The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are surrounded by some of the most extensive and healthy coral reefs in the world and are home to more than 7,000 species of marine plants and animals such as the endangered monk seal and green sea turtle.
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| These Hawaiian squirrelfish live on the reef at French Frigate Shoals. A number of marine species exist only in the northwestern archipelago.
James Watt • State Department of Land and Natural Resources
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Spinner dolphins, like these at Midway, rest in the shallow lagoons of the atolls during the day, feeding in deeper waters at night.
James Watt • State Department of Land and Natural Resources
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Galapagos sharks are common in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Large predators such as sharks, jacks and groupers add up to an estimated 54 percent of all fish biomass in the archipelago's shallow waters, compared with only 3 percent in similar habitats around the main Hawaiian islands.
James Watt • State Department of Land and Natural Resources
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Masked boobies gather on marine debris. A lot of problem trash washes up on the islands.
Andy Collins • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
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| This turtle was cruising at Midway atoll. More than 90 percent of Hawai'i's green sea turtles nest at French Frigate Shoals.
James Watt • State Department of Land and Natural Resources
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The islands also are in an important fishing ground for Hawai'i fishermen, who are concerned that a new plan to restrict their activity could hurt their livelihood.
The potential conflict between both aspects of the archipelago are at the heart of a plan to create a marine refuge there. Under the state plan, all fishing would be prohibited in waters three miles around each of the islands and atolls in the 1,200-mile-long chain.
The designation also would require an entry permit for all other uses, including research and access to Native Hawaiian historical sites.
Jarad Makaiau, habitat coordinator for the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, said the state plan will directly affect the nine fishing boats that work the shallow waters around Nihoa and Necker islands.
"Along with the larger sanctuary coming down the pike, this fishery could potentially be shut down," Makaiau said, referring to a federal plan still under development to extend the buffer to a total of 50 miles.
Makaiau said the most recent catch figures show that 232,000 pounds of bottom fish were caught in the area in 2003, which is about half the amount that can be safely taken and still ensure species are sustained.
"If we close a healthy fishery, we have to get our fish from somewhere else," he said.
Peter Young, chairman of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, said the proposed rules are in response to conservation measures requested by public comments. Two rounds of public hearings were held statewide over the last 3ý years, with more than 25,000 public comments received.
"The public input on these proposed rules has been astounding," Young said. "We heard loud and clear from the public that they feel that the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is a special place worthy of the highest levels of protection."
Young said that at a time when many of the world's oceans are being degraded, the state's proposal to set aside state waters as a marine refuge is critical.
"If adopted by the board, these rules will set in motion the most significant marine conservation initiative in the history of the state by creating the state's largest marine refuge," he said.
The state already has the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, which is a partnership with the federal government, he said.
Hawaiian fisherman William Aila supports the proposal because restricting access would help protect the cultural sites on Nihoa and Necker islands.
"I'm interested in restricting access as much as possible because there are Hawaiian artifacts there, which demand a high price on the black market," Aila said.
Aila said the rules also supplement and complement the proposed regulations that the Northwestern Hawaiian Island Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve Council recommended.
| WHAT'S NEXT
The state Board of Land and Natural Resources is set to take up a plan to create a three-mile buffer around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands at its May 13 meeting.
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The existing Northwestern Hawaiian Island Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve is being considered for more stringent protection as part of the National Marine Sanctuary Program. That would create a 50-mile protective area around the islands, under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
A draft environmental impact statement and draft management plan are being developed for the federal reserve and will be completed and released for public review later this year. After statewide public hearings and a comment period, the plan will be revised to produce a final EIS, and a decision regarding designation is expected in 2006.
If the Land Board approves the state plan, it will go through an approval process and require Gov. Linda Lingle's signature. It could go into effect in the fall.
Reach James Gonser at 535-2431 or jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.
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ALONG THE ARCHIPELAGO
• The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are a chain of small islands, atolls, submerged banks and reefs beginning about 120 nautical miles west of the main Hawaiian Islands and stretching northwest for more than 1,200 miles.
• The vast archipelago is almost entirely uninhabited and is surrounded by some of the most extensive and healthy coral reefs in U.S. waters.
• The northwestern islands include a much greater diversity of reef habitats than the main Hawaiian Islands, and these reefs host a variety of federally protected species, including the threatened green sea turtle, seabirds and the only remaining population of the endangered Hawaiian monk seal. The northern atolls have the highest rates of fish species found only in those islands in the entire Hawaiian archipelago.
• The area is home to more than 7,000 species of marine plants and animals, including marine mammals, fishes, sea turtles, birds and invertebrates. At least one-quarter are found nowhere else on Earth.
• Some of the primary threats to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are from natural processes such as major winter storms, hurricanes and tsunami. A significant human-related threat is the introduction of both land and aquatic invasive species.
• The Pacific Gyre, an area in the middle of the water and wind currents where plastics and other marine debris accumulate, deposits thousands of tons of debris and derelict fishing gear from the North Pacific onto the islands, posing a severe threat to the coral reef ecosystem.
• The nets and lines scour coral reefs and can entangle and drown monk seals, turtles and birds. Floating plastic debris is eaten by adult seabirds and fed to their young.
Source: state Department of Land and Natural Resources
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