Sunday, March 01, 2015         

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Anglers cite development as detrimental to fisheries

By Audrey McAvoy / Associated Press


Hawaii fishermen asked policymakers Monday to address how runoff caused by land development harms reefs, fisheries and the ocean when they consider how to cope with the effects of climate change.

Ocean health can't be looked at in segments, Oahu fisherman Roy Mori­oka told a committee of the federal body responsible for managing fisheries around Hawaii and other parts of the western Pacific region.

Government officials need to take a comprehensive approach, Mori­oka told a Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council committee on ecosystem management in Hawaii.

"You need to pull it all together because not one thing is the issue, it's a collective thing that is the issue," Mori­oka said.

Carl Jellings of Wai­anae told the committee that fishermen are often told reefs are unhealthy because of overfishing. Fishermen like him are scapegoats, he said.




The council heard from scientists about how temperatures are rising globally while, locally, rainfall has been declining. They heard how open-ocean species such as tuna might adapt better as oceans warm because they can move around. Species like coral that stay in place might have a harder time adapting.


Brad Warren of the global nonprofit organization Sustainable Fisheries Partnership told the committee that ocean acidification affects how marine life and fisheries stocks grow, and that this introduces greater uncertainty for fishery managers.

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