Posted on: Tuesday, August 27, 2002

EDITORIAL
Island reefs need protection, help

A disturbing report out of an international reef study program this week should have substantial impact on Hawai'i, as we struggle to manage and protect our reefs.

The study, conducted by the University of California-Los Angeles, concluded that the health of as much as 95 percent of the world's reef systems has degraded over the past five years or so.

The causes range from global warming and pollution to overfishing, which takes out the natural predators of the algae that can kill reefs if allowed to grow unchecked.

That brings the story directly home. Hawai'i, through the Northwest Hawaiian Island Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve, is already home to more than 70 percent of all the coral reefs in the United States.

But the environmental quality of those reefs is threatened. The reserve offers some protections, and work on creating a National Marine Sanctuary in the region is going forward. Both the reserve and the sanctuary are important.

The restrictions on access and commercial use are not without controversy, of course. Commercial fishermen chafe at restrictions or outright bans on certain catches. Native Hawaiians are concerned that aboriginal gathering and cultural rights might be impinged.

But there truly is no other choice. The report notes that when an ecosystem is killed or even badly damaged, an entire chain of life is affected.

And this is hardly just a feel-good exercise by those who love nature. It is a core economic issue as well.

Recently, a team of European economists set the direct economic value of Hawai'i's coral reefs at $10 billion. It's not entirely clear how the group got its numbers, but there is no doubt that our reefs have substantial direct positive economic value to the Islands.

They deserve to be protected, nurtured and encouraged. The protections afforded by the Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve and the proposed National Marine Sanctuary are important steps in this direction.

And if the urgency of this was not apparent before, the latest report from the Reef Check program should make the case obvious.