{"id":63706,"date":"2017-08-14T08:02:55","date_gmt":"2017-08-14T18:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=63706"},"modified":"2021-06-09T06:52:59","modified_gmt":"2021-06-09T16:52:59","slug":"hawaii-nearshore-fishery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2017\/08\/14\/hawaii-nearshore-fishery\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawaiʻi<\/span> nearshore fishery provides big benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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A school of manini. Photo credit Jhana Young<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The monetary, social and cultural importance of Hawaiʻi<\/span> nearshore fisheries has been examined by researchers in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management<\/a> (NREM). The study argues that fully appreciating the multitude of benefits the nearshore fishery provides to society is a crucial step towards sustainable management. <\/p>\n

The multi-year study tracked commercial and noncommercial reef-fish value chains, which was conducted as a collaboration between researchers in the College of Tropcial Agriculture and Human Resources<\/a> and Conservation International Hawaiʻi<\/span><\/a>. The study, “Follow that fish: Uncovering the hidden blue economy in coral reef fisheries,”<\/a> was published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Small-scale fisheries support the well-being of millions of people around the world—even in a well-developed economy such as Hawaiʻi<\/span>\u2019s, they provide important economic as well as social benefits. The total annual monetary value of the fishery is approximately $10.3 to $16.4 million. The non-commercial fishery in particular provides huge benefits to the community—non-commercial catch is around three times reported commercial catch and is worth $4.2 to $10 million more annually.<\/p>\n

However, the full benefits to Hawaiʻi<\/span> also include the potential to provide over 7 million meals a year as well as less tangible but just as important benefits such as the perpetuation of culture, community cohesion and sharing knowledge with the next generation.<\/p>\n

Ensuring these benefits can be supported into the future is an important consideration for sustainability.
\n—Shanna Grafeld<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Coral reef fisheries are often underappreciated, but our study reveals the important benefits they provide to the community,” said co-author Shanna Grafeld<\/strong>, a research associate in NREM<\/abbr> at the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at M\u0101noa. “Ensuring these benefits can be supported into the future is an important consideration for sustainability.”<\/p>\n

The paper discusses a range of potential management strategies acting at different points in society, including streamlining the value chain to minimize waste and improve transparency in commercial fishing operations. Non-commercial fishing is more diffuse and harder to manage, but highlighting and prioritizing the many benefits the community receives from fishing may be a positive way forward.<\/p>\n

“Fishers often feel demonized when regulations fall heavily on them,” Grafeld explains. “But there are options to promote sustainability at all levels in the supply chain, from helping fish dealers minimize waste and educating consumers on choosing sustainable seafood to encouraging pono fishing and a m\u0101lama kai ethic.”<\/p>\n

Acknowledgement is made to NOAA<\/abbr> for funding support of this research. This research was made possible by NOAA<\/abbr> Saltonstall-Kennedy Award #NA15NMF4270332 to Conservation International Hawaiʻi<\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n

—By Frederkia Bain<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The study argues that fully appreciating the multitude of benefits the nearshore fishery provides to society is a crucial step towards sustainable management. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[212,197,544,73,9],"class_list":["post-63706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-college-of-tropical-agriculture-and-human-resilience","tag-economics","tag-natural-resources-and-environmental-management","tag-sustainability","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63706"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":143435,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63706\/revisions\/143435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}