For nearly three decades, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has conducted or supported regular hauls of marine debris from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Most of it is made up of derelict fishing gear, and most of that is non-biodegradable … Continued
Oxygen from Rocks: A recent report in the journal Nature Geoscience describes how manganese nodules generate oxygen at extreme, lightless ocean depths. The research was led by Andrew Sweetman, head of the seafloor ecology and biogeochemistry research group at the … Continued
Scientists at the National Marine Fisheries Service have documented a rise in the number of pelagic false killer whales that are killed or seriously injured as a result of interactions with the Hawaiʻi-based longline fishing fleet. While the separate population … Continued
Chabad House: Hawaiʻi County’s efforts to force the Chabad Jewish Center of the Big Island to obtain a use permit in order to hold services at a home in Kailua are unlikely to succeed. As we reported in March, the … Continued
The Hawaiʻi-based longline fishing fleet has chafed for years under a management plan that limits the number of animals belonging to the Hawaiʻi pelagic population of false killer whales that the fleet can seriously injure or kill in the normal … Continued
Rising seas. Increasing disease threats. Accumulated chemical pollutants in top predators. All this spells trouble for marine mammals in Hawaiian waters, especially two of the most endangered species: monk seals and the insular population of false killer whales. At recent … Continued
FKW Trigger Lowered: The National Marine Fisheries Service has reduced the level of observer coverage in the deep-set longline fishery of Hawaiʻi. And as the level of observer coverage is lowered, so, too, is the number of false killer whales … Continued
To be “qualified” can be a good thing. But when it comes to audits, a qualified audit is one that has problems – like the financial audit of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council for 2022. The audit report was … Continued
Monk Seals on the Rise: The National Marine Fisheries Service has released a draft assessment of the populations of marine mammals in waters around Hawai`i, among other areas. The date of the publication is July 2023 and includes assessments of … Continued
“I’m hearing a lot of shirking of responsibility,” board member Aimee Barnes said on December 7, after the Board of Land and Natural Resources heard from Sunset Beach homeowner Eric Freeman and his attorney, Bernard Bays. Freeman had just claimed … Continued