"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163577,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163494\/revisions\/163577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}