It was a beautiful vogless morning, and we could see the island of Maui in the distance. As I glanced out at the bay I noticed a boat anchored there. This was unusual as the sun had just risen and the boat was already there. I didn't think much about it until we went snorkeling a little later.
Here's the ugly scene we saw:
The boat's anchor draped around and around a large coral head, ripping it into pieces.
Pieces of equipment including an underwater scooter and metal air tanks scattered around the bottom, right on the coral crushing it.
A large gill net, possibly fifty feet long, attached to the coral, and draped across the bottom of the bay.
Divers, each with 4 or more metal prods about 5 feet long, walking on and poking into the coral breaking it, prodding the fish towards the net. Near the net we saw multiple plastic containers tied to the coral, holding tanks for the soon to be captured fish.
Terrorised fish trying in vain to flee to safety but with nowhere to go except into the nets.
I was fascinated as I'd never actually seen this practice before. We didn't have our camera so we have no pictures. I went to shore to call the authorities to report the broken coral.
Fish collecting is legal in Hawaii, but damaging coral with any implement is "unlawful". DLNR (Department of Land and Natural Resources) said the only thing they could fine the boat for was "illegal mooring" and referred the case over to Aquatics who was on the water that day. Aquatics was not going to check out the boat as they were 30 minutes away in Kealakekua Bay.
Nothing was done, and possibly hundreds of fish are missing from the reef and many many years of coral growth were destroyed. Many, if not most fish collected from Hawaii's coral reefs die within one year. Yellow tangs can live 40 years on a reef in the wild, in a tank they live 5-7 years.
Nothing was done, and we had just seen a rare Bandit Angelfish in that bay a week before. I've lived in Hawaii for 22 years and it took that long to find a Bandit Angelfish, who is now gone from the reef forever. (Bandit Angelfish sell on the internet for $800 or more. This one will never be able to replenish itself.)
