Hawaii / Pacific Environmental News
They may be charismatic, but megafauna often get wrongly blamed for poor fishing [
Mon Feb 08 14:37:00 EST 2010]
Hawai'i's humpback whales are being blamed for the low herring count in Prince William Sound, just as the depleted Atlantic bluefin tuna are being blamed for low sardine counts off Europe.
Even Hawaiian monk seals are blamed for declines in human nearshore fishing success.
It's a bizarre phenomenon. Among the folks pointing fingers are anglers, chafing under fishing restrictions, are finding culprits to blame, and doing it largely on purely anecdotal evidence.
In the case of the Alaskan herring, researchers concede that the Exxon Valdez oil spill, which dumped 11 million gallons into the sound 21 years ago, crashed the herring population. The spill occurred just during the spawning season, and the next year's herring take was down 75 percent.
Since then, the little fish haven't recovered. Meanwhile, as Hawai'i residents know, Humpback whale populations have roughly doubled. The whales winter in tropical waters, like those in Hawai'i, and summer in the resource-rich feeding grounds off Alaska and other northern waters.
Anglers and others say that just like Hawai'i, they're seeing more Humpbacks around Alaska. And some of the big whales seem to be staying the entire winter, passing up their winter migration.
Researchers concede they are considering other factors, like other fish having moved into the traditional herring spot on the food chain, climate change, toxins, and a rampant disease, Icthyophonus, which is attacking young herring. Oh, and maybe residual impacts from the oil spill have some role.
But clearly humpback whales do eat herring, and always did. So do seals, porpoise, birds, and other fish. Other species of fish also feed on the herring eggs.
The research is concluding that, with regard to humpbacks, yep, whales are big animals and they eat a lot of herring.
It seems inescapable, though, that generally, if you crash a prey population and the feeding pressure from all kinds of predators remains strong, you'll have a delayed recovery.
Here's a page on the biology of Atlantic herring.
And while we're in the Atlantic, there's a related story about the prime sashimi fish, bluefin tuna. It eats sardines. Also herring, mackerel, anchovy, flying fish (malolo), squid, eels and various crustaceans.
The bluefin has been overfished to the point of near collapse, according to the best fisheries scientists. They're arguing for a complete ban on fishing for bluefin, to save the species.
Many fishing industries understandably don't want a ban?even a temporary ban to let the species recover.
Among the arguments: even this depleted bluefin population is responsible for herring decline.
Seems to be a pattern.
In Hawai'i, endangered Hawaiian monk seals have sometimes been blamed by anglers for low fish numbers?but when someone actually went and did the science, they found that humans and seals generally eat different fish
The aggressive digging and rock-flipping behavior of seals tends to favor seafloor species that are not preferred by human fish-hunters. And the feeding often occurs in deeper water than most coastal anglers use for fishing.
© Jan TenBruggencate 2010
1,517 Acres of Maui Forest Considered for Inclusion in Natural Area Reserve [
Mon Feb 08 13:00:11 EST 2010]
By Wendy OsherThe Department of Land and Natural Resources is proposing the designation of more than 15-hundred acres on Maui for inclusion in the State?s Natural Area Reserve System.The land is located in the Nakula region of Haleakala and includes a tract of Koa dominated forest that state officials say is rapidly disappearing from the [...]
Islands Business - Island pushes to ban logging [
Mon Feb 08 06:47:53 EST 2010]
?People can get income from conserving their forests not only through logging which are being done through the expense of the
environment,? he said. Mr Vagi said that while pro loggers argue that the clearing of land give rise to more treesto grow, trees growing up from
... PNG: Police violence and illegal evictions near PNG gold mine must be investigated · Solomon Islands: Australia to assist
Pacific Islands communities · Solomon Islands: Island pushes to ban logging
...The Pacific Islands number one... - http://www.islandsbusiness.com/
IUCN - Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy [
Mon Feb 08 06:16:03 EST 2010]
Establishment of the Pacific Resource and
Environmental Economics Network (PREEN )
... Many
Pacific island country governments do not have the resources to
...
Marines To Help Birds With Drive Through Oahu Mud [
Sun Feb 07 19:56:20 EST 2010]
Marines at Kaneohe Bay are due to help endangered native birds this week by driving amphibious assault vehicles through the mud.
Enhancing our relationship with plants [
Sun Feb 07 12:15:10 EST 2010]
When Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird published "The Secret Life of Plants" in 1973 it was described as, "A fascinating account of the physical, emotional and spiritual relations between plants and man." The book begins by reporting the discovery in 1966 by Cleve Backster that plants have a measurable sensitivity to their surroundings. Using a polygraph, Backster measured reactions that seemed to indicate a form of extra sensory perception in the plants he was testing. A specialist in lie detector work, Cleve discovered this by accident and his ensuing research and that of others after him have helped establish the validity of his original hypothesis.
Erosion control trees available for no charge [
Mon Feb 08 15:00:00 EST 2010]
Landowners can get free erosion-control and native trees to help conserve and improve their property.
Malama Haloa ? Educational Series on Hawaiian kalo and environment ... [
Sun Feb 07 02:02:05 EST 2010]
Special Mahalo to: Ho?okul?iwi, Lyon Arboretum, Hawai?inui?kea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, and the UH M?noa SAPFB. If you would like more information, please contact Makahiapo Cashman at kanewai@
hawaii.edu · 10.4 MALAMA_HALOA-FLYER2
...DMZ Hawai'i / Aloha 'Aina - http://www.dmzhawaii.org/
Article: EPA official commends Hawaii - Honolulu Star - Bulletin ... [
Sun Feb 07 00:13:30 EST 2010]
A newly appointed federal administrator commended
Hawaii for having amazing leadership in
environmental protection that needs to be replicated throughout
...
National Science Foundation grant awarded to professor - UH System Current News [
Thu Feb 04 16:21:00 EST 2010]
DNA suggests Moa once flew « whakatikei river forest restoration ... [
Thu Feb 04 21:20:15 EST 2010]
?There are well over 100 cases of birds becoming flightless on
Pacific islands because of the absence of mammal predators.? Ms Gibb is completing her PhD on the evolution of birds in New Zealand under Professor Penny, which includes
...whakatikei river forest restoration... - http://ecologicalnz.wordpress.com/
Endangered Species Bill Passes Key Senate Committee [
Thu Feb 04 12:59:06 EST 2010]
It includes
Hawaii's key
conservation and cultural advocacy groups such as the Sierra Club, The Snorkel Bob Foundation, the Surfrider Foundation,
...See all stories on this topic
NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program: Coral Monitoring Cruise ... [
Thu Feb 04 12:28:45 EST 2010]
... monitoring in the US Remote
Island Areas and American Samoa in the
Pacific.
... This is the fifth Coral Reef
Conservation Program expedition to American
...
A New Species On Oahu « Hanapalms's Blog [
Thu Feb 04 01:10:36 EST 2010]
There's a new
species of Pritchardia on Oahu reports Donald R. Hodel of the University of California. The
species is called Pritchardia bakeri, the epithet honors Ray Baker of Lyon Arboretum of the University of
Hawaii up in Manoa Valley.
... After studying these palms over the last three decades, writing about them and photographing them in an attempt to compose a comprehensive layman's account of these palms
native to the Hawaiian Islands, I have to concede that any
...Hanapalms's Blog - http://hanapalms.wordpress.com/
Dryland Forest Grant Awarded « Damon Tucker's Blog [
Thu Feb 04 01:10:36 EST 2010]
Hawaiian Culture Educator Keoki Apokolani Carter is pilot testing his Mea La'au youth cultural education program which focuses on
native plants and trees for tools and implements and offers suggestions for alternatives to endangered
species. This project gives residents and
... HFIA's programs promote healthier forests, increased business in
Hawaii's estimated $30.7 million annual forest industry, and more jobs within the sector. Learn more at www.HawaiiForest.org.
...Damon Tucker's Blog - http://damontucker.com/
Big Island Chronicle » Blog Archive » Kona News ? 2010 N?helehele ... [
Wed Feb 03 15:28:44 EST 2010]
In North Kona, now only remnant patches of the habitat remain to remind us of the highly diverse community of plants and
animals that once dominated the landscape of West Hawai'i.
... The symposium's afternoon session will include a varietyof talks about threats to
Hawaii's native plants. CTAHR
invasive weed specialist Jim Leary will discuss
invasive weed management. Lisa Ellsworth from University of Hawai'i Manoa will talk about the interaction of non-native grasslands,
...Big Island Chronicle - http://www.bigislandchronicle.com/
Testing of dead birds scaled back [
Wed Feb 03 03:51:00 EST 2010]
Got dead bird? Unless it's a native bird or a large group of birds, don't call the state. The state this month discontinued testing of dead birds that had been done under a program aimed at early detection of the West Nile virus and potential avian influenza.
Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife: Eco-Comedy Video ... [
Tue Feb 02 18:23:42 EST 2010]
Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife: DOFAW is responsible for the management of State-owned forests, natural areas, public hunting areas, and plant and wildlife sanctuaries. Visit: www.
hawaii.gov/dlnr/dofaw
...Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife - http://dofaw.blogspot.com/
Push to save Hawaiian monk seals [
Tue Feb 02 15:12:00 EST 2010]
The Hawaiian monk seal population is steadily declining, and 3 of the endangered animals were killed last...
Fiji Bird Watching: BBC - Earth News - 'Lost seabird' returns to ocean [
Tue Feb 02 06:31:39 EST 2010]
The Fiji petrel, a seabird that once "went missing" for 130 years, has been sighted flying at sea, near the
island of Gau in the
Pacific Ocean. The culmination of a meticulously planned bird hunt, Birdlife International researchers sightedthe birds 25
... That was until in May, when scientists and volunteers working with Birdlife International and NatureFiji-MareqetiViti, a partner
conservation organisation based in Fiji, set out to find the bird in its natural habitat.
...Fiji Bird Watching - http://fijibirdwatching.blogspot.com/
