Join us at La’ie Wetlands in Kihei for our MNMRC Volunteer workday on February 21st from 8:30-11:30am.
Volunteers will be working with the wetland management team from Malama Maui Nui on restoration efforts on the property. Activities will include native species planting, weeding, and burm building. We will also learn about the varied history of this last remaining valuable ecosystem in Kihei and the plans for its future. See you there!
On a beautiful Saturday, the last day in January 2015, the MNMRC and 16 volunteers came together for another successful beach cleanup at Olowalu mile marker 14. This area is a popular camping, snorkeling, diving, kayaking, and swimming spot for locals and visitors alike. Though not necessarily plagued by the marine debris deposited by currents on many of Maui’s north shore beaches, this beach is still inundated with trash. Volunteers collected 4,878 pieces of trash, 170 pounds, almost all directly related to general camping and beach recreation activities (i.e. cigarette butts, bottle caps, food wrappers) yuck!
Many thanks to our volunteers and Malama Maui Nui for providing the supplies and trash pickup. We look forward to next quarter’s cleanup!
MNMRC members and guest were treated to a special hike through the Waikamoi Forest Preserve in Makawao. The group was led by Pat Bily of the Nature Conservancy, the organization that manages the Preserve. Hikers wound their way along the trail through pristine native forest and surrounded by the calls of the native forest birds. Many thanks to TNC and Pat for reconnecting the MNMRC with the top of the Maui’s watersheds.
January 15th- Members of Maui County Council, the community and parter NGOs came together to meet the Maui Coral Reef Recovery Team (MCRT) during their 10th Meeting Celebration. The MCRT was formed in 2010 to develop a results-driven plan for the recovery of Maui’s reefs, the Maui Coral Reef Recovery Plan. The plan is now being implemented at the first three selected reef recovery sites: Polanui in Lahaina, Olowalu, and Kahekili in Ka’anapali. The day started with the MCRT’s 10th meeting discussing recovery metrics and community training opportunities. In the afternoon the MCRT was joined by guests and was treated to a private whale watch thanks to parter organization Pacific Whale Foundation. The whales seemed to know the boat was full of ocean lovers as they put on a great show of breaching and trumpeting!
The MCRT is composed of community members, scientists, and cultural representatives who recognize the importance of a bottoms-up approach to reef restoration. By working together we stand the best chance of successful restoration for future generations. The next MCRT meeting will be in April, at which time MCRT members will offer scientific trainings to the recovery sites based on their specific requests and needs of the communities. One of the most important and valuable part of the Recovery Plan is that it can be adapted and translated to fit other island communities across the globe.
MNMRC Executive Director Sarah McLane will be a guest lecturer for the Pacific Whale Foundation’s Making Waves Lecture Series, offering a special evening devoted to Maui’s coral reefs.
Sarah McLane of Maui Nui Marine Resource Council will speak about the Maui Coral Reef Recovery Plan. John Fitzpatrick of University of Hawaii – Maui will also give a presentation about his research utilizing citizen science and Go Pro cameras to evaluate coral reef health at Olowalu.
6 pm to 7:30 pm at Pacific Whale Foundation’s Discovery Center located at the ocean level in Ma’alaea.
Free and open to all.
For information, please call (808) 249-8811 ext. 1.
Moved to Oct 30th from Oct 23rd
CWC meetings are open to the public! We discuss current water issues facing Maui including land-based sources of pollution, waste water treatment, development, streams, gulches, and flooding.
We will review our action steps and successes of 2013 and plan for 2014. Your participation and guidance would be very much appreciated.
4th Wednesday of every month at Pacific Whale Foundation, Ma’alaea, 11am-1pm
The current state bag and size limits are not restrictive enough to effectively sustain our fish populations. The broad statewide rules are not specific enough to address the individual needs of the islands and have proven difficult to enforce.
The proposed rule would establish new, more protective fisheries regulations for Maui and Lana’i Islands. The changes will consist of bag and size limits for several popular nearshore fish including goatfish, parrotfish (uhu), and jacks (ulua/papio). In addition to the various bag and size limits, the proposed rules will also include a bag limit of no more than two uhu and prohibitions on the take of blue male uhu for the two large species, and slot limits for ‘omilu.
Download DAR Proposed Rules Package
Sign the petition to show your support and encourage decision makers to do the same.
DAR has been working since 2009 to get public input on the concerns regarding many popular species of near-shore fish. DAR staff reviewed the results of these meetings and developed a specific set of proposed regulated species updates for Maui and Lana’i. These new rules were derived from public concerns, scientific information regarding the reproductive lifecycles of the regulated species, and input from DOCARE officers.
Russell Sparks, DAR Maui aquatic biologist, will explain the new rules at several public information meetings in Maui County:
Oct. 10, 2013, in Hana at Helene Hall from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
Oct.15, 2013, in Lanai City at the Lanai Senior Center from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
Oct. 16, 2013, in Kahului at Maui Waena School Cafe from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
Volunteer wheels a tire from the underbrush to the collection pile
Many thanks to our partner organizations for helping make this event a success: Malama Maui Nui, Surfrider Foundation, Hawaii Wildlife Fund, County of Maui, and Pacific Whale Foundation!
This is the second cleanup at Olowalu this month, during International Coastal Cleanup Month, a movement coordinated by Conservation International’s “Get the Drift and Bag It”. Volunteer kept track of the items collected for data compilation and statistics. By far the most common items found were cigarette butts, bottle caps, and bits of plastic. Other found items of concern were batteries, syringes, and large amounts of used toilet paper. Olowalu is a heavily used area for camping, snorkeling and fishing by both tourists and Maui residents. Despite it’s heavy use, the area has no chemical toilets and until our recent efforts had no garbage cans.
Olowalu”s waters are home to over 31 species of coral, some over 500 years old and many listed as endangered species. Over 300 manta rays use the reef to clean, socialize, and mate. Sharks and turtles use the reef as a feeding station. Olowalu has been scientifically shown to be a “mother reef”, with its spawning corals’ polyps seeding neighbor reefs up West Maui and as far as the shores of Lana’i and Moloka’i.
Because Olowalu is so special ecologically recreationally, it has been chosen by the MNMRC as a Coral Reef Recovery Site. We will continue to monitor the site and work to have chemical toilets installed and regular trash pickup arranged.
Napili Bay and Beach Foundation, in conjuction with MNMRC, hosted a FREE Water Quality Testing workshop at Maui Preparatory Academy on August 24th. Lead by instructor and water quality expert Robin Knox, participants learned how to take water samples and test for various factors considered important by the EPA: turbidity, pH, phosphates, nitrates, and temperature.
A second workshop was held at Polanui Hiu CMMA in September and was lead by John Mitchell. Ultimately, the goal is to 
have citizen scientist across Maui Nui properly trained in sampling and testing methods. The data will then be input to one collective database that is accessible to all groups. It is hoped that with enough training and data collection, the DOH will be able to use the compiled data in future Hawaii water quality assessment reports.
Maui Nui Marine Resource Council is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Your donation is US tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
EIN: 47-2509441
Maui Nui Marine Resource Council
P.O. Box 331204, Kahului, HI 96733
(808) 707-5056