Security may aid ecosystem

By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer

The high cost of stopping the extinction of Hawai'i's endemic animals and plants by invasive species could be met by tying the problem to national security, U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie said yesterday.

Members of the House Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans — from left, Neil Abercrombie, Wayne Gilchrist, Eni Faleomavaega and Ed Case — heard testimony yesterday on invasive species at the East West Center's Keoni Auditorium. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

The congressman invited committee members to Hawai'i to listen to expert testimony from more than a dozen specialists about the negative impact on the Islands' fragile ecosystem of such things as miconia, alien algae and Snowflake Coral — much of which arrives in Hawai'i attached to the hulls of ships or to cargo within.

"If we're really serious about this, we've got to go where the money is," said Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i. "I always try to find where there's a national security element in anything to see if the Department of Defense budget can be tapped ... because of the clear implications of the spread of bio-weapons."

For example, he said Homeland Security could emphasize inspections for cargo at the same time it checks for invasive species.

Committee chairman Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, R-Md., said the purpose of the hearing was to gather information about the problem so legislation can be enacted this session. He invited all the panelists to remain in contact with the committee, which is responsible for communicating the importance of the invasive species problem to his colleagues in Washington.

"There's money spent from pillar to post out there," said Gilchrest, echoing Abercrombie's vow to find the necessary money. "We have to create a structure that allows enough funding, expertise and collaboration from the single fisherman up through all the federal agencies."

Committee member U.S. Rep. Eni Faleomavaega, D-American Samoa, and U.S. Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawai'i, also questioned panelists, who represented a number of local, state and federal agencies or organizations.

David Wesley of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service presented statistics he said highlighted the need for a long-term government commitment to invasive species management in Hawai'i.

"Hawai'i has approximately 10,000 species that are considered endemic," he said. "At the same time, more than 5,000 species of alien plants and animals have become established in the Hawaiian Islands over the past 200 years."

Wesley said more than 1,100 endemic Hawai'i species have become extinct, partly because of invasive species.

"If we want a different outcome, we need to change what we are doing," said Peter Young, chairman of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

But Young cautioned that the invasive species brought in by visitors "is miniscule" compared with that potentially carried in by cargo ships.

Several panelists were able to quantify the cost of the problem.

Athline Clark, a special projects manager with the DLNR, told the committee it had cost more than $1 million to clean Salvinia molesta from Lake Wilson last year. Wesley said his service had spent more than $5 million in the past two years trying to control invasive species.

Most panelists agreed that much of the problem today results from mistakes made and compounded years ago. Most also agreed that a major problem now is finding money to cope with the onslaught of invasive species.

Gilchrest said he was determined to convince Congress to focus the same attention on oceans as it does on outer space.

"I'm trying to raise NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) to the level of NASA," he said.

Reach Will Hoover at 525-8038 or whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.