Blog Archives: Blog

Malama Olowalu – Beach Cleanup

in , /by

To date we have removed over 11,781 pieces of debris from this short section of beach at Olowalu.

Saturday, January 31st from 9-11am at mile marker 14

Join us in our effort to protect Maui’s most pristine, and the mother reef of corals across Maui Nui.  Many hands make light (and fun) work.  Bring your friends and family and make a beach day of it. Cleanup supplies provided by our wonderful partner Malama Maui Nui.  See you there!

Operation: Olowalu Reef – Thursday Oct 24th

in /by

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.

Operation Olowalu Reed

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.

 

 

Clean Water Committee Meeting – Wednesday Oct 30

in /by

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

Ka’ehu Beach Cleanup with Hawaii Wildlife Fund – Sunday, Oct 27th

in /by

4th Sunday of every month!

Sharktastics and Hawaii Wildlife Fund holds a Ka’ehu Beach cleanup in Waiehu for a monthly marine debris cleanups including Japanese tsunami debris monitoring and Sharkastics research (https://www.sharkastics.org).  Meet at the beach at the end of Kukona Place Road (off of Waiehu Beach Road) from 9am to 1pm wearing sturdy shoes and sun protection.  All supplies provided.  Pictures from past cleanups can be seen here.  Mahalo to all who have participated!

Calling all keiki!  We’ll be filming this month’s cleanup (October 27th) for a special for HBO!  So, if your keiki is an active eco-kid and wants to tell the world about it, here’s their chance at stardom!

DAR Proposed Maui and Lana’i Fisheries New Bag and Size Limits

in , /by

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.

 

Olowalu Beach Cleanup ~ October 12

in , /by
Olowalu Cleanup 071

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. 

 

 

 

 

Water Quality Testing Workshops – FREE for Citizen Scientists

in /by

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 Olowalu Cleanup 021have 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.

Kupuna Corals, Sharks, and Fish Need Our Help at Olowalu Reef: Using GIS to Bridge the Disconnect Between Science and the Community

in /by

Guest presenter from our June MNMRC meeting:

fitzMr. Fitzpatrick has been developing simple and relatively cheap tools to monitor and compare reefs across Maui. Using a stand-up paddle board, a GoPro camera and a waterproof GPS, he is creating a database of photo plots of various reefs. Come learn how his simple and fun methods can provide valuable and replicable monitoring data.

Download his presentation here.

Palau President Visits Maui

in , /by

On June 2nd, the President of Palau, Thomas “Tommy” Remengesau addressed an overflowing audience at UH Maui College regarding his nation’s work to balance its natural resources with the demands of economic growth. The Republic of Palau is the leading nation in the Micronesia Challenge, a commitment by 5 Micronesian governments to conserve at least 30% of their near-shore marine resources and 20% of terrestrial resources across Micronesia by 2020.

The government has instituted several groundbreaking actions including:

  • Mandatory Green Fee of $50US for all tourists arriving in the nation that to date has raised over $2M for conservation efforts
  • Ban on commercial fishing (including tuna), shark finning and long-line fishing- a decision made after weighing the benefits of commercial fishing versus eco- tourism
  • Conservation of 65% of its marine and 35% of its terrestrial resources – far exceeding the goals of the Micronesian Challenge

After the president’s address, he and his cabinet where welcomed at the Wailuku CMMA for dinner and talk story session with other members of the Maui Nui conservation community.

In response to a question about balancing conservation and the tourism industry, President Remengesau replies: “We don’t want more scuba divers in the water than fish”.