marine sanctuary

Hanauma Bay is a marine sanctuary near Honolulu that is a popular snorkeling spot and is home to vibrant marine life and well-preserved corals. Its popularity grew in the 1970’s and 1980’s and its visitor attendance peaked at an estimated 10,000 people a day. A new management plan in 1990 reduced visitation, improved facilities, established an education program, and banned the feeding of fish. In 2019, average daily attendance was still about 3,000 people – about a million a year – and the impact on the reef ecosystem was considerable.

In 2020, because of the Covid pandemic, the preserve was completely closed to the public for seven months. This provided a unique natural experiment to study the effect of removing human interference from a natural ecosystem.

Researchers from the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology found that the reef in Hanauma Bay quickly returned to having better water quality, more monk seal sightings, greater fish abundance, and significant changes in fish behavior. The fact that the ecosystem responded quickly indicated that everyday human presence can have a real and measurable effect on reef health.

The research serves as a valuable case study for marine managers around the world. Putting limits on the number of visitors to reefs – especially those that are currently unregulated – could help restore lost ecological function and reduce human-induced pressure while still maintaining access. Tourism to reefs generates billions of dollars annually, so there needs to be ways to protect reefs without making them entirely off limits.

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When crowds left, reefs came alive at Hanauma Bay

Photo, posted December 13, 2011, courtesy of Dalton Reed via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Marine debris is a troubling issue around the world. For most people, it is unsightly and perhaps inconvenient, but for many it is a critical problem that has serious impacts on many aspects of life. This is especially the case for indigenous communities for whom the natural environment around the ocean is central to subsistence, recreation, culture, and economic opportunities.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sponsors a Marine Debris Program that supports multiple projects. In Alaska’s Pribilof Islands, the indigenous communities of St. George and St. Paul Islands conduct regular cleanups to protect and steward the natural resources that they depend on. They make use of unmanned aircraft system surveys to target removal and monitoring efforts.

Another NOAA-sponsored program works to clean up the Maybeso Estuary in Alaska’s Prince of Wales Islands. The project has removed 35,000 pounds of debris, freeing the flow of the salmon stream and restoring the area as a prime hotspot for fishing, boating, and outdoor recreation.

In Washington State’s Olympic Coast, the Makah Tribe has a project to locate and remove derelict crab pots and fishing lines from 80 miles of fishing area and marine sanctuary. Derelict fishing gear can trap and entangle animals, degrade habitat, imperil navigation, and interfere with fishing. The project team is working with tribal stakeholders on promoting marine debris awareness.

All of these communities have cared for the environment for generations, but marine debris poses perilous threats to their territories and community action is needed to preserve and protect these remarkable places.

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Lives and Livelihoods Disrupted by Marine Debris

Photo, posted September 11, 2015, courtesy of NOAA’s National Ocean Service via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The pandemic was good for Hanauma Bay

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Marine Debris | Earth Wise

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