With unemployment rising ever higher, the economy imploding and our social safety net in tatters, some might question why The Advertiser is devoting substantial resources to its "Man, Land & Sea" project that looks at our coral reef system and what we can do to slow its decline.

Last Sunday and Monday's initial installments from staffers Rob Perez and Christie Wilson demonstrated why we should all be concerned. Some of our reefs have largely been wiped out in heavily populated areas of O'ahu and Maui, and our fish stock in those areas are all but depleted.

Most startling were the facts that formed the basis of the lead story, including the state's policy that sets less than 1 percent of its coastal waters as no-take zones. It's also dismaying that Hawai'i has no size limits for catching or keeping some species of fish, has no system of collecting reliable data on recreational fishing catches and spends a smaller percentage of its overall budget on nature resources, ranking 31 out of 50 states.

We also lag behind other Pacific communities in allowing scuba spearfishing and the use of lay gill nets in some circumstances.

The trends are disturbing. One study shows that coral cover has decreased — in some areas substantially — at 19 of 27 sites monitored throughout Hawai'i over the past decade. Our Page One graphic last Sunday that shows the depletion on O'ahu, Maui, Kaua'i and the Big Island bear extra examination, as does another that shows our plunging fish stock.

The good news is that snorkelers and scuba divers are not the problem, as evidenced by a new study from the Hawaii Institute for Marine Biology that showed that divers and snorkelers use only about 15 percent of the total reef habitat at four marine life conservation districts.

Reaction to our initial series has been strong, with many readers asking us to delve more deeply into other areas such as runoff and overfishing.

Be assured that we will be covering this issue all year, with packages on aquatic invasive species, recreational overuse, climate change, marine diseases and the growing and outstanding number of volunteer and research efforts now under way to protect our coral and our fish population.

Yes, there are other pressing news stories throughout the world, but we must take care to protect our natural resources here at home and give this important topic the same attention we would for all the similarly critical issues of the day.